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PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK M r Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary,
The Spectatorspeaking in the Commons about the promised Bill to hold a referendum on the European constitution, said, âUntil the consequences of France and the Netherlands being unable to...
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Subsidising tyrants
The SpectatorA bunch of ageing rockers belting out their old hits for the supposed benefit of Africaâs poor (not to mention the hope of reviving fading careers) is such a tempting target...
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DIARY
The SpectatorMICHAEL VESTEY Y ou donât have to love the budget airlines to find them useful for travelling in Europe. Since I belatedly discovered them Iâve become a habitué and fly to...
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The remarkable hostility of George W. Bush towards Gordon Brown
The SpectatorT he biggest point about last monthâs general election was not really that New Labour won, but that democracy lost. The low turnout, debased calibre of debate and half-hearted...
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THE SPECTATORâS NOTES
The SpectatorCHARLES MOORE I t is proverbial that the British press is disgusting and contemptible, but would we ever have got ourselves into the extraordinary situation of our Continental...
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You canât bank on the euro
The SpectatorNo common currency has succeeded without a single government: Martin Vander Weyer on the growing likelihood that the euro will fail A ll sorts of revealing things have been said...
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Piss and wind
The SpectatorMark Steyn analyses the wildly disproportionate anger over the Gitmo guard whose urine accidentally made contact with a copy of the Koran New Hampshire R obert Mugabe destroyed...
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The law canât stop hate
The SpectatorLe Monde has just been found guilty of defamation against the Jewish people, but, says Melanie Phillips , the courts are no place to handle European anti-Semitism S ince the...
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Mind your language
The SpectatorâHave you noticed,â asked Kim Fletcher, a man, at a party to launch his brilliant new Journalistâs Handbook , âhow people say testament when they mean testimony ?â I...
The whingers of Oz
The SpectatorEric Ellis on the weeping, xenophobic hysteria in Australia over the conviction of Schapelle Corby for smuggling drugs into Indonesia S chapelle Corby, the 27-year-old daughter...
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The evil that men do
The SpectatorFear of witchcraft can lead to great barbarity, as we have just seen. But, says Theo Hobson , it is not barbaric to believe in demonic possession S ome forms of religion are...
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Power to the African people
The SpectatorJulian Morris says that aid and âclimate controlâ will make poverty perpetual N airobi can get quite chilly in July. Barely 50 miles from the equator, its 5,200ft elevation...
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Good value
The SpectatorFrom David Conway Sir: Ross Clark says that NHS Trusts are âstuffed with local worthies drawing generous salaries and pensionsâ. I object. Like all other non-executive...
Welcome to America
The SpectatorFrom Nick C. Flynn Sir: Come on, you guys (âNow for the British revolutionâ, 4 June). Tell the EU to take a hike. You know you really want to. Face it, your relationship...
Insult to injury
The SpectatorFrom Jeffrey D. Sachs Sir: Tim Congdon has now matched his illinformed review of my book with an even more preposterous and rude letter (21 May). Congdon persists in claiming...
A settled debt
The SpectatorFrom Robert Triggs Sir: I should like to pay tribute to the far reaching influence of the letters page in The Spectator . In the edition of 29 January this year I drew attention...
Hooverâs blond wig
The SpectatorFrom Anthony Summers Sir: Gwynplaine MacIntyre writes (Letters, 21 May) that my biography of J. Edgar Hoover, Official and Confidential , contained the âoutright lieâ that...
Toilet trouble
The SpectatorFrom Sir Ludovic Kennedy Sir: With regard to âtoiletsâ (The Spectatorâs Notes, 4 June), it depends entirely on whom one is talking to. To Charles Moore, for instance, I...
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June in the Pyrenees is as close to perfection as I ever expect to get
The SpectatorC anigou is more than a mountain. They speak of the Pic de Canigou, Mont Canigou and the Massif de Canigou . A landmark for more than 50 miles around and visible from much of...
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When Wittgenstein and Hitler were whistling schoolboys together
The SpectatorI cherish scraps of personal information about great men. At the age of ten, and using only bits of metal discarded as useless, Ludwig Wittgenstein built a working sewing...
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His hopes on the shelf, the PM discovers the dangers of making history poverty
The SpectatorT he Prime Minister likes the idea of making poverty history. It gives him the chance to forget about Europe and think about Africa. Bob Geldof and his band can know that the...
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The way ahead
The SpectatorSo what is the point of the Tory party? What does it stand for? Where is it going? We at The Spectator decided to ignore any petty skirmishing that may be taking place at...
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The creepiness of Peter Pan
The SpectatorPhilip Hensher H IDE AND S EEK WITH A NGELS : A L IFE OF J. M. B ARRIE by Lisa Chaney Hutchinson, £20, pp. 402, ISBN 0091795397 â £18 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 K...
