Page 2
The liberal lynch mob
The SpectatorJ ohn Reid declared last week that his âstarting pointâ on convicted paedophiles was âthat information [related to their whereabouts] should no longer remain the exclusive...
Page 4
E very year, under the terms of a 17th-century benefaction, Jesus
The SpectatorCollege, Cambridge must hold a feast (the Rustat Feast) and invite three College guests. An invitation comes out of the blue from the Vice-Master, Stephen Heath, and â since...
Page 5
Cameronâs âaromaâ is the key for the Tories.
The SpectatorFor Brown, it is all-out class warfare D avid Cameron has so far baited Gordon Brown with the confidence of a schoolboy teasing a roped guard dog. The Chancellor has wanted to...
Page 6
A s a parent of GCSE children, I now see clearly
The Spectatorthat modern education has abolished the summer term. In all the teenage years except the first, there are public exams to be done. These are spread out, beginning in May, and...
Page 7
DIARY OF A NOTTING HILL NOBODY
The SpectatorMONDAY Am contemplating a serious hissy fit. On phone this morning briefing Daveâs family speech, dutifully telling a v. rude journalist that âthis is all about traditional...
Page 8
âYou can do something about crime. You can control itâ
The SpectatorAllister Heath talks to a deputation of US police chiefs drafted in to help John Reid in his do-or-die battle to restore faith in the criminal justice system. Is this New...
Page 10
If youâre looking for Dad, heâs behind the bush
The SpectatorRachel Johnson says that fathers can be useful stand-in midwives during childbirth â but pours scorn on David Cameronâs celebration of this âmagic momentâ A s if to...
Page 11
The real father of Cameronism
The SpectatorDavid Willetts has been a key intellectual influence on Tory leaders from Thatcher to Cameron. But, he tells Fraser Nelson , policy is overrated as a weapon in modern politics...
Page 13
Killing a gay man is no worse than killing a disc jockey
The SpectatorRod Liddle takes issue with the legal concept of âhate crimeâ and fears it reflects a consensus among the political class â remarkable because it is the opposite of what...
Page 14
The pen is scarier than the scalpel
The SpectatorJohn OâConnell , a self-confessed hypochondriac, is darkly suspicious of doctorsâ attempts to be approachable in print A s little as a century ago, doctors were our friends....
Page 15
Age of innocence?
The SpectatorFrom Mrs Sam Jettubreck Sir: Having lived in the same street for many years and seen the area gradually taken over by feral youths, I wonder what Peter J.M. Wayne might suggest...
From Jim Trimmer
The SpectatorSir: Everybody but Peter J.M. Wayne seems to be agreed that we need more prison places to keep people who would otherwise do us harm out of circulation for longer. However, it...
Do mention the war
The SpectatorFrom Oliver Berlau Sir: Dan Hannan is, of course, right in saying that the subject of the Civil War was close to a taboo in the first decades after the transition (âGhosts of...
Bring back Assisted Places
The SpectatorFrom Elizabeth Baker Sir: In his letter of 10 June, the headmaster of Harrow School records the academic excellence of direct grant schools together with the benefits they...
Krupp and friends
The SpectatorFrom Sara Moore Sir: Frank Johnsonâs delightful review of my book How Hitler Came to Power (Books, 17 June) contained two inaccuracies. First, it was Krupp and friends who...
Sad to be gay?
The SpectatorFrom Alistair Cooke Sir: In scorning the gay rights movement Paul Johnson (And another thing, 17 June) repeats the tired old refrain that homosexuals lead sad lives because of...
Page 16
A great week for Marxâs spin doctors: Lenin would have been proud of their team work
The SpectatorA newly discovered letter which the young Mr Blair wrote has him reading Marx. Several newspapers asked various well-known people what they thought of Marx. Nearly all were...
Page 17
Up North, heaven is eating black pudding to the sound of tubas
The SpectatorP liny says, âWhen our ears do glow and tingle, some do talk of us in our absence.â This is a very ancient superstition, found at all periods and in all societies. Sir...
Page 18
Is that a bug under your boardroom table?
The SpectatorDominic Midgley explores the increasingly respectable and lucrative profession of corporate espionage T he news that Michael Howard, the former leader of the Conservative party,...
Page 19
Watches? Not for me
The SpectatorMerryn Somerset-Webb When I was seven my father gave me a duty-free Timex, my first watch. I loved it, wore for it years, and havenât had another one since it stopped ticking...
Page 20
Rupert Murdochâs cool new thing
The SpectatorEdie G. Lush says that MySpace, the online social network, is another money-spinner for the great media mogul R upert Murdoch is probably the last person in the world who would...
Page 21
Say no to protectionism â and letâs get down to business with Claudia Schiffer
The SpectatorT he World Cup is not really my bag, but already itâs done its bit to pep up my GWB (thatâs âgeneral wellbeingâ, for those not yet fluent in Cameron-speak). Eleven giant...
Page 22
Mountains and music
The SpectatorAlexander Chancellor on Lucerne, where Wagner spent his happiest years O nce everybody who was anybody went to Lucerne. As we were reminded the other day, with the sale at...
Page 23
Race relations
The SpectatorGeoffrey Wheatcroft M y only disappointment was the colour of the grass. If youâve been to Vienna you may have noticed that the Blue Danube isnât blue at all, and neither...
Page 24
Oxford blues
The SpectatorRobert Cowan S erendipity, as Walpole had it, is discovering things by âaccident and sagacityâ. So here we are, at the end of the road â literally â in the village of...
Page 25
Surf ânâ turf
The SpectatorJames Leith I t was meant to be a four-day fishing trip combined with gluttonous consumption of local Hebridean delicacies and long walks in the machair (the coastal grassland...
