Contents election special Opinions 20 The dream ticket The case for a Lib-Lab pact.

david goodhart 22 Floating voter My election disorder. edward docx 22 Innovation for the nation Rebuilding Britain. will hutton

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Vital Statistics 37 How we changed under Labour tom chatfield & david löwe

Features 26 The Prospect debate Blue Labour versusRedToryism.

maurice glasman & phillip blond 43 Born to lead—but where?

In search of the real David Cameron. wendell steavenson 50 The heart of power

DowningStreet badly needs a refit. anthony seldon regulars 8 Prospect recommends The pick of the month’s events. 12 Diary Fantasy cabinets and philosophical football, plus brian eno on apps, nigel warburton on excuses & stephen nickell on poverty 18 Letters plus stephen collins’s cartoon strip 93 Enigmas & puzzles ian stewart 94 The generalist didymus 95 The Prospect list opinions 24 World war II finally ends ThePolish disaster could transform Europe. ivan krastev 25 A conservative Waterloo The US right has scored an own goal on healthcare reform. david frumcorrespondents30 Washington watch

Hillary’s more popular thanObama. renegade 31 Brussels diary Merkel manoeuvres. manneken pis 32 China café The post doesn’t work. mark kitto 33 Letter from Gaza AnEnglish surgeon inPalestine runs into some cross-cultural conflicts. christopher bulstrode arts & books 69 The master of small things

DavidMitchell’s new book shows that he is one of the finestEnglish novelists writing today. julian evans 70 Paying the price of finance Three different takes on the financial crisis. jonathan ford 72 Cultural notebook Old-school bollocks. sam leith 73 How we beat the commies science & technology 62 No body is perfect The overtreatment of cancer.

simon crompton 63 Lab briefing philip ball 64 Big Brother’s getting bigger Software is makingCTV better—

and more intrusive. philip hunter 65 Is it a boy or a girl? You decide

What’s so wrong about choosing the sex of your child? anjana ahuja 65 The month ahead anjana ahujacolumnIStS 7 If I ruled the world

FICTION 82 The comedian A new story by tom rachmanfeatures54 My dinner with al Qaeda I met a disciple of Bin Laden—and had to bargain for my life. hugh pope 57 Ashes to ashes Pompeii is in an appalling condition. How did this happen? peter popham

NormanStone’s history of the cold war is myopic. victor sebestyen 74 Culture in a time of crisis

What do the creative industries do? No one knows. emma crichtonmiller & alexander linklater 75 Smallscreen Autism meets reality television.

peter bazalgette 78 Stage directions A timely new play on poshness.

michael coveney 80 Words that think for us Progress. edward skidelsky 80 Electoral negotiations Two diary extracts. ian irvine 81 Widescreen Satire on screen. mark cousins 88 Five Books Recommended reading onAfrica

Ban silly bikes. andrew martin 10 Political notes The telly election. anne mcelvoy 16 Crisis watch Too big to fail. simon johnson 29 Sporting life Political footballs. david goldblatt 66 Matters of taste from michela wrong

I’ve had it with offal! alex renton 96 Dear Wilhemina I want to slap my would-be in-laws.

may 2010 · prospect · 5