the Home Secretary, will enable juries to be told of defendants' previous convictions if they touch on 'an important matter in issue', such as 'a propensity to commit offences...

Half a cheer for Bush N ext Tuesday an unhappy choice confronts the American people. To suffer a gloating Mark Steyn. Or to endure the sight of a jubilant Michael Moore...

on my left arm which is further encased in a sling. People wonder solicitously whether I have been attacked by enraged human-rights lawyers or serial adulterers. Alas, the truth...

V cry few political decisions achieve nothing but good: one of them was the abolition of exchange controls exactly 25 years ago. This week the Adam Smith Institute rightly...

when invited to address the admirable Three Faiths Forum, chaired by Sir Sigmund Sternberg, I happily agreed, and went to the mosque in the Whitechapel Road last week. I had...

Simon Heifer on the insidious new taboos that govern society — and how those who break them risk their careers and credibility I t is hard to imagine that at the time when...

Deborah Ross talks to Joan Collins about lipstick and Ukip and finds she is as glamorous and game as ever ii . meet Joan Collins at Waterstone's in Harrods. where she is signing...

Anton La Guardia says that the Palestinians are co-authors of their own tragedy T he road from the Jordan river to Jerusalem is one of the loveliest in the Holy Land, a...

Mark Steyn predicts a victory for the President — and says he will resign if his man is not re-elected New Hampshire -vv . hat's up with Hawaii? Two polls in two Honolulu...

I don't think Veronica will ever grow up. Now that Mick Jagger and Peter Townshend can travel on buses with 'freedom' passes (nice of Ken to hand out freedom) — not that I often...

Adrian Blomfield went to Baghdad as a strong believer in regime change. Now he thinks that Bush has messed up in Iraq — and should be booted out of the White House Nairobi . he...

From time to time, our ward looks more like a police lock-up than a haven of healing. By every bed there are two policemen preventing the escape of the patient, and usually...

Roger Koppel, editor-in-chief of Die Welt, on why Germany cannot go on using an undemocratic Europe to escape from its history A s everyone now knows, the European Union has a...

Andrew Kenny says that the South African President can't think about Aids without launching into a paranoid rant about white racism jr ews cannot spit any more because they used...

So MPs are to be accountable for their expenses! Ancient Greeks would have been appalled that it had taken so long. Accountability was at the heart of Athenian democracy during...

Alistair Horne says that the new jihad can be traced hack to the war that began in Algeria 50 years ago 0 n the night of All Saints, 1954, a young honeymooning couple of French...

Nv hen Richard Desmond acquired the Daily Express four years ago there was an outcry. That committed Christian, Tony Blair, immediately had the pornographer turned press baron...

T he man who got it right, in his way, was Al Gore. Quoting Al Jolson, he promised the voters: 'You ain't seen nothin' yet.' This was his message four years ago, when I was in...

Nv hen a volume of the Lees-Milne diaries came out, I mentioned here that, after the period which it covered, LeesMilne came to lunch with some of us at the Sunday Telegraph...

From Harold Pinter Sir: Freedom, democracy and liberation. These terms, as enunciated by Bush and Blair, essentially mean death, destruction and chaos. Tony Blair describes the...

From Charles Kennedy MP Sir: Matthew Parris has somehow got the wrong end of the stick (Another voice, 23 October). I don't know where he got the idea that I would only...

From Dr Michael Wilks Sir: lain Duncan Smith, in his article 'It looks like euthanasia to me' (23 October) unhelpfully confuses two issues that need to be kept separate....

From Fran Lye Sir: I am sorry that Boris Johnson's visit to Liverpool was unsatisfactory ('What I should say sorry for', 23 October) but he does seem to be out of touch with the...

leading article (16 October), I did what I assume most people did not do and actually read it. I have not agreed more completely with a piece of journalism for a long time. It...

article on the Internet. Without exception these were exactly my feelings when I originally heard of the horrific murder of Mr Bigley. You are correct — the people of the United...

Sir: Reluctant as I am to prolong the Liverpool controversy, I must correct your correspondent Elizabeth Rogers-Ross (Letters, 23 October) in her memory of the much fabled, and...

From Paul S. Johnson Sir: I must agree with Rod Liddle's article (Free market my eye, 23 October) where he criticised the questionable behaviour of supermarkets towards...

From Oleg Gordievsky Sir: Jane Gardam, writing about Doris Lessing's book Time Bites (Books, 23 October), says that Stalin had a passion for great writers of the USSR. As a...

