issue | june 195 2012 www.prospect-magazine.co.uk june 2012 | £4.50 $6.99 €6.90 60 years of 60 years of progress? progress? Elizabeth’s Britain Hacking scandal: it will spread 9 A$10.95 A$10.95 ISSN 1359-5024 ISSN Will Self: seduced by advertising 771359 NZ$12.50 US$6.99 US$6.99 NZ$12.50 Eliot Spitzer: back from disgrace 502057 € Stephanie Flanders: the Occupy verdict Can$7.99 6.90 Richard Dawkins: betraying Darwin 06 Foreword Britain’s brand of freedom 2 Bloomsbury place, London wc1a 2qa Publishing 020 7255 1281 Editorial 020 7255 1344 Fax 020 7255 1279 Email [email protected] [email protected] Website www.prospect-magazine.co.uk Editorial Editor and chief executive Bronwen Maddox Editor at large David Goodhart Deputy editor james elwes In the 60 years since princess elizabeth acceded to the throne, Politics editor james Macintyre Books editor David Wolf Britain has become a better place to live. More people think Creative director David Killen Production editor ollie cussen that than think the opposite (see YouGov’s extensive survey for Web intern Annalies Winny Editorial assistant tina nandha Prospect, p38); those under 40, and in London and the south, Publishing are markedly more cheerful. those who demur might read, in President & co-founder Derek coombs Publisher David Hanger simon jenkins’s panorama (p30), his reminder of past Circulation marketing director jamie Wren attitudes to women, children and gay rights and to actions now Digital marketing: tim De La salle Advertising sales director defined as crime. It is easy to forget how much has changed. Iain Adams, tel: 020 7255 1934 Advertising sales manager true, Britain has lost most of the rest of its empire in that Dan jefferson, tel: 020 7255 1934 time; its military has shrunk; its population soared, and its Advertising sales chris Anson, tel: 01424 838 855 countryside become more cluttered. those have provoked a real sense of loss. As Finance manager pauline joy Editorial advisory board peter Kellner puts it (p38), the polls paint a picture of a country that is “nervous, David cannadine, clive cowdery, Ac and small ‘c’ conservative.” Many cite immigration as its worst feature, the most Grayling, peter Hall, john Kay, peter Kellner, nader Mousavizadeh, toby Mundy, robin startling result of the survey. But pride in a tradition of liberty and a culture of niblett, jean seaton tolerance and openness to the world is also loud (p40). Associate editors tom chatfield, james crabtree, Andy Davis, Is that a contradiction? Yes, of a peculiarly British kind. In the national identity, edward Docx, David edmonds, sam Knight, Ian Irvine, sam Leith, Alexander Linklater, there has long been a tussle between apparently incompatible strands. the emran Mian, elizabeth pisani, Wendell worldly individualism that has led to the pre-eminence of the city has always vied steavenson, james Woodall Contributing editors with the belief in community that underpins the national Health service. the philip Ball, Anthony Dworkin, catherine Fieschi, josef joffe, Anatole Kaletsky, independence that (rightly) kept Britain out of the euro has fought with a desire Michael Lind, joy Lo Dico, oliver Morton, to shape decisions in Brussels and Washington. the creativity and innovation of Alex renton, erik tarloff Annual subscription rates which many are proud coexists with an inability to devise an education system or a UK £49; Student £27 second chamber of parliament appropriate to the modern world. Europe £55; Student £32.50 Rest of the World £59.50; Student £35 At its worst, that national ability to walk both sides of the line produces prospect subscriptions, 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent science park, sittingbourne, me9 8gu paralysis, mediocrity and an insidious disdain for change. At its best, it represents Tel 0844 249 0486; 44(0)1795 414 957 Fax 01795 414 555 resilience and a rebuff to extremism. It is striking that each political party could Email [email protected] read in these poll results support for its own most passionate themes. But it is the Website www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/subscribe cheques payable to prospect publishing particular tragedy of the Lib Dems that although they stand for the freedoms Ltd. subscription refunds must be made in writing to prospect within four weeks of a which so many cite as the country’s finest quality, they have failed to turn that into new order or renewal, and are subject to an a strong political voice. they could still do so. In the necessary reviews of the role administration charge of £15. no refunds are paid on quarterly subscriptions. of the city and media now underway, it would be regrettable if ministers, in pursuit the views represented in this magazine are of tighter regulation, set aside those values at the heart of British life. not necessarily those of prospect publishing