Notebook
A s this week consists principally of Bank ..Holidays, I am not where may you think I am, sitting at my desk writing this Notebook, but somewhere completely dif- ferent, doing nothing at all. This Notebook has not therefore been written in a mood of post-Christmas satiation and contentment, but in one of pre-Christmas hysteria — only two shopping days left and the streets of London bustling with very jumpy-looking People. It might not have been difficult to offer some reflections on a Christmas that had not yet taken place, for one of the most endearing attributes of Christmas is its predictability. But it is not in the tradition of the Spectator to deceive its readers in such ways, so bear with me if I sound a little out of date. It is not too soon, however, to be looking forward to the end of 1982, a Year which has had a nightmarish feel to it. The dramas that have dominated the newspapers — ranging from Britain's last colonial war in the South Atlantic to the massacre of Palestinians in Beirut, from the spy scandals to the intrusion into the Queen's bedroom — have mostly shared a quality of unreality. It has been too dramatic a year, one in which the Princess of Wales has been transformed by the press from a saint into a fiend and in which, as it draws to its close, I learn on high authority that the Queen has all the time been en- chanted by Miss Koo Stark. 1 hope that 1983 will be both calmer and easier to understand.
T
Ike Mr Arthur Scargill, the miners' 1—a leader, I recently appeared' in couji•On a charge of speeding — also of -,driving without due care and attention. I was accus- ed of driving at 50 mph in a 40 mph limit; 1 was also accused of weaving my way in and out of the traffic on the Cromwell Road. I readily admitted to both offences, though I was not quite clear why the business of changing lanes in the rush hour, in search of the fastest-moving line of traffic, should be construed as driving without due care and attention, given that it is an activity re- quiring a good deal more care and attention than just sitting still in the same lane. But unsupported as I was by the National Union of Mineworkers or any other finan- cial backer, I thought it prudent not to challenge the police on this point but to plead guilty and apologise cringingly. I did not suffer too badly as a result. The benevolent magistrate did not regard the speeding offence as very serious, as he fin- ed me only £5 for it, while on the other charge he fined me £25 and endorsed my licence. (Incidentally, he took much more seriously the offence of driving in a bus lane; those found guilty of this were all fin-
ed a minimum of £50.) Comparing my ex- perience to that of Mr Scargill, who was ac- quitted before Christmas of a charge of driving at 120 mph in a 70 mph limit, I am quite content. My conviction cost me £30; his acquittal cost the NUM £2,800. I do not wonder that there have been rumblings of discontent within the union about this. The price of keeping Mr Scargill's licence clean has been a heavy one.
Is it conceivable that Mr Yuri Andropov, the new leader of the Soviet Union, could have been responsible for the attempt on the Pope's life in the spring of 1981? The answer, on the face of it, is No, of course not. The Pope, as a defender of Polish freedoms and independence, is certainly a thorn in the side of the Soviet Union. But even the KGB which Mr Andropov con- 'trolled at the time, would surely have con- sidered the risks of killing him too great to contemplate. How would the Poles have reacted if the crime could ever have been traced back to Moscow? Nevertheless, in September last year, the theory of KGB in- volvement was aired in a television documentary and in the Guardian newspaper. Among those who poured ridicule on this theory were the Vatican, Isvestia, and the Spectator. Our own com- ments produced a letter from Mr Julian Manyon, the reporter who made the televi- sion documentary, insisting that the would- be assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, was 'a "hired gun", controlled by the Bulgarian Secret Service, and hence probably by the KGB'. It now looks as if the Vatican, Isvestia, and the Spectator may all have to eat their words. Agca has recently told the Italian police that he had Bulgarian ac- complices, and three Bulgarians have been officially implicated in the assassination at- tempt. The Italians have recalled their am- bassador from Sofia, and the Italian Defence Minister, Signor Lelio Lagorio, has declared in Parliament: 'Ali Agca's at- tack on the Pope is to be considered a real act of war in a time of peace, a precau-
tionary and alternative solution to the inva- sion of Poland. This merits the most deep concern about the Bulgarian Connection and the international tensions it can cause.' The Italian Government has been careful to attach no blame to Moscow, which last year hotly denied any involvement in the affair. But it is well known that the KGB sometimes uses the Bulgarians to do its dir- ty work. Whether or not the KGB was in- volved in this particular conspiracy is yet to be proven. But the thought is appalling, given that Mr Andropov would certainly have authorised it.
Next year the first specialised centre for the rehabilitation of torture victims is to open in Copenhagen. The centre hopes to be able to treat about 200 patients and their families every year, which indicates that torture is expected to remain a popular pastime in many countries. The centre will employ some 25 doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, and physiotherapists. Ordinary medical treatment is considered insufficient for torture victims, who usually suffer from psychological as well as physical disorders and to whom some commonly used medical treatments — such as traction and warm baths — are horribly reminiscent of their past sufferings. Money for the centre is be- ing contributed by the United Nations and by Amnesty International, but much more is needed. The only countries so far to pro- mise contributions are Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Cyprus. Why is this, I wonder?
At this very moment hundreds of little baby seals are having their heads bash- ed in in the Orkneys. Writing on another page, Michael Wigan tells us that this is really a very good thing and complains that `the naive interference of an ill-informed urban majority, expressing its nostalgia for nature, damages the real purposes of con- servation'. I hope he is right, but it does seem a shame that nature cannot look after itself without such brutal interference. Since I was a child, I have been biased in favour of the baby seal as a result of having to sing a song written by Rudyard Kipling and set to music by Miss Dora Knatchbull. It was a lullaby sung by a mother seal to her pup and, if I remember it correctly, went as follows:
You must not swim till you're six weeks old or your head will be sunk by your heels; For summer gales and killer whales are bad for baby seals.
Are bad for baby seals, dear rat; are bad as bad can be.
So splash and grow strong, and you can't go wrong, Child of the open sea.
Not a very good poem, perhaps, but remin- iscent of a happier' time when baby seals had nothing to ,fear but summer gales and killer whales.
Alexander Chancellor
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