Page 7
The UN is not the Holy See
The SpectatorT he situation in Zimbabwe is intolerable: on that all decent people can agree. Robert Mugabe has turned the breadbasket of Africa into a wasteland. He has set his militia, his...
Page 10
DIARY OF A NOTTING HILL NOBODY
The SpectatorMONDAY Hats off to the Major government â itâs not easy managing sleaze. Putting out endless statements explaining why some MP or other isnât on the take. The reasons are...
Page 11
I âm just back from New York, where I met friends
The Spectatorfrom the New York Times . Their morale, they said, was low. This is a typical complaint of journalists everywhere; for not only are they seldom content with their lot but, more...
Page 12
Some advice for Brownâs second year: find a John Reid and bring back Charles Clarke
The SpectatorG ordon Brownâs first anniversary in Number 10 Downing Street is passing in the usual whirl of Prime Ministerial hyperactivity. It would have been out of character for Mr...
Page 13
âP aul Johnson has killed Gordon Brown.â This news was
The Spectatorbrought recently to Tessa Jowell, Anji Hunter, Margaret Jay and other Labour luminaries gathered in the Sabine hills near Rome. Shocked, they reached for their BlackBerries to...
Page 14
Very discreetly, Cameron is writing his first Queenâs Speech
The SpectatorIn spite of their commanding poll lead, the Tories are terrified of seeming complacent. But, as Fraser Nelson discloses, work is well advanced on a first-term plan for...
Page 16
Princely homes that hold their value in every sense
The SpectatorVenetia Thompson says that the Princeâs Foundation for the Built Environment does work that nobody else can and constructs homes that buck current property market trends R...
Page 20
Trivia really is very important, you know
The SpectatorBut itâs a boy thing, admits Mark Mason . Women are just too sensible to watch Spinal Tap 35 times â but they donât know what connects Ringo Starr and Shane Warne F or...
Page 21
N o doubt a Martian arriving on earth for the first
The Spectatortime would perceive little difference between an inhabitant of Great Britain and an inhabitant of New Britain (off the coast of New Guinea), except perhaps that the former...
Page 22
Cummins may be part of the green ink brigade, but he was right about Islam
The SpectatorRod Liddle looks back at the case of the British Council employee who dared to speak the truth about Islamic ideology â and notes that what was heretical in 2004 is now almost...
Page 24
âYes! Ha! Iâd have been up to the top jobâ
The SpectatorIn the first of an occasional series, Martin Rowson interviews Ann Widdecombe while drawing her at the same time. But this two-pronged satirical strategy does not faze the cult...
Page 26
I wrote âhug a hoodieâ and Iâm proud of it
The SpectatorDanny Kruger , who was David Cameronâs speechwriter, defends his most notorious piece of work for the Tory leader and says that love is a neglected crime-fighting device I t...
Page 28
What Cyd Charisse told me about Singinâ in the Rain
The SpectatorGerald Kaufman on the late, great dancer and film star âwho could stop a man by just sticking up her legâ, and the accidents that led her to a role that became a movie...
Page 30
Wrong response
The SpectatorSir: When James Cooper criticises Matthew dâAncona (âLettersâ, 14 June), and says that the British government should have responded to 9/11 by âtearing down the gates at...
Hard-won liberties
The SpectatorSir: In an otherwise well argued leading article (âThe old order changethâ, 21 June), you repeat the claim that âpoll after poll has suggested strong popular support for...
Judgment of Parris
The SpectatorSir: A word on behalf of Fernando Rodrigues. Matthew Parris informs us (âAnother Voiceâ, 7 June) that thanks to his teacher Mrs McLeod he discovered aged eight that he was a...
Murder in the dark
The SpectatorSir: Peter Oborne rightly observes (âWe have a duty to protect Zimbabweâ, 21 June) that the MDC has relied on the peaceful tactics of Gandhi in his campaign to bring about...
Hijab opponents
The SpectatorSir: Rod Liddle, in his attack on the tribunal that awarded £4,000 to Bushra Noah (âLiddle Britain, 21 July), deploys an old chestnut beloved of hijab opponents everywhere:...
Modest success
The SpectatorSir: Robin Oakley has done it again. Following his selection Look Here winning the Oaks at 47 to 1, his advice proved nearly as profitable at Ascot; Campanologist winning a race...
