The New Statesman’s centenary debate saw the motion “This house believes the Left won the 20th century” carried, thanks to an unlikely ally: Simon Heffer, editor of the Daily Mail’s RightMinds.
Speaking at the event at King’s College, Heffer said “I am not a conservative, I am a liberal.” He said that Baroness Thatcher, who defeated “feudalism” and the old Tory party, was also a liberal.
Both Heffer and New Statesman editor Jason Cowley hinted at revelations to come which would rehabilitate Thatcher’s South African legacy.
Oddly, for such a media-savvy magazine, the debate did not spill onto Twitter. The reason? The subterranean venue meant guests were unable to get a mobile phone signal.
Digitally minded hacks were thrown into panic, and The Guardian’s new data editor James Ball was overheard posing a very 21st-century question: “If you have a hashtag but no wi-fi, does it make a sound?”