From Christopher Booker Sir: Ross Clark (Rubbish policies', 23 October) should be congratulated for producing such a wonderfully angry attack on the explosion of fly-tipping in...

From Tan Heald Sir: I recognise almost everything in Charles M(x)re's memories of the Daily Telegraph 25 years ago (The Spectator's Notes, 16 October), not least the author,...

From Adam Fergusson Sir: I am grateful to A.H. Ronald (Letters, 23 October) for pointing out that the dishes served in the Holyrood parliament of my novel Scone — kail brose....

From Christopher Howse Sir: In his very welcome review (Books, 23 October) Sir Peregrine Worsthorne omitted to mention the title of my book, which is How We Saw It. I am its...

From Dr Jeremy Stocker Sir: John Laughland of British Helsinki Human Rights is changing his story, as well as misquoting me (Letters, 23 October). The 'few seconds' [for Nato...

From the Revd John Fellows Sir: Mr S.E.G. Hopkin (Letters, 23 October) is wrong on all counts. The Council of Constantinople did not substitute 'I believe' for 'We believe'....

From Mike Knowles Sir: 'A single phrase often makes my day', wrote your columnist Theodore Dalrymple (Second opinion, 23 October). How true that can be! 1 was in London last...

From Nicholas Stonier Sir: Further to Theodore Dahymple's recent observations regarding the proliferation of unnecessary public notices (Second opinion, 2 October), may I offer...

I . f there is one material I particularly relish, it is alabaster. It is slightly soluble in water and therefore defenceless against a rainy climate. So it can't be used for...

Mike Parker looks ahead to BNFL's role in Britain's energy policy The nuclear industry in the UK has been operating successfully for nearly 60 years. Today it faces its...

If Chernobyl is the worst-case scen we've got nothing to worry about It was a disaster of biblical proportions. Any European older than about 30 can probably remember where...

David Bonser says BNFL is committed to respect and responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is key to many industries, but for the nuclear industry it is...

Zac Goldsmith explain hy th should be anti-nuclear A few years ago, I joined a small group of political commentators for lunch. The guest of honour was a frail Michael Foot....

Richard Mayson says that concerns about vvaste should not prevent us building nuclear reactors Over the past few months, the wind of public opinion has seemed to be blowing in...

oger ighfie isair1thfi is set to lead the way on decommissioning I was working in Pluto, a 1950s-generation research reactor in Harwell, Oxfordshire, when the issue of nuclear...

Bruno Comby on the only energy source that can save us from global warming For several decades. there was a deadlock between environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the...

Lawrie Haynes is confident that British British Nuclear Group Nuclear Group can meet its customers' needs This may be a wild claim, but I believe that I am leading the biggest...

Sue Stockton on British Nuclear Group's commitment to skills development British Nuclear Group's highly skilled workforce is its most important asset. The expertise of our...

Barry Snelson on how British Nuclear Group • British Nuclear Group intethgent.leorde.. set about decommissioning Nuclear decommissioning is under the spotlight because of the...

Howard Rooms on opening up discussions with the anti-nuclear brigade Some time ago, I publicly invited the antinuclear lobby to give Sel'afield a break and take a look at the...

Kate Hu son on Nir y nue ear energy e - ans sickness, suffering and terrorism It seems inconceivable that our government is considering building new nuclear power stations — but...

complicated nuclear history The German environmental movement had been waiting for this moment for almost 30 years. In PDOM no. 5601 of the Stade nuclear power plant, Herr...

Philip Hensher OLIVIA MANNING by Neville and June Braybrooke Chatto, £20. pp. 301, ISBN 0701177497 ?) £18 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 I t's curious to reflect that in...

Philip Manse! SALONICA: THE CITY OF GHOSTS by Mark Mazower HarperCollins, £25, pp. 525, ISBN 0007120230 ct £23 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 _F or an age of globalisation, the...

Richard Shone LIZZIE SIDDAL: THE TRAGEDY OF A PRE-RAPHAELITE SUPERMODEL by Lucinda Hawksley Deutsch, £17.99, pp. 230, ISBN 023300050X (t £15.99 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848...

Jonathan Mirsky CHAIN OF COMMAND: THE ROAD FROM 9/11 TO ABU GHRAIB by Seymour M. Hersh Allen Lane, £17.99, pp. 394, ISBN 0713998458 £15.99 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 WAR...

Jane Ridley DISRAELI: A PERSONAL HISTORY by Christopher Hibbert HarperCollins, £25, pp. 401, ISBN 0007147171 (t) £23 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 C hristopher Hibbert is a...

