12 NOVEMBER 2005

Page 2

The politics of terror

The Spectator

W hen history comes to make a final judgment on the Blair government — and we can be forgiven for hoping that moment is not too much longer delayed — there is one key statistic...

Page 4

PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK M r Tony Blair, the Prime Minister,

The Spectator

insisted on pressing ahead with a Bill to allow police to hold anyone suspected of a terrorist offence for 90 days without charge. The government prepared legislation to allow...

Page 5

T here was a surreal touch to last Sunday’s newspapers. The

The Spectator

inside sections, which tend to be prepared a little in advance, brimmed, as usual, with pieces about the delights of living in France. The news pages, by contrast, carried...

Page 6

How does Tony survive? Eloquence, unction and the abuse of power

The Spectator

N o prime minister, with the debatable exception of Anthony Eden, has been held in such low private esteem by senior civil servants as Tony Blair. Cabinet secretaries Robin...

Page 7

L es événements in France have provoked self-congratulation here. Apparently, the

The Spectator

French model of assimilation is bad. If they had our multiculturalism, the celebration of diversity and ethnic monitoring, everything would be much better, it is said. The...

Page 8

The crescent of fear

The Spectator

Rod Liddle goes to Grigny, a suburb south of Paris, and witnesses at first hand the consequences of Muslim reluctance to integrate with French society A s France burned, the...

Page 10

Will London burn too?

The Spectator

Patrick Sookhdeo on the Islamic doctrine of sacred space T revor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, has warned recently of ‘sleepwalking our way to...

Page 11

It’s the demography, stupid

The Spectator

The French riots are just the beginning, says Mark Steyn . If we continue to accommodate and appease the young, growing Muslim population, Europe will disintegrate ‘W hat does...

Page 13

Profiles in courage

The Spectator

James Delingpole marks Remembrance Sunday with a tribute to the gentle and modest veterans of the second world war H ave you ever escaped from captivity by removing from your...

Page 14

Bullying for charity

The Spectator

Guy Adams says that big charities have developed a taste for bossing us about and getting things banned H ere are three pastimes the government has either banned, is about to...

Page 15

Why Britain can’t make it

The Spectator

Andrew Kenny on how boredom killed British manufacturing Cape Town I can see the progress of Britain better than you because I don’t live there. I did for a while as a young...

Page 17

Young people are the business

The Spectator

They are not feckless booze-hounds, says Leo McKinstry . They are clean and sober, and keen on capitalism L azy, ignorant, shallow and irresponsible, more interested in taking...

Page 18

Mind your language

The Spectator

The learned Peter Jones, who always surprises me by how young he is, considering his almost first-hand knowledge of the ancient world, invited or challenged me to explain how...

The silence of the lambs of the BBC

The Spectator

Andrew Gilligan says the real trouble with the BBC isn’t bias towards New Labour but fear of authority O ne afternoon last month, TV viewers who receive the daily email trailing...

Page 20

Why Cameron should avoid Scotland

The Spectator

Alan Cochrane on the bitching and backbiting that bedevil Scottish politics E leven months ago Kirsty Wark, arguably Britain’s best-known female television presenter, hosted a...

Page 21

Proud without prejudice

The Spectator

From James Landale Sir: I am extremely glad to know that The Spectator watches BBC News 24 (5 November) . However, I fear that your leader writer must have momentarily allowed...

Why migrants are welcome

The Spectator

From Buks van Rensburg Sir: The article by Richard Ehrman (‘A dying breed’, 5 November) is unnecessarily alarmist. It is the case, as Mr Ehrman claims, that the citizens of...

Fair point

The Spectator

From Barbara Crowther Sir: Phillip Oppenheim’s article (‘Fairtrade fat cats’, 5 November) misses several key points about Fairtrade. Fairtrade is not about charity. It is about...

Making hatred history

The Spectator

From Sher Khan Sir: Alasdair Palmer, in his article ‘Muslims are an ethnic group’ (5 November), asserts that the supporters of the government’s Bill to prohibit incitement to...

Reader, I married her

The Spectator

From John Laughland Sir: My article on luxury fencing bags by Bibikov (Luxury goods, 5 November) omitted an important detail and has consequently caused a stir among the...

