In the magazine this month

January/February 2010

The weasel words of the European Convention are undermining our ancient liberties. David Cameron is right to demand reform

The European Convention on Human Rights was a wonder of its time, but that time was 1950. It was celebrated by Churchill as a bulwark against the encroachment of communism in Europe. Communism may now be dead, but in 1998 (when Labour needed to deliver on an election promise), the European Convention was simply incorporated into our law without amendment.
NICHI HODGSON
In a Valentine's special, Nichi Hodgson examines the inane lyrical legacy of the Renaissance sonneteer
CLAUDIA SCHWARTZ
As the anniversary of the Iranian revolution approaches, the opposition movement is gaining momentum 
BEN JUDAH

As part of his research for this month's Dispatch from Siberia, Ben Judah interviewed Anton Surikov, a member of Russian military intelligence. It was Surikov's last interview for the western media - he died two months later in mysterious circumstances

 
MICHAEL NAZIR-ALI

The West cannot defeat radical Islam if it abandons Afghans and Pakistanis prematurely

ARCHBISHOP VINCENT NICHOLS

The new Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, tells Daniel Johnson about his vision of English Catholicism

JULIAN JACKSON

Jean Moulin, the leader of the struggle against the Nazis, died in 1943. Now his aide’s memoirs have revived controversy

 
FISUN GüNER

What was Van Gogh really like? A new exhibition brings us closer to the truth

GEZA VERMES

Is the passage about Jesus by the great Jewish historian a forgery — or authentic?

MICHAEL GOVE AND CHRIS WOODHEAD
The Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Michael Gove, and the former Chief Inspector of Schools, Chris Woodhead, discuss the Conservatives’ reform plans with Daniel Johnson, the Editor of Standpoint