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PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
The SpectatorM r Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein, the political face of the Irish Republican Army, was named minister for education in the new Northern Ireland executive headed by Mr David...
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DIARY
The SpectatorROBERT HARRIS I attended my first — and last — millen- nium party on Monday night: the launch, in our local village hall, of 'Kintbury: A Century Remembered 1900-1999' (excel-...
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POLITICS
The SpectatorA Presbyterian celebration as a tricoteuse goes into government BRUCE ANDERSON Belfast Momentous events often inspire momentous moods, but that has not hap- pened in Ulster....
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ANOTHER VOICE
The SpectatorMr Blair's pants may be on fire, but he understands human nature BORIS JOHNSON i. Right. I've had enough of this. I just won't put up with it any more. I find it quite...
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IT'S ENOUGH TO DRIVE YOU MAD
The SpectatorMotorists can hardly move for roadworks, but is all that digging and bulldozing necessary? No, says Leo McKinstry, who shows how government incompetence is responsible for the...
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Mind your language
The SpectatorFLIP, flap, flop, ding, dang, dong, snitch, snatch, snotch. So sorry, I have been mesmerised by Professor Steven Pinker's funny book on irregular verbs. Yet I have been even...
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BLACK MARK AGAINST KOHL
The SpectatorThe former German chancellor's reputation is being assailed by allegations of financial skulduggery, says Andrew Gimson Berlin HELMUT KOHL's fortunes have taken an abrupt turn...
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FAT IS A LEAN WORD
The SpectatorSion Simon on how he lost seven stone while working as The Spectator's restaurant critic THERE has been a lot of fat in the news lately. The yoof, it would seem, is chubbier...
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Second opinion
The SpectatorIN my youth I learnt about experiments to prove that chimpanzees were problem- solving animals, If Man's nearest relatives were stuck in a cage with nothing to do, they would...
THE EMOTIONALLY NAKED CIVIL SERVANT
The SpectatorSue Cameron is sceptical about new plans to introduce civil servants to their 'feminine side' COMING soon: a new breed of super-sen- sitive, self-aware civil servant, brimming...
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TURTLES OF THE WORLD UNITE
The SpectatorStanley Johnson joins the environmentalist demonstrations against the World Trade Organisation Seattle THE reason I spent several hours on Mon- day dressed up as a turtle,...
Sir Christopher Bland: an apology WE would like to correct
The Spectatorcertain aspects of Petronella Wyatt's interview with Sir Christopher Bland ('Bland blows a fuse', 13 November). We accept that Sir Christopher did not shout at Miss Wyatt or...
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LIVE-IN DAHL
The SpectatorThe trials of sharing your flat with a supermodel, as endured by Toby Young New York I DON'T know how to put this so that it won't sound like bragging, so I'm just going to...
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YES, THERE WERE MASS KILLINGS
The SpectatorNoel Malcolm, in a riposte to John Laughland, says there is irrefutable evidence of massacres in Kosovo READERS of The Spectator may have been surprised by John Laughland's two...
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TERRORISM IS A MATTER OF TIMING
The SpectatorGeoffrey Wheatcroft examines the peace process and finds the nay-sayers to have been more often right than wrong YOU have to hand it to Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness,...
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AND ANOTHER THING
The SpectatorLet's not go for the most unpopular boy in the school PAUL JOHNSON T he phenomenon of the Most Unpopu- lar Boy in the school has always fascinated me. Why do they get the...
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CITY AND SUBURBAN
The SpectatorWe have ways of making you tax, say the. Germans, so please don't mention the euro CHRISTOPHER FILDES D on't mention the euro. It's as bad as the war, and more recent. Gordon...
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MEDIA STUDIES
The SpectatorPeter Stothard is elevated above humanity by the rest of the press STEPHEN GLOVER M y admiration for my old friend Peter Stothard, editor of the Times, has soared to new...
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Multi-flavoured Curry
The SpectatorFrom Mr Tim Phillips, Vice-Chairman, The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club Sir: Taki's personal attack on John Curry, chairman of the All England Club, is ill- informed and...
LETTERS
The SpectatorMaking enemies with Major From Mr Stewart Steven Sir: Mr Stephen Glover has used his col- umn on several occasions to lament, with what he regards as nicely edged satirical...
Hard man Hendrik
The SpectatorFrom Sir Albert Robinson Sir: Andrew Kenny's article on apartheid ('How apartheid saved Africa', 27 Novem- ber) verges on an act of revisionism that cannot remain unchallenged...
Neo-1tidor and the Nimbys
The SpectatorFrom Mr Keith Chambers Sir: Well said, Ross Clark ('What's wrong with mock-Tudor?', 27 November). A lot of modern mass-produced housing does have a dreary sameness about it. He...
