There are certainly very similar elements there - the colored section nav, the styles (and widths) of the headline columns.
Close enough to be considered a rip-off? Borderline, but I'd say the New Statesman will get away with it. It's hard to copyright a layout/color scheme!
Martin writes quite a bit about the inner workings of the Guardian site and is a good one to follow in your RSS if you're interested in Information Architecture.
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