Page 32
If a policy is in crisis, hand it to the Post Office â or the Girl Guides
The SpectatorW ell I never. You think the government has taken its eye off the ball. You think theyâve got nothing to do except rear up in the Daily Mail to tell us how lucky we all are,...
Page 34
Beware power lobbies, entangling the great in their entrails
The SpectatorI n the early 1960s, Harold Macmillan used to say: âThe three big interests any prime minister should beware of taking on are the Brigade of Guards, the National Union of...
Page 36
The veteran batsman who just hates to lose
The SpectatorJudi Bevan meets Sir Martin Sorrell, the hard-driving Eighties entrepreneur who is still chasing acquisitions for the company he created, the advertising giant WPP âB uilding...
Page 38
Pound sold to highest bidder
The SpectatorMatthew Lynn I n Amsterdam, on the afternoon of 26 June, the pound is finally being sold off. No, Gordon Brown hasnât decided to repeat his famous trick of dumping a chunk of...
Page 40
Childcare costs soar, house prices plunge, and the rich get sued by Mr Riches
The SpectatorL ife in Americaâs prisons is famously tough, but at least it allows one inmate, Jonathan Lee Riches, plenty of time to spend filing lawsuits. In his latest legal complaint,...
Page 42
Giacomo of all trades
The SpectatorBen Wilson C ASANOVA : A CTOR , S PY , L OVER , P RIEST by Ian Kelly Hodder & Stoughton, £20, pp. 400, ISBN 9780340922149 â £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 O ne evening...
Page 44
A futile solution
The SpectatorCaroline Moorehead J oURNEY To N owHERE : o NE w oMAN L ooKS FoR THE P RoMISED L AND by Eva Figes Granta, £14.99, pp.184, ISBN 9781847080196 â £11.99 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870...
Truth is stranger than fiction
The SpectatorJane Ridley C ITY oF T HIEVES by David Benioff Sceptre, £12.99, pp. 258, ISBN 9780340822302 â 10.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 L ENINGRAD : S TATE oF S IEGE by Michael...
Page 45
Mudslinging in the groves of academe
The SpectatorFrederic Raphael H ISTORY L ESSON : A R ACE O DYSSEY by Mary Lefkowitz Yale, £18.99, pp. 208, ISBN 9780300126594 â £14.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 M ary Lefkowitz is...
Page 46
Variations on an enigma
The SpectatorCharlotte Hobson R uSSIA : A J ouRNEY To THE H EART oF THE L AND AND ITS P EoPLE by Jonathan Dimbleby Ebury, £25, pp. 564, ISBN 9780563539124 â £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870...
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Overstretched and over there
The SpectatorDouglas Hurd A M ILLION B ULLETS by James Fergusson Bantam, £16.99, pp. 358, ISBN 9780593059029 â £13.59 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 D es Browne, our Defence Secretary,...
Page 48
Tangerine dreams
The SpectatorFrancis King S PIRIT OF T ANGIER by Tessa Codrington Arcadia, £25, pp. 365, ISBN 9781905147847 â £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 I n 1926, Tessa Codringtonâs maternal...
Page 49
Not for insomniacs
The SpectatorDigby Durrant H OME B EFORE D ARK by Charles Maclean Hodder, £12.99, pp. 471 ISBN 97803409511491 â £10.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T HE B ELLINI C ARD by Jason...
Page 50
Selective breeding
The SpectatorVictoria Glendinning G ROWING U P IN E NGLAND : T HE E XPERIENCE OF C HILDHOOD , 1600-1914 by Anthony Fletcher Yale, £25, pp. 434 ISBN 9780300118506 â £20 (plus £2.45 p&p)...
Page 51
Too close for comfort
The SpectatorMary Kenny S PYING ON I RELAND by Eunan OâHalpin OUP, £30, pp. 335, ISBN 97801909253296 I t was the late Lord Deedes who once succinctly explained to me what it was like to...
A true Renaissance man
The SpectatorSarah Bradford MAGNIFICO by Miles J. Unger Simon & Schuster, £18.99, pp. 449, ISBN 9780743254342 â £15.19 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 L orenzo deâ Medici was...
Page 52
The vanity of human hopes
The SpectatorC allimachus ( fl. 4th century BC), admired by Catullus, Ovid and Propertius, was the author of some 800 books, including a 120-volume catalogue of the Greek writers whose works...
