Have we got news for them

Contrary to the excited reports carried in several national newspapers and on BBC television, LM magazine did not support any candidates in the general election. We did, however, support two propositions which will be proved true sooner rather than later.

1. The worst pinstriped politician is better than the best white-suited journalist. Whatever their sins or self-interests, politicians selected by a party to stand for a set of policies are at least accountable to the electorate. That is democracy. By contrast, self-righteous journalists selected by the Guardian editor to stand for nothing except 'good' against 'evil' are accountable to nobody, with the possible exception of God. That is elitism.

2. However bad the Tories were, New Labour is going to be worse: more authoritarian, more dangerous, more dull.

Neither of these propositions, however, meant that we supported Neil Hamilton or anybody else at the polls on 1 May. Now, if the bright and bolshy Mrs Christine Hamilton had been standing...

4 Mick Hume

6 LM-mail

8 NEW LABOUR - NOT JUST THE NEW TORIES Mike Fitzpatrick

11 OPINION: Ann Bradley

12 What the new women MPs want Sally Millard

14 'Consensus' by coercion in Northern Ireland Brendan O'Neill

16 WHO MADE FREEDOM A DIRTY WORD? James Heartfield

19 Safe walking on campus Jennie Bristow

20 LM V ITN: THERE ARE CAMPS, AND THERE ARE CONCENTRATION CAMPS Mick Hume, Helen Searls

23 The Next Step conference

27 SECOND OPINION Dr Michael Fitzpatrick

28 TABOOS: the truth about testing your testicles David Nolan