Page 22

The riots may be just what the French economy needs

The Spectator

A sk any former drug addict. You’ve got to hit rock bottom before you are ready for cold turkey. What France is facing now is the equivalent of waking up on a soiled mattress in...

Page 23

A bad hair day for Tony Blair at the Chocolate Factory

The Spectator

R ivers of fudge are to be expected from corporate PR people, but the Cadbury factory at Bourneville has an unusually impressive one — an endless six-feet-wide flow of the soft,...

Page 24

Answers to the questions the boffins dismiss as meaningless

The Spectator

A TV interviewer recently asked Stephen Hawking, author of A Brief History of Time , ‘What existed before the universe began?’ and was snubbed. ‘That’s a meaningless question.’...

Page 25

Japs

The Spectator

Andrew Robinson Illustrated by Carolyn Gowdy E llen is intrigued by the Star of David tattooed on my right shoulder. She doesn’t care for the symbolism, but it’s in her nature...

Page 28

Seeing off the opposition

The Spectator

Jonathan Sumption T HE T HIRD R EICH IN P OWER , 1933–1939 by Richard J. Evans Penguin/Allen Lane, £30, pp. 901, ISBN 0713996498 ✆ £24 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 I s...

Page 29

A disaster waiting to happen

The Spectator

James Astill T HE A SSASSIN ’ S G ATE : A MERICA IN I RAQ by George Packer Faber, £12.99, pp. 352, ISBN 0571230431 ✆ £10.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 N IGHT D RAWS N EAR :...

The Poet’s Voice

The Spectator

In an Oxford studio Fifty-one years ago This light-voiced, confident, Uppity, arrogant Person who was me Intoned for posterity These verses. Unbelievably, Years afterwards, much...

Page 30

Elusive brothers in arms

The Spectator

Robert Stewart T HE M AN IN THE I RON M ASK by Roger Macdonald Constable, £17.99, pp. 348, ISBN 1845291018 ✆ £14.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T HE F OUR M USKETEERS by...

Page 31

A billionaire at bay

The Spectator

Michael Crick D IRTY P OLITICS , D IRTY T IMES by Michael Ashcroft MAA Publishing, £20, pp. 320, ISBN 1904734111 ✆ £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 I n the late 1990s it...

Page 32

Chipps with everything

The Spectator

Christopher Fraser S EAHORSE ! B ETWEEN THE S EA AND THE S ADDLE by Chipps Selby Bennett Halsgrove, £16.99, pp. 400, ISBN 1841144819 C ommander Chipps Selby Bennett was a...

Page 33

The still unwithered laurel wreath

The Spectator

M. R. D. Foot S COTT OF THE A NTARCTIC by David Crane HarperCollins, £25, pp. 657, ISBN 0007159687 ✆ £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 I n the reviewer’s childhood, Scott was...

Page 34

Band of brothers

The Spectator

P. J. Kavanagh A SHES V ICTORY by the England Cricket Team Orion, £12.99, pp. 208, ISBN 0752875175 ✆ £10.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 B EING F REDDIE by Andrew Flintoff...

Page 35

The thinking man’s poet

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen A RTHUR H UGH C LOUGH by Anthony Kenny Continuum, £25, pp. 304, ISBN 08264738782 ✆ £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 ‘T he most intellectual British poet...

Page 36

The boy done bad

The Spectator

Simon Heffer T HATCHER ’ S F ORTUNES by Mark Hollingsworth and Paul Halloran Mainstream, £17.99, pp. 400, ISBN 184018972X ✆ £14.30 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 O ne of Sir...

Page 37

Small is beautiful

The Spectator

Paul Binding T HE N ORWEGIAN F EELING FOR R EAL edited by Harald Bache-Wiig, Birgit Bjerck and Jan Kjaerstad Harvill, £16.99, pp. 269, ISBN 184343221 ✆ £13.59 (plus £2.45 p&p)...

Page 39

Toeing the party line

The Spectator

John Michell W HAT W E B ELIEVE B UT C ANNOT P ROVE : T ODAY ’ S L EADING T HINKERS ON S CIENCE IN THE A GE OF C ERTAINTY edited by John Brockman Simon & Schuster, £9.99, pp....

