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Goodbye to all that
The SpectatorI t ends, as it began, with a political conjuring trick. The splicing together of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness must, by any standards, rank as one of the most extraordinary...
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I âm full of hurrahs, huzzahs, yippee-kiyays and general end-of-term jubilation
The Spectatornow that this gruelling 30-week US tour of Legends has finally ended. To say itâs been tough is an understatement: 25 cities in 30 weeks, eight shows in six days each week,...
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THE SPECTATORâS NOTES
The SpectatorCHARLES MOORE T ony Blair gives a date for his departure. Many say that he would have been able to stay if he had not supported the war in Iraq. But what would have happened in...
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MONDAY Everyone trying their best to look âsociocentricâ (Mr Letwinâs
The Spectatororders), but we are all secretly dreading this week. Most of us have never known any other Leader. I will be glad when itâs over. Feels a bit like the time we all went down to...
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Alastair Campbell told the crowd: âUnite behind Gordon to winâ. But can they?
The SpectatorFraser Nelson says that the departure of Tony Blair and the arrival of Gordon Brown will mark a clear-out of personnel and a marked change in style. The risk is that the new...
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Mind your language
The SpectatorWhoever said, âDonât give me problems, give me solutionsâ, was asking for it. Everyone seems to be claiming solutions now. I went past a childrenâs nursery the other day...
Can Brown break with the Blairite past? Yes, he can
The SpectatorIrwin Stelzer says that, in spite of the huge challenges facing the Prime Minister in waiting, he has what it takes as a policymaker and a politician, but he will have to change...
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Ancient & modern
The SpectatorNow that the Oxford, Cambridge and Royal Society of Arts Examination Board (OCR) proposes to scrap the last remaining A-level in ancient history, it is time to consider what the...
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The etiquette of a black sheepâs wink
The SpectatorAlexander Chancellor says that George Bush was probably in two minds about dressing in white tie for the Queen: how to be polite without grovelling to the old colonial power B...
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âWeâre in a state of denial in Africaâ
The SpectatorIn a rare interview, Richard Leakey tells Steve King that poaching is out of control, that Kenyan parks should be privatised and that global warming has been ignored R ichard...
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A Saga holiday free from âyoofâ is a basic human right
The SpectatorRod Liddle is appalled by the implicit threat in new equality legislation to force older people to go on holiday with youngsters, singing âAgadooâ on the coach T he first...
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THEODORE DALRYMPLE
The SpectatorTheodore Dalrymple begins a new column â on globalisation, moronic technology and modernity in general. The environment is what we all live in, of course, but to judge by...
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Britain should come first
The SpectatorSir: Reading Clemency Burton-Hillâs âCameron is taking on Brown â in Rwandaâ (5 May) I felt my blood boil. I have every sympathy with the people of Rwanda but surely...
Power to the EU
The SpectatorSir: John Laughlandâs pro-Europeans justify the European Unionâs existence because it has created peace in Europe. But proEuropeans cannot, any longer, use the âpeace...
Wait in line
The SpectatorSir: Average waiting times for an operation are not two weeks longer now than they were under Mrs Thatcher as Fraser Nelson stated (âThese elections will mark the final...
Capital offense
The SpectatorSir: Rod Liddle (âScottish Nationalism is compellingâ, 5 May) suffers from a Londonersâ depressing delusion that West Country dwellers should demonstrate servility towards...
In the know
The SpectatorSir: Andrew Taylor (Books, 5 May) writes in his review that Martin Sixsmith was right to suggest that Litvinenkoâs murder was not something that Putin directly ordered. Can...
Right time, right place
The SpectatorSir: Paul Johnsonâs reflections on space, time and God (And Another Thing, 28 April) are nicely summed up in the saying âTime and space are Godâs way of stopping...
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Nothing ventured, nothing gained although itâs better to be safe than sorry
The SpectatorT o impart wisdom in the shape of a proverb, adults tend to adopt a trite, sing-song voice. In such a voice I was told as a child that âpennies add up to poundsâ and found...
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Maytime and âSome wet, bird-haunted English lawnâ
The SpectatorT he best thing this country has ever produced is a fine-sown, closely mown and weedless lawn. You really relish it this sunny time of year, when it becomes a work of art, or as...
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BUSINESS
The SpectatorThe real driving force in the battle for ABN Matthew Lynn says that power in the financial world has shifted to little-known hedge funds like the one that turned ABN Amro into...
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INVESTMENT
The SpectatorSell Madrid, buy Berlin Merryn Somerset Webb F or some years now it has been fashionable for fund managers investing in Europe to consider the entire Eurozone as one great big...
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THE LONDON PROPERTY MARKET
The SpectatorâItâs a feeding frenzy. Thereâs so much moneyâ Judi Bevan meets a top estate agent who thinks only a terrorist bomb can stop the capitalâs house prices soaring P...
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS The partyâs almost over â but not in the land of the weeping camel
The SpectatorT he Dow Jones Industrial Average of leading US stocks passed 13200 for the first time last week, after its strongest run (23 rises in 26 sessions) since 1955. The S&P 500, a...
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The lion or the donkey?
The SpectatorDavid Gilmour GARIBALDI: I NVENTION OF A H ERO by Lucy Riall Yale, £25, pp. 482, ISBN 9780300112122 â £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 G iuseppe Garibaldi must be among...
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A rector wrecked
The SpectatorPatrick Skene Catling S UNDAY AT THE C ROSS B ONES by John Walsh Fourth Estate, £12.99, pp. 470, ISBN 9780007139322 V £10.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 J ohn Walshâs...
