David Starkey:"The Queen is a tough old boot" | Irwin Stelzer: How Labour could wrong-foot the coalition on Europe | Alex Salmond's big gamble

Weekly Online Newsletter 28 April 2011 Home Editor's Choice Features Regulars Arts & Books Blogs Subscribe   Editor's Choice IN THIS WEEK'S NEW STATESMAN: The Firm This week's New Statesman looks inside Britain's ultimate political machine - the royal family. In the magazine, the historian Dominic Sandbrook explains why the Queen is such a skilled politician, Will Self decries the royal wedding as an overwrought breeding ceremony and David Starkey calls the Queen "tough old boot". Elsewhere, Rob Brown argues that Alex Salmond's nationalist government has failed to bring Scotland any closer to independence, Irwin Stelzer urges Labour to attack the Tories on the EU, Alex Preston looks at the power of credit rating agencies to make or break both countries and companies, and Max Benitez reports from the frontline in Afghanistan, on patrol with the Scots Guards. Plus, Amanda Foreman looks at the dark side of empire, Alice Miles discusses her plans for the royal wedding and Kasia Boddy celebrates the glorious unpredictability of Bob Dylan. The issue is on sale now, or you can subscribe through the website. Get a FREE copy of Peter Taylor's Talking to Terrorists: A Personal Journey from the IRA to Al Qaeda when you start your annual subscription today for just £87. The five most read blogs Buns, bunting and retro-imperialism | Laurie Penny PMQs review: Cameron's jibe falls flat | George Eaton "Calm down, dear!" | Sophie Elmhirst An interview with Sam Harris | Jonathan Derbyshire The royal baby: "Aww!" or "ARGH!" | Duncan Robinson New Statesman Jobs For forward thinking, intelligent and discerning professionals. That's you. Regulars Leader: Failure in Scotland would be a big blow to the Miliband leadership A second SNP victory would deny Labour an important platform.     This Week's Issue Kindly note that if you receive this e-mail your e-mail address is being held by us for the purpose of communicating with you on New Statesman related matters. If you do not wish us to e-mail you, please unsubscribe from this list. New Statesman Limited is a Data Controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. © New Statesman Ltd. 2009. The above information may be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient of this email please destroy it. As Internet communications are not secure please note that the New Statesman does not accept legal responsibility for the content of this email message.