Page 26
Let us now praise famous men
The SpectatorSam Leith CREATORS: F ROM C HAUCER TO W ALT D ISNEY by Paul Johnson Weidenfeld, £20, pp. 320, ISBN 0297851 â £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T his book is intended,...
Page 27
Standing room only
The SpectatorMark Archer T HE B LACK H OLE : M ONEY , M YTH AND E MPIRE by Jan Dalley Penguin/Fig Tree, £16.99, pp. 222, ISBN 9780670914470 T he story of the Black Hole of Calcutta was...
Page 28
The forecast is disaster
The SpectatorBrian Power O RACLE B ONES by Peter Hessler John Murray, £20, pp. 491, ISBN 9780719564406 â £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T he oracle bones in Peter Hesslerâs book...
As per the American dream
The SpectatorMontagu Curzon T HE E MPEROR OF W INE : T HE R ISE AND R EIGN OF R OBERT P ARKER by Elin McCoy Grub Street, £20, pp. 309, ISBN 190494342X â £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429...
Page 30
Her own worst admirer
The SpectatorFrederic Raphael ENCHANTMENT: T HE L IFE OF A UDREY H EPBURN by Donald Spoto Hutchinson, £18.99, pp. 288, ISBN 0091796555 â £15.19 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 A udrey...
Page 31
Finding the tools to finish the job
The SpectatorNoble Frankland T HE W AGES OF DESTRUCTION by Adam Tooze Penguin/Allen Lane, £30, pp. 799, ISBN 0713995661 â £24 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T his massive study of...
Page 32
A question of all hanging together
The SpectatorChristopher Woodward S CHOOL OF G ENIUS : A H ISTORY OF THE R OYAL A CADEMY OF A RTS by James Fenton Royal Academy, £35, pp. 319, ISBN 1903973201 â £28 (plus £2.45 p&p)...
Page 33
The diary maid
The SpectatorWilliam Brett THE OBSERVATIONS by Jane Harris Faber, £12.99, pp. 415, ISBN 9780571223350 â £10.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 W ith her poetry collection The Worldâs...
Page 34
Time to put the boot in
The SpectatorMax Hastings thinks that book reviewers tread too softly L eaf through a newspaperâs art pages â almost any newspaperâs. The distinction, indeed the chasm, between the...
Page 35
The usual suspects
The SpectatorThe 238th Summer Exhibition holds no surprises, says Andrew Lambirth T he Summer Exhibition is like a leviathan, a monster from the deep, that every now and again shows itself...
Page 36
Smoking ink
The SpectatorLloyd Evans The Estate Soho Ana in Love Hackney Empire O ne of the funniest plays Iâve ever seen is Early Morning by Oladipo Agboluaje. Three Nigerian cleaners in a London...
Page 37
Good clean fun
The SpectatorMichael Tanner Il Trittico The Guildhall School Tosca Royal Opera House T he Guildhall Schoolâs end-of-year production was of two-thirds of Pucciniâs Il Trittico , the (to...
Vicious circle
The SpectatorOlivia Glazebrook The Wind that Shakes the Barley 15, selected cinemas K en Loach won the Palme dâOr in Cannes last month with The Wind that Shakes the Barley and has since...
Page 38
Evans vs Wogan
The SpectatorMichael Vestey I tâs obvious that Radio Two listeners tend to be middle-aged or older, though not exclusively so. This, however, always irritates Radio Two controllers, who...
Page 39
The first style guru
The SpectatorJames Delingpole I f youâve read Ian Kellyâs wonderful biography of Beau Brummell, you might have been a bit disappointed by the TV adaptation This Charming Man (BBC4,...
Page 40
Bright young things
The SpectatorTaki S uleiman Khan, son of Imran and Jemima, got me out late last Saturday, after a fast-bowling Ben Elliot had failed to do so despite employing all sorts of tricks against...
Page 41
Thatâs entertainment
The SpectatorJeremy Clarke T o a cabaret and dinner in the saloon of the Raybel , a 1920s Thames sailing barge moored in St Katharineâs Dock, a marina in the shadow of Tower Bridge. The...
Page 42
The odd couple
The SpectatorAidan Hartley Ras Hatibu, Kenya I wish people would not try to turn animals into humans. I like animals, especially horses and cattle. Dogs are OK if they stay outside....
Page 43
Off the rails
The SpectatorJenny Wilhide takes a nostalgic trip into her motherâs closet I n his will, Napoleon bequeathed his embroidered mantles, vests and smallclothes (did he mean his britches or...
Page 44
Much, much more than a smoke
The SpectatorNick Foulkes puffs lyrically on the social significance of the cigar K iplingâs famously sexist quote about cigars and women was all wrong ... a good cigar is more, much, much...
Page 45
Where to take the nuclear family
The SpectatorAlex Bigham says that Iran is a place of hidden treasures for the holiday-maker REX FEATURES I s there another Iran? One where people care about things other than turning...
Page 46
SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
The SpectatorSIMON HOGGART Y app Brothers is one of the countryâs more distinguished wine merchants. It has a short but choice list, almost all coming from the Loire or southern France....
Page 49
TV loves tennis
The SpectatorFRANK KEATING T he Wimbledon tennis begins sharp at 2 p.m. Monday and, as has often been the case, competes with a haughtily oblivious lack of concern against the football...
Q. One of my husbandâs best friends is married to
The Spectatorsomeone who, we know from past experience, is too demanding and controlling to be good company at a house party. The couple often go their separate ways on holiday and might...
Q. I wonder if you can help me with this
The Spectatorlittle dilemma. Following a chat with a few friends on our lawn recently, several kindly complimented me on my collection of garden gnomes (I have 42). Imagine my delight when...