16 THE DEATH Of THE INTELLECTUAL TeRRy eaGleTon laments the passing of a critical age 18 BACK TO CLASS The rising price of a degree is hitting some harder than others. lauRie Penny looks at what’s left of higher education 20 BEyOND TOWN AND GOWN Relationships between students and locals can be fraught. Jenny nelSon meets activists who want to break out of the ghetto 23 THE fIGHT fOR THE NUS The National Union of Students’ Blairite leaders are putting it on a path to self-destruction, says hinD haSSan 24 STUDENTS ARE CITIzENS TOO Student activists must look beyond their own problems, argues aleD FiSheR

28 AfTER THE PARTy MaTT WRaCk of the Fire Brigades Union on breaking with the Labour Party – and what happened next 29 RADICAL RENEWAL Multi-party politics is Labour’s only chance of survival, writes PaTRiCk Dunleavy 32 THE BREAK UP Of BRITAIN Independence is rising in Scotland and Wales, and elaine C SMiTh and leanne WooD believe there is no going back – but is the English left ready for it?

36 2014: A TORy DySTOPIA alex nunnS takes us on a trip into the future to see how Britain might look after four years of Conservative rule

42 CLIMATE CAMP IN PICTURES Photographer Daniel TieRney spends a week at climate camp, CaRoline luCaS writes about her experiences there

11 My fRIENDS ON THE LEfT Barack Obama’s base is unique – but they need to stick around after the election, says GaRy younGe

COvER ILLUSTRATION David Warner

46 WHy WON’T NATO DIE? The Russian intervention in South Ossetia was the US’s latest excuse to wheel out Nato and revive the cold war story, says JonaThan STeele

51 BASICALLy. . . JaiMie GRanT meets with veteran peace campaigner Lindis Percy to discuss American bases in Britain

oct | nov 2008 red pepper 05