What’s in our Oct/Nov issue

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Cover story

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

Labour isn’t educating

The death of the intellectual
Terry Eagleton laments the passing of a critical age

Back to class
The rising price of a degree is hitting some harder than others. Laurie Penny looks at what’s left of education

Beyond town and gown
Relationships between students and locals can be fraught. Jenny Nelson meets activists who want to break out of the ghetto

The fight for the NUS
The National Union of Students’ Blairite leaders are putting it on a path to self-destruction, says Hind Hassan

Students are citizens too
Student activists must look beyond their own problems, argues Aled Fisher

Life after Labour

A place for the left
Hilary Wainwright says that the pull of national and local identities away from Westminster is a vital clue to understanding and preparing for the unravelling of New Labour

Radical renewal
If Labour is to stand any chance of resisting a long-term Tory hegemony, it is going to have to build a new progressive alliance with the Lib Dems, Greens and other smaller parties, argues Patrick Dunleavy

After the party
In 2004 the Fire Brigades Union disaffiliated from the Labour Party. FBU general secretary Matt Wrack explains what it has meant for the union politically

Grown up and independent
Actress and comedian Elaine C Smith, convenor of the Convention for Scottish Independence, took a long time to cross what she describes as the ‘mythical bridge’ to a belief in independence. She argues now that there is no going back

Is England up for it?
The slow but steady break-up of the United Kingdom signals a new progressive nationalism in Wales as well as Scotland, argues Plaid Cymru Welsh Assembly member Leanne Wood. It could also open up new possibilities in England – but is the English left ready for them?

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Other features

My friends on the left
Barack Obama’s base is unique – but his supporters need to stick around after the election, argues Gary Younge

Climate camp in pictures
Red Pepper photographer Daniel Tierney spends a week at climate camp, Caroline Lucas writes about her experiences there

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

Basically…
Jaimie Grant meets with veteran peace campaigner Lindis Percy to discuss American bases in Britain

The generation gap
Mark Steel writes about youth and protest in an extract from his book What’s Going On?

Off the ball
Mark Perryman stands up for a game that would prefer him to sit down

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Poetry Special

including poems by Adrian Mitchell and Polarbear and an extract from The Lamplighter by Jackie Kay

Something worth fighting for
A Carol Ann Duffy poem has been removed by a school exam board. Michael Rosen thinks poets have a battle on their hands

A cultural revolution
Andy Croft talks to Neil Astley, founder of Bloodaxe Books, about putting the politics into poetry

Well versed
John Rety shares some radical poems from his Morning Star column

Carrying on from the Chartists
The editors of Citizen 32 explain the importance of combining poetry and activism

PLUS All the regulars

Editorial
A place for the left by Hilary Wainwright

Letters

Agony Subcomandauntie

Plattitudes
The world according to Steve Platt

Democracy now
Stuart Weir: Our job as citizens

Under the radar
Wembley with intent: an anti-academy camp

Natural born rebel
State education campaigner Margaret Tulloch

Asylum watch
Dead safe: deportations to Iraq

Guerrilla guides
Building an anti-deportation campaign

Temperature gauge
Are we winning on agro-fuels?

Know your enemy
FIT for purpose? The Forward Intelligence Team

Booktopia
Tracy Quan selects the eight books she’d take to the ends of the earth with her

Rearview
Icons

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