24 JUNE 2006

Page 2

The liberal lynch mob

The Spectator

J ohn Reid declared last week that his ‘starting point’ on convicted paedophiles was ‘that 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 Spectator

College, 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 — since...

Page 5

Cameron’s ‘aroma’ is the key for the Tories.

The Spectator

For 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...

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A s a parent of GCSE children, I now see clearly

The Spectator

that 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...

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DIARY OF A NOTTING HILL NOBODY

The Spectator

MONDAY Am contemplating a serious hissy fit. On phone this morning briefing Dave’s family speech, dutifully telling a v. rude journalist that ‘this is all about traditional...

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‘You can do something about crime. You can control it’

The Spectator

Allister 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 you’re looking for Dad, he’s behind the bush

The Spectator

Rachel Johnson says that fathers can be useful stand-in midwives during childbirth — but pours scorn on David Cameron’s celebration of this ‘magic moment’ A s if to...

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The real father of Cameronism

The Spectator

David 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 Spectator

Rod Liddle takes issue with the legal concept of ‘hate crime’ and fears it reflects a consensus among the political class — remarkable because it is the opposite of what...

Page 14

The pen is scarier than the scalpel

The Spectator

John O’Connell , a self-confessed hypochondriac, is darkly suspicious of doctors’ attempts to be approachable in print A s little as a century ago, doctors were our friends....

Page 15

Age of innocence?

The Spectator

From 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 Spectator

Sir: 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 Spectator

From 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 (‘Ghosts of...

Bring back Assisted Places

The Spectator

From 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 Spectator

From Sara Moore Sir: Frank Johnson’s 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 Spectator

From 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 Marx’s spin doctors: Lenin would have been proud of their team work

The Spectator

A 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 Spectator

P liny says, ‘When our ears do glow and tingle, some do talk of us in our absence.’ 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 Spectator

Dominic 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 Spectator

Merryn 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 haven’t had another one since it stopped ticking...

Page 20

Rupert Murdoch’s cool new thing

The Spectator

Edie 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 — and let’s get down to business with Claudia Schiffer

The Spectator

T he World Cup is not really my bag, but already it’s done its bit to pep up my GWB (that’s ‘general wellbeing’, for those not yet fluent in Cameron-speak). Eleven giant...

Page 22

Mountains and music

The Spectator

Alexander 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 Spectator

Geoffrey Wheatcroft M y only disappointment was the colour of the grass. If you’ve been to Vienna you may have noticed that the Blue Danube isn’t blue at all, and neither...

Page 24

Oxford blues

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Robert Cowan S erendipity, as Walpole had it, is discovering things by ‘accident and sagacity’. So here we are, at the end of the road — literally — in the village of...

Page 25

Surf ’n’ turf

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James 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 Spectator

Sam Leith CREATORS: F ROM C HAUCER TO W ALT D ISNEY by Paul Johnson Weidenfeld, £20, pp. 320, ISBN 0297851 ✆ £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T his book is intended,...

Page 27

Standing room only

The Spectator

Mark 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 Spectator

Brian Power O RACLE B ONES by Peter Hessler John Murray, £20, pp. 491, ISBN 9780719564406 ✆ £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T he oracle bones in Peter Hessler’s book...

As per the American dream

The Spectator

Montagu 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 ✆ £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429...

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Her own worst admirer

The Spectator

Frederic Raphael ENCHANTMENT: T HE L IFE OF A UDREY H EPBURN by Donald Spoto Hutchinson, £18.99, pp. 288, ISBN 0091796555 ✆ £15.19 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 A udrey...

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Finding the tools to finish the job

The Spectator

Noble Frankland T HE W AGES OF DESTRUCTION by Adam Tooze Penguin/Allen Lane, £30, pp. 799, ISBN 0713995661 ✆ £24 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T his massive study of...

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A question of all hanging together

The Spectator

Christopher 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 ✆ £28 (plus £2.45 p&p)...

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The diary maid

The Spectator

William Brett THE OBSERVATIONS by Jane Harris Faber, £12.99, pp. 415, ISBN 9780571223350 ✆ £10.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 W ith her poetry collection The World’s...

Page 34

Time to put the boot in

The Spectator

Max Hastings thinks that book reviewers tread too softly L eaf through a newspaper’s art pages — almost any newspaper’s. The distinction, indeed the chasm, between the...

Page 35

The usual suspects

The Spectator

The 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 Spectator

Lloyd Evans The Estate Soho Ana in Love Hackney Empire O ne of the funniest plays I’ve ever seen is Early Morning by Oladipo Agboluaje. Three Nigerian cleaners in a London...

Page 37

Good clean fun

The Spectator

Michael Tanner Il Trittico The Guildhall School Tosca Royal Opera House T he Guildhall School’s end-of-year production was of two-thirds of Puccini’s Il Trittico , the (to...

Vicious circle

The Spectator

Olivia Glazebrook The Wind that Shakes the Barley 15, selected cinemas K en Loach won the Palme d’Or in Cannes last month with The Wind that Shakes the Barley and has since...

Page 38

Evans vs Wogan

The Spectator

Michael Vestey I t’s 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 Spectator

James Delingpole I f you’ve read Ian Kelly’s 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 Spectator

Taki 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

That’s entertainment

The Spectator

Jeremy Clarke T o a cabaret and dinner in the saloon of the Raybel , a 1920s Thames sailing barge moored in St Katharine’s Dock, a marina in the shadow of Tower Bridge. The...

Page 42

The odd couple

The Spectator

Aidan 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 Spectator

Jenny Wilhide takes a nostalgic trip into her mother’s 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 Spectator

Nick Foulkes puffs lyrically on the social significance of the cigar K ipling’s 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 Spectator

Alex 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 Spectator

SIMON HOGGART Y app Brothers is one of the country’s 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 Spectator

FRANK 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 husband’s best friends is married to

The Spectator

someone 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 Spectator

little 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...