My heart leapt when I read the words “There is such a thing… as the national interest – and it is not measured by shareholder value alone” (Leader, 5 February). For decades, as the head of a quoted and later private company, I attempted to convey this to both the financial world and successive governments. Repeatedly, I reminded them that the other stakeholders in a company (customers, employees and suppliers), on all of whom the taxpayer and the state are ultimately dependent, should not be sacrificed on the false altar of shareholder value. Britain is fortunate that AstraZeneca was spun out of the ailing British juggernaut, Imperial Chemical Industries. But this is little comfort to those who have suffered through the neglect of the national interest. Trains, power stations and large commercial ships – all basic requirements of a developed maritime nation – are among the necessities no longer built in this country, and many of the skills essential to such activities
The New Statesman has revealed digital subscriptions growth of 75% over the past year and rising paid-for print circulation amid “significant investment” in the brand.
The title also announced today that registered users of the site are up 83% over the past year to more than 200,000 and subscription revenue is up 77% over the last three years. Overall traffic to the New Statesman website (paywalled since March 2018) currently stands at around 2m per month and the title’s paid-circulation (print and digital) stood at 34,451 as of January 2021 – the highest level it has reached in 40 years.
Group chief product officer Martin Ashplant said: “With the launch of the New Statesman’s new website now imminent and following a period of significant digital expansion, our focus is firmly on engagement and communities. This rapid growth in digital readership and paid-for subscriptions shows that the strategy is working and it enabled us to remove network advertising from the websit
The European Commission has rowed back on their “hugely inflammatory” attempt to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol, after outcry from the British and Irish governments. The fact that it was even suggested in the first place exposes a misunderstanding of the Irish border on the part of the EU, and sets a dangerous precedent. On this week s
New Statesman Podcast, Stephen Bush, Anoosh Chakelian and Ailbhe Rea discuss why the decision to invoke the clause was made, and what its implications are. Then, in You Ask Us, they answer your questions on whether a nominally left-wing party can ever justify a closed border policy.
On 27 January, the number of people in the UK who have died with Covid-19 passed 100,000. The UK has the fifth highest death toll in the world, and the pandemic has taken more British lives than the Blitz. In this episode of the
New Statesman podcast, Stephen, Anoosh and Ailbhe look at the mistakes that were made, how they might yet be countered, and what the electoral cost of the disaster will be when the country next heads to the polls. Listen now:
New Statesman podcast on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Acast and more.