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Whipped into line
The SpectatorFrom Lord Belhaven and Stenton Sir: As an hereditary peer who took part in the recent elections in the House of Lords, may I say, in contradiction to Lord Cran- borne (Letters,...
From Mr Patrick O'Callaghan Sir: One hopes there is no
The Spectatorsignificance in the fact that in your letters page Viscount Cran- borne (architect of the survivors' plan) is referred to as such, while Lord Moyne (one of the banished...
From Mr Frederick Forsyth Sir: Your editorialist of 20 November
The Spectatorreferred to Baroness Jay's triumphal gloat- ing over the destruction of the House of Lords as 'pouting and posturing, putting her pretty little feet on the mounded bellies of...
If you lie, you're a liar
The SpectatorFrom The Rt Hon. the Lord Tebbit Sir: Bruce Anderson (Politics, 27 Novem- ber) rightly sets out some of the numerous examples of Mr Blair's untruths and false- hoods in his...
Soviet apologist
The SpectatorFrom Dr Geoffrey Farrington Sir: In the course of his rightly respectful review of Robert Conquest's Reflections on a Ravaged Century (Books, 6 November) John Vincent suggested...
Burgess remembered
The SpectatorFrom Mr Allan Massie Sir: Roger Lewis (Books, 27 November) tells us that Anthony Burgess 'is now almost forgotten'. By whom? Allan Massie Thirladean House, Selkirk, Scotland
Miles from Nashville
The SpectatorFrom Mr Jonathan Kreeger Sir: Much as I hate to play the spoilsport, I am afraid that Michael Gove is mistaken (Politics, 20 November). The song on which he based his article...
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SHARED OPINION
The SpectatorSo do 20 per cent of the people think King Hague ordered the slaying of the first-born? FRANK JOHNSON The widespread ignorance among the under-thirties raises doubts about the...
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BOOKS
The SpectatorLiving off the dead Bevis Hillier THE DAILY TELEGRAPH FIFTH BOOK OF OBITUARIES: TWENTIETH-CENTURY LIVES edited by Hugh Massingberd Macmillan, 176.99, pp. 505 A successful...
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A slippery customer
The SpectatorJohn Vincent STAFFORD CRIPPS: A POLITICAL LIFE by Simon Burgess Goliana, f25, pp. 374 M y childhood recollection of Cripps is of the man who was in his office before the...
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Guru and rascal
The SpectatorPaul Ferris A LIFE OF JUNG by Ronald Hayman Bloomsbury, f25, pp. 522 F igures whose 'groundbreaking ideas' have influenced our century hold a fatal attraction for authors and...
The craziest gang of all
The SpectatorDavid Hughes MONKEY BUSINESS: THE LIVES AND LEGENDS OF THE MARX BROTHERS by Simon Louvish Faber, f12.99, pp. 471 I grew up with the Marx Brothers. They were the crazy uncles I...
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Love's labour lost
The SpectatorSion Simon LABOUR OF LOVE by Janet Jones Politico's, £14.99, pp. 275 T his book improves as it progresses, but it begins catastrophically. It is poorly writ- ten, poorly...
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When the silicon chips are down
The SpectatorNicholas Fearn THE NEW NEW THING by Michael Lewis Hodder & Stoughton, £17.99, pp. 288 THE PLOT TO GET BILL GATES by Gary Rivlin Quartet, £12.50, pp. 342 W hen Michael Lewis...
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The last of the Keynesians
The SpectatorJames Gardner NAME DROPPING by John Kenneth Galbraith Aurum, £14.99, pp. 194 C omposers of epitaphs, Dr Johnson reminds us, are not under oath. Nor for that matter are the...
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Famous four-footed favourites
The SpectatorThomas Blaikie REIGNING CATS AND DOGS: A HISTORY OF PETS AT COURT SINCE THE RENAISSANCE by Katharine MacDonogh Fourth Estate, £15, pp. 304 T he present British monarchy is...
In darkest Hertfordshire
The SpectatorGraham Lord SARRATT AND THE DRAPER OF WATFORD by John le Card and others Orders to Village Books, Little Sarratt Hall, Sanwa, WD3 BS, 0.75 (include £1.20 for postage and...
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Huntin', shootin' and bletherin'
The SpectatorVicki Woods SCATTERED SHOTS by Max Hastings Macmillan, £20, pp. 256 I swore I'd get through the whole of 1999 without having to type the noxious M-word about that...
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ARTS
The SpectatorRules are there to be broken Alan Stanbrook on the changing role of the film-maker Jean-Luc Godard I n his prime, Jean-Luc Godard was the most influential voice in cinema....