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Kicking a man when heâs down
The SpectatorAnthony Daniels RUMSFELD: A N A MERICAN DISASTER by Andrew Cockburn Verso, £17.99, pp. 247, ISBN 9781844671281 T he desire to wage war as if it were keyhole surgery is, after...
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When the going was better
The SpectatorI n January 1923 Aldous Huxley signed a contract with Chatto & Windus, which would guarantee him a regular income for three years. He would be paid £500 per annum and in return...
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Myth and minstrelsy
The SpectatorJames Joll MEDIEVALISM by Michael Alexander Yale, £25, pp. 306, ISBN 9780300110616 â £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 W inston Churchill once famously declared, âthis...
The saviour of the world
The SpectatorEdward Norman ISLAM: P AST , P RESENT AND F UTURE by Hans Küng Oneworld Publications, £29.99, pp. 752, ISBN 978185684717 â £23.99 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 I n...
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Agony rather than ecstasy
The SpectatorByron Rogers I MPOTENCE by Angus McLaren University of Chicago Press, £19, pp. 332, ISBN 9780226500768 â £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 O ne of the most interesting...
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A monster in the making
The SpectatorJonathan Mirsky Y OUNG S TALIN by Simon Sebag Montefiore Weidenfeld, £25, pp. 397, ISBN 9780297850687 â £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 O ne day in 1915, when Stalin...
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Delicately exposing the past
The SpectatorTom Fleming T HE D IG by John Preston Viking, £16.99, pp. 230, ISBN 9780670914913 â £13.59 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 J ohn Prestonâs fourth novel is a quiet...
Brushes with strangers
The SpectatorJustin Marozzi M ISADVENTURE IN THE M IDDLE E AST : T RAVELS AS T RAMP , A RTIST AND S PY by Henry Hemming Nicholas Brealey, £10.99, pp. 298, ISBN 9781857883954 â £8.79...
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Deep, romantic and savage
The SpectatorHelena Drysdale T HE K HYBER P ASS : A H ISTORY OF E MPIRE AND I NVASION by Paddy Docherty Faber, £17.99, pp. 261, ISBN 9780571219773 â £14.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429...
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The thinking manâs punk
The SpectatorMary Wakefield talks to Julien Temple about Joe Strummer and his latest film S ometimes you absolutely know, beyond the gentlest breath of a doubt, that youâre not going to...
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Exhibitions 1
The SpectatorTimber treatment Andrew Lambirth With the Grain: Wood Sculpture by David Nash Lewes Town Hall, Sussex, until 10 June Jeffery Camp â Rubicon Art Space Gallery, 84 St...
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Exhibitions 2
The SpectatorIn the labyrinth Richard Cork Garden of Love, created by Yinka Shonibare Musée du quai Branly, Paris, until 8 July N othing might seem more idyllic than Fragonardâs large,...
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Opera
The SpectatorPolar exploration Michael Tanner Katya Kabanova Opera North Imeneo Cambridge Handel Opera Group O pera Northâs new production of Janacekâs Katya Kabanova is the most...
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Olden but golden
The SpectatorDistant days Charles Spencer A s the super soaraway Spectator becomes ever more style-conscious and glossy, I like to think of âOlden but goldenâ as a monthly oasis for...
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Theatre
The SpectatorThe misfits Lloyd Evans Elling Bush Kiss of the Spiderwoman Donmar Feelgood Rosemary Branch J ohn Simm is one of the biggest names on TV. If he wanted a West End contract...
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Television
The SpectatorMiracle worker Simon Hoggart N ow and again someone recommends a programme, and youâre very glad they did because itâs the kind of show that television ought to make often...
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Radio
The SpectatorSound barrier Kate Chisholm âT he poem has become a byword for truth-telling,â is how Eliot Weinbergerâs epic list of quotations from politicians and military personnel...
The turf
The SpectatorFalling at the first Robin Oakley F esse versus grit. Split-second timing in in going for a gap versus imparting conviction to an inexperienced jumper that he can do it. Sheer...
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High life
The SpectatorWinning streak Taki Southampton, New York I received a gift necktie from the King of Greece at the lunch I threw in his honour here in the Bagel. The design on the tie gave...
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Low life
The SpectatorLeading light Jeremy Clarke O n Thursday last there were two guided twilight walks on offer to the Dartmoor tourist. One was A Bat and Moth Walk, the other Antiquities of...
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Letter from Arcadia
The SpectatorLove thy neighbour Roy Hattersley M y mother, who put a high value on formal respectability, was deeply opposed to what she called âneighbouringâ â the habit of...
Bridge
The SpectatorTalking heads Susanna Gross I f you donât play bridge, I strongly suggest you avoid spending time with a group of people who do: youâll be bored out of your mind. When...
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STYLE AND TRAVEL
The SpectatorChips with everything Casinos, like Take That and TB, are making a comeback, says Oscar Humphries I turned 26 last week. In this age of mobile phones, text messages and emails,...
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Material world
The SpectatorJoanna Pitman talks to Lord McAlpine about his passion for collecting L ast November a de Kooning sold at auction in New York for $137.5 million. A few days earlier, a Jackson...
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ARMCHAIR TRAVELLER
The SpectatorSo near and yet so far Geordie Greig catches an unexpected shag in the idyllic Scilly Isles T he perfect shag. She was wild and alluringly beautiful. She was alone and...
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The old rhythms
The SpectatorFRANK KEATING I t seems barmy that the first cricket Test match of the summer begins as early as next Thursday. The madcap trawl for profits obliterates all the old established...