Ltd. Best endeavours have been taken in all Voicing those principles may now be Britain’s most valuable contribution cases to represent faithfully the views of all abroad. europe faces in acute form the growing problem of western democracies: contributors and interviewees. the publisher accepts no responsibility for errors, how to hold on to their values during radical economic change. oliver Kamm omissions or the consequences thereof. and Victor sebestyen (p18 and p19) warn of the EU’s weakness in defending its Newstrade distribution comag specialist, tavistock road, own values; as Victor puts it, if it remains silent in the face of the latest assault West Drayton, ub7 7qe, tel: 01895 433716 on political freedoms in Hungary, it is hard to see what it is for. that is a point Images Cover image: Imperial War Museum which William Hague, as foreign secretary, should make. the Diamond jubilee Cartoons by: evans, K.j. Lamb, roger Latham, Len, phil Witte, tim Bales, paul celebrates not just the longevity of a monarch but the endurance of values central Wood, clive collins Additional design: jennifer owens to British identity, which are absent or under threat in much of the world. ISSN: 13595024 june 2012 · prospect · 3 91991_gbr_smb_may_3b_4c_pcp_fp210x275_prospect_magazine_pr.indd91991_gbr_smb_mayay_y_ 3b3b_ 4c4c_ pcppcp_ fp210x275fp2100x2275_ prospectprospectt_ magazinemagazine_ pr.pr.indd 1 5/14/125/14/12 3:423:42 PPMM Contents June 2012 This month Features Life 6 If I ruled the world jon snow 30 Sixty years of progress? 70 Public servants 8 Recommends A better place. simon jenkins Will pubs survive? roy hattersley 10 Diary 72 Drinks 12 Letters A gin renaissance. alice lascelles 74 Matters of taste A naples feast. wendell steavenson Opinions 75 Leith on life sam leith 14 An amateur government 76 Investment andy davis the coalition is dysfunctional. norman tebbit 15 Is Occupy vacant? Arts & books A new book of protest. 78 Creating the modern eye stephanie flanders our debt to Munch and el Greco. plus stephen collins’s cartoon strip. james woodall 18 Failure in Bosnia A tragedy, 20 years on. plus Who are we? oliver kamm our sense of identity is changing. david goodhart We’re new Victorians. maria misra What do we want? YouGov polls. peter kellner The best and worst of Britain Views from public life. 42 Return of the sheriff eliot spitzer is back. Maybe. hephzibah anderson 19 Threat to Hungary A warning for europe. victor sebestyen 20 Myths about Iran the west doesn’t get it. jahangir amuzegar 81 The heart of the crime 22 China diary mark kitto richard Ford’s best yet. francine prose Politics & economics 84 Wear your worst jeans 24 Man on a mission A novelist’s guide to the book tour. tom Watson—the scandal will widen. edward docx james macintyre 48 Make-believe nation 86 New old teenagers 28 Faith in finance Indonesia’s tortured miracle. overgrown children. Is robert shiller an apologist? elizabeth pisani francine stock martin wolf 88 The month in books rachel aspden Science & technology 66 The descent of Edward Wilson evolutionary errors. richard dawkins Fiction 90 Another Russian Tale roberto bolano Endgames 54 The big sell 92 The generalist didymus seduced by ads. 92 Enigmas & puzzles ian stewart will self 93 The Prospect list 60 The rebirth of tragedy 96 The way we were the Wire confounds modern optimism. Literary feuds. 69 The month ahead anjana ahuja john gray ian irvine june 2012 · prospect · 5 If I ruled the world Jon Snow Give power back to the people regions. History speaks well of catalonia, Bavaria, our own Highlands and Islands regions and Devon and cornwall. these If I ruled the world, I’d try to recognise my of responding to local need and demand. are regions that have profited from euro- limitations and deal with the local—my In my new localised world, beyond pean economic development, but they are family, my community, my local council, defence, foreign affairs, and strategic eco- also the spheres in which political associ- my country. I’d hope that by doing so I nomic planning, national government ation is made possible. this is not about would inspire others to do the same, and would be about handing power back to the the Big society; this is a rediscovery of the so help construct a more rational world. people. organic, bottom-up reform would small society, the community, and the robin cook described Britain in 1994, deliver local leaders and town halls with extended family—humankind’s most natu- as “the most centralised state in europe.” real influence.t he united Kingdom would ral organic existence. nothing much has changed since, despite thus become the sum of its parts, rather For myself, in my present locality, scottish and Welsh devolution. I recently than the current disempowered parts of it where I do not rule, I live, work, and nur- travelled to rome sitting next to an Mp sum.