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Architecture
The SpectatorSoul searching Alan Powers N ow the days are short and the leaves have fallen, there is a melancholy pleasure in mists that bring the horizons closer and slow down time. It is...
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Exhibitions 1
The SpectatorTurner Prize (Tate Gallery, till 6 February) What a fuss Martin Gayford I t has been the best of Turner Prizes, and the worst of Turner Prizes. The best, obvi- ously, because...
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Exhibitions 2
The SpectatorRenoir to Rothko: The Eye of Duncan Phillips (The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, till 23 January) Emotional release Roger Kimball t is worthwhile,' Duncan Phillips...
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Theatre
The SpectatorOur Father (Almeida) Peggy For You (Hampstead) Anna Weiss (Whitehall) Edna's three sisters Sheridan Morley Y ou don't have to be Irish, but it cer- tainly helps. Edna O'Brien...
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Opera
The SpectatorBilly Budd (Barbican) The Beggar's Opera (Wilton's Music Hall) Guilt of attraction Michael Tanner L ast week's once-off concert perfor- mance of Billy Budd at the Barbican...
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Dance
The SpectatorGod's Plenty (Sadler's Wells) Epic return Giannandrea Poesio I t was in the first half of the 18th century that some dance practitioners started to react against the dramatic...
Cinema
The SpectatorHappy, Texas (12, selected cinemas) Alice et Martin (15, selected cinemas) All's well that ends well Kim Fletcher E nglish actors used to get parts in Hol- lywood films by...
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Pop music
The SpectatorBest of 1999 Marcus Berkmann T he chirrup of cash till ... the clatter of credit card on counter ... the brutal snip of scissors as credit limits are finally breached ... yes,...
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Radio
The SpectatorArcher obsession Michael Vestey W hat would Lord Archer be like in prison? Should it ever come to that, and I sincerely hope it doesn't, it's an intriguing thought. I suspect...
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Television
The SpectatorHanging about Simon Hoggart A t the risk of sounding like a Spectator writer, a risk one always takes when appearing in these pages, I do wish televi- sion scripts were a...
Not motoring
The SpectatorExtortion tactics Gavin Stamp T he lot of the non motorist is often not a happy one. Despite the protestations of governments and local authorities, so much in modern life is...
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The turf
The SpectatorGet a life Robin Oakley H ennessy Day at Newbury was enough to make up for 20 of those days in life that fall buttered-side down. Glorious sunshine, lively betting markets and...
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High life
The SpectatorUnreliable evidence Taki I met Woodrow Wyatt only once, in the ladies room at Orly airport. Rocco Forte had flown a planeful of swells to Paris for the Arc, and, after a...
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Country life
The SpectatorBad manners Leanda de Lisle T he modern mouse is a special breed. In the future they may come to be known as Mandelson Mouse, sharing, as they do, the same tastes as the...
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Singular life
The SpectatorLady Macbeth syndrome Petronella Wyatt A new Centre for Policies Studies pamphlet has attacked the Tory party for its sexism and failure to chose women can- didates. One of...
BRIDGE
The SpectatorCarnage Andrew Robson WHEN AN expert speaks of a bridge hand, he refers to it as, say, a 5-3-1-4 12 count or a 2-6-2-3 14 count. The first four numbers refer to the suit...
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SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
The SpectatorSeriously high-class Auberon Waugh FOR the last offer of the year we tradition- ally look at the more expensive end of the market, and on this occasion I have even included a...
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Hardman WITH enough eating places to justify its own Guide
The SpectatorMichelin, Notting Hill might seem to have reached restaurant saturation point. Everything that isn't a shop is now a restaurant, and every shop that shuts down reopens as a...
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liACA.\ ILAN
The Spectatorci* MALT' COMPETITION Hotel Galactica Jaspistos IN COMPETITION NO. 2113 you were invited to supply extracts from the diary of a future tourist visiting a hotel in space 300...
XRdbeq
The SpectatorThe Ultimate Islay Malt. ndb eI b www.ardbeg.com CHESS Magnificent Anderssens Raymond Keene A CONTINUING debate centres on the relative talents of the old masters and the...
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CROSSWORD
The SpectatorA first prize of 130 and a bottle of Graham's award-winning Late- Bottled Vintage Port for the first correct solution opened on 20 December, with two runners-up prizes of £20...
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YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED
The SpectatorDear Mary.. . Q. I am soon to be giving a fairly formal dinner party in London with black tie, elab- orate table settings and so on. I know these events can be fairly stuffy...
SPECTATOR SPORT
The SpectatorNo place for losers Simon Barnes ANOTHER Test match which England entered full of positive thoughts, eminently focused, bristling with the appropriate mind- set. Nasser...