Page 53
How the West was won
The SpectatorAlexander Stoddart unravels the relationship between art and politics T he great British philosopher Brian Magee, writing about Richard Wagnerâs political life, points out...
Page 54
Traces of self
The SpectatorAndrew Lambirth Cy Twombly: Cycles and Seasons Tate Modern, until 14 September T his year, Cy Twombly celebrated his 80th birthday. As the leading modern American artist who...
Page 55
Gripped by paranoia
The SpectatorLloyd Evans 2,000 Feet Away Bush Relocated Royal Court The Chalk Garden Donmar A merica is nuts about paedophiles. Thatâs the take-home message of Anthony Weighâs new play...
Page 56
Visual fuss
The SpectatorMichael Tanner Ariadne auf Naxos Royal Opera House The Pilgrimâs Progress Sadlerâs Wells O ne of the odd things about the StraussâHofmannsthal collaboration is that...
Page 57
Whisper or scream
The SpectatorRobin Holloway S ince the recent death of Karlheinz Stockhausen, his compatriot Helmut Lachenmann, 73 this year, has inherited the Emperorâs mantle of grandiose invisiblity....
Page 58
Oxford treasures
The SpectatorHarry Mount Beyond the Work of One â Oxford College Libraries and their Benefactors The Bodleian Library, Oxford, until 1 November, admission free A few years ago, my old...
Page 59
Toffs are different
The SpectatorJames Delingpole W hen I was up at Oxford, as Iâm sure Iâve mentioned before, my deepest wish was to find a letter one day in my pigeonhole informing me that a distant...
Page 60
Artist and believer
The SpectatorKate Chisholm I guess itâs no surprise that, while the rest of us were twiddling the dials on our cheap plastic transistors (made in Japan) to find Radio Caroline, the future...
Page 61
International affair
The SpectatorRobin Oakley O K, so they do a good mint julep at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby. There are impressive wongamountains on offer for winners at the Dubai World Cup...
Page 62
Sporting chance
The SpectatorTaki B y the time you read this I will have a pretty good idea whether my 70-andover judo world title will belong to some Mongolian monster or be retained by yours truly....
Up for it
The SpectatorAlex James B rad is cool. He was clearly demonstrating his ability to retain grace under pressure and I suppose thatâs what conductors get paid for. The traffic on the A40...
Page 67
SIMON HOGGART
The SpectatorT his week brings a welcome return of The Vintry, a sort of co-operative of winelovers who use communal buying to reduce prices. They then hold tastings in their own homes. If...
Page 69
Scents and sensibility
The SpectatorJuliet Nicolson says new super-smells make the perfect gift I once knew an exotic and terrifying old lady who had been reared on the back of Indian elephants and who on opening...
Page 70
Celebrity haunts
The SpectatorLindy Woodhead feels the spirit in Jamaica I tâs impossible not to be seduced by Jamaica â the island is a big, lush, verdant paradise, described by Hollywood hell-raiser...
Page 78
I would take pleasure in driving a Chelsea tractor to the shop to buy a pint of milk
The SpectatorM y father was a lifelong socialist. He joined the Labour party at the age of 16 and at the time of his death, 70 years later, he was a Labour member of the House of Lords. He...
Mind your language
The SpectatorDuring my rather dry investigation last week of apostrophes on the London Underground map, I found something far more interesting. It is the anagram Underground map invented two...
Page 79
O nce again itâs the time of year when Spectator readers
The Spectatorstart loading up their cars with Andrex, Gentlemanâs Relish and Marmite in anticipation of the annual drive to France. Do I have any advice to give? Unsurprisingly I do. For...
Q. I travel frequently to Cape Town where I have
The Spectatora house. I always fly in business class or sometimes in first class. I wonder when it is permissible as opposed to rude to put up the barrier between me and a total stranger in...
Q. How can you tell other people tactfully that their
The Spectatorgum-chewing makes them look bad? Quite a few girls from my school chew gum at parties â usually as a way to stop themselves eating too much and making sure they donât have...
Q. May I pass on a tip to e-literate readers?
The SpectatorGo to www.dylanmessaging.com. Click enterdylanmessaging.com. There you can substitute your own ten-word message on the series of placards famously held up by Dylan, then cast...