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A disenchanted warrior
The SpectatorJohn Keegan R ULES OF E NGAGEMENT : A L IFE OF C ONFLICT by Tim Collins Headline, £20, pp. 406, ISBN 0755313747 â £18 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 T im Collins won...
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A death greatly exaggerated
The SpectatorIan McIntyre T HE C OLLAPSE OF G LOBALISM AND THE R EINVENTION OF THE W ORLD by John Ralston Saul Atlantic Books, £16.99, pp. 309, ISBN 1843544083 â £14.99 (plus £2.25...
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The good gang of four
The SpectatorAllan Massie T HE S TORY OF G ENERAL D ANN AND M ARA â S D AUGHTER , G RIOT AND THE S NOW D OG by Doris Lessing Fourth Estate, £15.99, pp. 282, ISBN 0007152809 â £13.99...
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The first great bourgeois victory
The SpectatorTom Pocock M EN OF H ONOUR : T RAFALGAR AND THE M AKING OF THE E NGLISH H ERO by Adam Nicolson HarperCollins, £16.99, pp. 341, ISBN 0007192096 â £14.99 (plus £2.25 p&p)...
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Damsels in distress
The SpectatorZenga Longmore F AT G IRL : A T RUE S TORY by Judith Moore Profile, £12.99, pp. 196, ISBN 1861979860 â £11.99 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 N OT A G AMES P ERSON by Julie...
Judging the Man Booker International Prize
The SpectatorAlberto Manguel C ompared to literary competitions, Paris had it easy. Instructed by Zeus to judge who, among rich Hera, wise Athena and beautiful Aphrodite, was the fairest,...
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Singing for fun
The SpectatorAriane Bankes on how two schools are collaborating on a new music drama I s community singing almost a thing of the past? When church attendance was high there was a weekly...
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Crowd control
The SpectatorAndrew Lambirth Summer Exhibition Royal Academy, until 15 August have changed,â I was told by one T disgruntled Academician. Once the members were guaranteed to have their...
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Draughtsman of genius
The SpectatorAlan Powers C R. Cockerell RA (1788â1863) The Professorâs Dream is the title of a small exhibition (until 25 September) in the Tennant Room at the Royal Academy, a...
Bumping along
The SpectatorLloyd Evans On the Shore of the Wide World Cottesloe Sweetheart The Etcetera H ard to know where to start with On the Shore of the Wide World . The title, maybe: a sweet,...
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Slow lane
The SpectatorMark Steyn Swimming Upstream 12A, selected cinemas I love Australia, and I used to love Australian movies. But a certain stiffness seems to have set in. Swimming Upstream has...
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Ground force
The SpectatorUrsula Buchan T his was my 30th consecutive visit to Chelsea Flower Show. You may think that means I have become a little weary and difficult to impress: been there, seen that,...
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Station to be cherished
The SpectatorMarcus Berkmann L ike every red-blooded male, I do like a gadget, and the latest pointless item of electrical flummery to adorn our absurdly small flat is a digital radio. What...
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Wasted talent
The SpectatorMichael Tanner Orphée Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House A collaboration between Jean Cocteau and Philip Glass, even though it necessarily had to be posthumous, sounds like a...
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Crisis? What crisis?
The SpectatorMichael Vestey I t was good to wake up to the news on Monday morning last week that the French had rejected the EU constitution, though depressing to hear Peter Mandelson on...
Picture perfect
The SpectatorSimon Hoggart T here are weeks when I even feel privileged to be a television critic. Youâre vaguely aware that out there somewhere people are watching Celebrity Love Island...
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Winning in style
The SpectatorRobin Oakley N ormally in racing you place the successful horseâs connections in the winnerâs enclosure. After Motivator won this yearâs Vodafone Derby at Epsom, it was a...
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To have and have not
The SpectatorTaki New York M y last week in the Bagel, and just as well. Things are heating up. Mind you, the last two weekends have been great. Noo Yawkers are very predictable, almost...
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Missing Mabel
The SpectatorJeremy Clarke Letting âI dare notâ wait upon âI wouldâ, Like the poor cat iâthâ adage. T hus Lady Macbeth derides her husband for hesitating to do Duncan to death....
Star quality
The SpectatorSusanna Gross BRIDGE clubs can be intimidating places. All too often, normal rules of polite behaviour are left at the door; itâs not unusual to hear someone abusing their...
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Day of the rabbits
The SpectatorFRANK KEATING F or the first time I can remember I havenât bothered a fig about Englandâs Test matches. I havenât even cocked an ear towards the radio. Keith Miller said...
Q. In the 28 May edition of The Spectator you
The Spectatorstate that âa rector enjoys superior rank to a vicarâ. While this may be true in popular mythology, it is quite wrong as far as the Church of England is concerned. The...