Issue 1016
News
Analysis
World
“David Cameron’s government is responsible for the most aggressive attack for over a century on our public services, our standard of living and on the future for jobs and a decent life for young people,” said the Radical Independence Campaign, which is pushing for a “yes” vote in Scotland's September 18 referendum on independence. “The millionaire cabinet are ruining the chances of a generation. By slashing services and privatising health and education they are driving our young people to despair.”
Culture
Les Miserables Now playing in Melbourne www.lesmis.com.au Les Miserables tells two stories: one of personal love, the other of revolutionary passion. It is no surprise that most Western adaptations of Victor Hugo's novel have, when deciding what to cut and what to leave in, favoured the clasped hands of romance over the clenched fist of insurrection. The story we all know -- the one that is left after adaptation pares away everything else -- is that of Jean Valjean, the ex-convict who redeems himself through acts of charity.