Surprising literary ventures

The Spectator

Gary Dexter T HE E XPLOITS OF M R S AUCY S QUIRREL (1976) by Woodrow Wyatt LORD WYATT of Weeford, Chairman of the Tote, the ‘Voice of Reason’, and the only member of the...

Page 40

King and I W e are walking across a long bridge,

The Spectator

shallowcurved and strumming with cars that skim past us on flat planes of water, fish-belly silver. Alongside the path that drops away from the bridge a fresh white line has...

Page 41

Getting to know Powell

The Spectator

Andrew Lambirth Dancing to the Music of Time: the Life and Work of Anthony Powell Wallace Collection, Manchester Square, W1, until 5 February 2006 novel-readers will be aware...

Page 43

Bath on the brink

The Spectator

Geoffrey Wheatcroft W hen Malcolm Muggeridge recalled the Manchester Guardian he had worked for in the early 1930s and wanted to illustrate its flavour of hand-wringing...

Timeless grace

The Spectator

Giannandrea Poesio Manon Royal Opera House O , Michael Clark Company The Barbican S ome dance works age, some don’t. Yet it is difficult to pinpoint the factors that bestow...

Page 45

Reignited spark

The Spectator

Marcus Berkmann A ny moment now it will be 25 years since John Lennon died. Twenty-five years! How did that happen? I can remember exactly where I was when I heard about it:...

Thrilled by Ibsen

The Spectator

Toby Young Pillars of the Community Lyttelton Otherwise Engaged Criterion As You Desire Me Playhouse S ince taking on this job four years ago, I’ve reviewed 289 plays of...

Page 46

Listen and learn

The Spectator

Michael Tanner The Midsummer Marriage Royal Opera House Il diluvio universale Drury Lane M ichael Tippett’s first opera The Midsummer Marriage is so great that one can afford...

Page 47

Norman wisdom

The Spectator

Russell Chamberlin A s a child I would stand looking in fascinated horror at the enormous polar bear pinning down an unfortunate seal. Then on to the equally immense tiger...

Page 48

Cult following

The Spectator

Michael Vestey I ’ve always been amused by certain clubs and cults that people join either to enhance their status and self-importance or merely to be different. The...

Page 49

Playing with Shakespeare

The Spectator

Simon Hoggart T he notion of updating Shakespeare always strikes me as a curious one. For a start it assumes that the audience is stupid. Do we say, ‘I hadn’t realised that...

Page 50

Twelve to Follow

The Spectator

Robin Oakley I was all ready for it to rain on the bonfires last Saturday night. Mrs Oakley’s cat and I share a deep dislike of Guy Fawkes night, in my case induced by going...

Page 51

Hot spot

The Spectator

Taki New York W hen Jean-Marie Le Pen democratically won the right to challenge the incumbent Jacques Chirac for the presidency in 2002, I wrote in this here space that...

Page 52

Weighty issues

The Spectator

Jeremy Clarke L ast week I paid 400 quid for a health screening. I had a number of minor worries — lump on ball, expanding mole, chest pain — that I wanted to clear up but...

Page 53

I ’ve been looking forward to the new restaurant Roast for

The Spectator

ages. It’s the brainchild of Iqbal Wahhab, of Cinnamon Club fame, who, as far as I can gather from what I’ve read, wants to ‘vault British cooking back on the international...

Page 54

T his is the first of our two Christmas selections, and

The Spectator

Armit have come up with an exceedingly generous festive offer. With most of the selections, you get twelve bottles for the price of ten — a substantial discount. This brings...

Page 57

The Sultan of Multan

The Spectator

FRANK KEATING T he one-off splendours of Pakistan’s captain Inzamam-ul-Haq offer a spicy tang to England’s first post-Ashes Test match which begins today in his hometown of...

Q. My wife and I have an old and dear

The Spectator

friend who lives abroad. She divorced her husband some years ago and lives alone. We are both very fond of her and are usually delighted to see her whenever she is in England....

Q. My partner and I divide our time between our

The Spectator

apartment in Manhattan and our country house in upstate New York. In the early summer we were invited by our upstate real estate attorney to a large barbecue function hosted by...

Q. Mary, your recent correspondence about gaping pyjamas has prompted

The Spectator

me to remind you of a related inquiry you handled within living memory. A reader complained that he had a shy friend who would not look him in the eye while they were chatting...