C. D. C. Armstrong THE TRANSFORMATION OF IRELAND, 1900-2000 by Diarmaid Ferriter Profile Books, £30, pp. 884, ISBN 186197071 r £26 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 T here is no...

Olivia Glazebrook SECONDS OF PLEASURE by Neil LaBute Faber, £10.99, pp. 223, ISBN 057122I22X T hose familiar with Neil LaBute's work will be unsurprised to read that there is...

William Brett FASCINATION by William Boyd 1-famish Hamilton, £16.99, pp. 208, ISBN 0241142903 £14.99 (plus /2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 C hildren enjoy short stories, because they...

Alan Wall BEFORE I FORGET by Andre Brink Seeker, £17.99, pp. 312, ISBN 0436205378 t £15.99 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 A man providing us with a lengthy chronicle of his...

James Knox CEASELESS TURMOIL by James Lees-Milne Murray, £25, pp. 368, ISBN 0719565782 £23 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 T his, the 11th volume of James LeesMilne's diaries,...

Frederic Raphael THE PLO f AGAINST AMERICA by Philip Roth Cape, £16.99, pp. 391, ISBN 0224074539 't £14.99 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 p hilip Roth became famous, very...

John Martin Robinson THE ARCHITECT KING: GEORGE III AND THE CULTURE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT by David Watkin Royal Collection Publications, 430, pp.224, ISBN 1902163508 © £26 (plus...

Peter Oborne GORDON BROWN by Tom Bower Harp erCollins, 120, pp. 492, ISBN 000717540X (r3 £18 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 G ordon Brown has by and large crijoyed an...

Tom Sutcliffe on what Nicholas Snowman's career says about different styles of arts subsidy N icholas Snowman, now aged 60, is one of only three British impresarios running a...

Andrew Lambirth Raphael: From Urbino to Rome National Gallery, until 16 January 2005 (sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston) p eople love to sniff the scandal of forgery....

Mark Glazebrook The Pissarro Family at Home Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, until 2 January 2005 And did those feet in ancient times Walk upon London's suburbs green? And was a...

William Packer The Price of Beauty: Edwin Long's 'Babylonian Marriage Market' Le gluon House Museum, London W14, until 16 January 2005 L eighton House, Lord Leighton's home...

Mark Steyn Saved! (12A, selected cinemas) S aved I follows the template of your standard high-school comedy: there's a clique of in-girls headed by a preening teen queen, and...

Tom Sutcliffe on this year's rewarding repertoire and future plans at Wexford rr he Musicians' Union of Ireland again picketed the opening of the Wexford Festival — which this...

Lloyd Evans How to Act Around Cops Soho Theatre Shooting Shakespeare Hackney Empire, and touring The Battle of Green Lanes Theatre Royal, Stratford East W hat happens in a...

Michael Tanner La Forza del Destino Royal Opera T he new non-production of Verdi's La Forza del Destino at the Royal Opera is a flop of such monumental proportions that it...

Giannandrea Poesio Les Paladins Compagnie Montalvo-Hetvieu, Barbican Theatre Danses Concertantes Sadler's Wells Theatre Royal Ballet Triple Bill Royal Opera House M odern and...

Robin Holloway I Vs several years since I've attempted in these columns an overview of the state of Radio Three. Perceptions are sharpened by an actual absence from these...

James Delingpole E nglish constitutional monarchy is even I older than Magna Carta. According to David Starkey, it dates as far back as 1014, when Ethelred the Unready (which...

Michael Vestey D id the BBC's creation of its Radio Four-type digital radio network BBC 7 force the commercial digital station Oneword to close? The report last week...

Taki I ike everyone else, I might as well get my two-cents in while the story's still hot. About the sainted one's problems with Liverpool, that is. What a crock! I might be...

Jeremy Clarke T ast week I was pinioned to the floor L./being subjected to all sorts of playful indignities by an imaginative and surprisingly strong young lady. Turning my...

Petronella Wyatt G overnment ministers are not the only ones to have been surprised by the adverse reaction to their proposals to relax the gambling laws. I was pretty...

FRANK KEATING T hirty years ago this very day took place what some sages nominate as the greatest single happening in the whole history of sports. Which I reckon is stretching...

enjoyed an occasional game of mixed doubles. Over the past couple of years my tennis partner has seen rapid promotion in the publishing company in which she works and...

'no presents' requests, my husband and I recently celebrated our golden wedding. We too had a dread of more 'things' to be looked after. We invited 90 guests, most of whom...