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L ord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, was reported to have warned
The Spectatorministers that plans to allow the Home Secretary to put suspected terrorists under house arrest were likely to be challenged and ruled illegal by the courts. A man known as...
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Baghdad spring
The SpectatorF or a negative interpretation of events in which the rest of the world can see nothing but good, the Guardian âs editorial pages are much to be recommended. Sure enough, on...
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I t has been a most nerve-racking week, whose trauma has
The Spectatorseemed quite impervious even to the ministrations of Valium. I speak, of course, of my concern for Katy Harris and Martin Platt, the Mandy Smith and Bill Wyman of Coronation...
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There are good reasons for selling arms to China, but better ones for not doing so
The SpectatorT he USA is not always right, nor is it an easy ally. The Americans regularly forget the difference between an alliance and an empire. Sometimes, a partnership with America is a...
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T he main reason that Charles Clarke has now decided to
The Spectatorimpose powers of house arrest upon the British people is âhuman rightsâ. Even this authoritarian government would not have gone so far without the decision of the Law Lords...
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Can Iraq make it?
The SpectatorThe election brought joy to the streets of the Iraqi capital, says Andrew Gilligan . Everything now depends on whether the Americans are willing to hand real power to the...
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A crushing military defeat for the insurgents
The SpectatorToby Harnden on the failures of the increasingly stupid terrorists Tikrit S itting beneath a Dallas Cowboys Tshirt pinned to the wall of his office deep inside a former...
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Mind your language
The SpectatorRadio Four had a trailer programme for a series it will run in August called Word 4 Word . (Yes, it is a bit silly to have a visual pun on the wireless.) It is intended to...
No tolerance, please, weâre Dutch
The SpectatorRod Liddle says that Islamic terrorism has turned the liberal Dutch into hard-headed neocons, almost Amsterdam T heyâve been doing a spot of mosque-burning recently, the...
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Science is for posh kids
The SpectatorTerence Kealey says the disappearance of grammar schools means that science is now the preserve of public-school children T here was once a stereotypical figure at our...
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The end of left and right
The SpectatorAndrew Kenny says that the only purpose political labels serve is to allow fools to argue furiously I s Osama bin Laden left-wing or right-wing? How about Robert Mugabe? Who has...
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Carry on bribing
The SpectatorMartin Vander Weyer on how the government has been forced to water down its anti-bribery rules A mid all the razzmatazz in Toulouse a couple of weeks ago for the unveiling of...
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Forgotten heroes
The SpectatorMax Hastings on the courage and stoicism of the British soldiers who fought â with little thanks â in Korea A lot of public emotion has focused recently upon the predicament...
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Paper wars
The SpectatorFrom Ken Livingstone Sir: I find it bizarre that the editor of the London Evening Standard should labour under the illusion that I am proposing to put a statue of Nelson...
One fine day
The SpectatorFrom Bob Gardiner Sir: I very much sympathise with Miriam Gross about her £50 fine (Diary, 29 January). Recently, I went into London during a public holiday and stayed at a...
Immigration myths
The SpectatorFrom N.E. Heywood Sir: Charles Moore states, âPeople may say they want a ban on immigration, but ... they would quickly discover that they could not find enough building...
Donât quota me
The SpectatorFrom Matthew Richards Sir: Your leader last week rightly highlighted the economic weakness of Michael Howardâs anti-immigrant stance. You might have added that it will cost...
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Glorious beasts
The SpectatorFrom N. Davies Sir: I am impelled to challenge Matthew Parrisâs views on the goat (Another voice, 22 January) and make my plea for this splendid animal, which is loyal,...
Grammarâs wisdom
The SpectatorFrom Philip Pullman Sir: Iâm grateful for the attention Charles Moore pays my Guardian article about the teaching of grammar (The Spectatorâs Notes, 29 January), but I...
Surprise, surprise
The SpectatorFrom David Cameron MP Sir: If Simon Heffer spent more time studying Conservative policy rather than referring to the party as âsilent, confused and uncommittedâ, he might be...
A doctor gripes
The SpectatorFrom Allan Buckley Sir: Theodore Dalrymple (âA doctorâs farewellâ, 22 January) complains that the NHS would not pay for the retirement lunch of his consultant wife. Could...
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Is Murdoch about to cut the cover price of the dumbed-down Times?
The SpectatorT o read the mind of Rupert Murdoch is difficult and not necessarily pleasant â difficult because he is cleverer than almost any other publisher who has ever lived, and not...
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The inexorable march of censorship in New Labour Britain
The SpectatorI am enjoying writing my latest book Creators because it is taking me into strange areas. It is, in essence, a series of essays on people of genius or great originality, chiefly...
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Aids isnât prejudiced ânor are the British people
The SpectatorI was surprised to hear about Chris Smith. His revelation in last Sundayâs papers that he had been HIV-positive for the past 17 years was news to many of his friends. Sombre,...
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Get me to a nunnery
The SpectatorMichael McMahon tempts the convent curfews in Rome I first started sleeping with nuns a little over a year ago. It is easy to get into the habit. Hotel rooms in Rome can be...
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Caribbean street cred
The SpectatorKate Joynes W e arrived at Tobagoâs tiny international airport in the middle of a freak rainstorm, jet-lagged and apprehensive. âDo you know a simple, untouristy place we...
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Homage to Patagonia
The SpectatorJustin Kerr-Smiley L ast summer I drove to the south of Chile and Patagonia in a battered jeep with two friends: Matthew, whose jeep it was and who spoke Spanish fluently and...
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Going native
The SpectatorJodie Sinyor T here are no picturesque backstreets to wander around in Los Angeles, no churches to look at and, if the locals show any signs of friendliness, you should...
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Profits lost, honour gained
The SpectatorSam Leith B URY THE C HAINS : T HE F IRST I NTERNATIONAL H UMAN R IGHTS M OVEMENT by Adam Hochschild Macmillan, £20, pp. 432, ISBN 0333904915 â £18 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870...
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Love on the run
The SpectatorDigby Durrant A LL FOR L OVE by Dan Jacobson Hamish Hamilton, £16.99, pp. 260, ISBN 0241142733 â £14.99 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 T he ravishingly romantic cover of...
The case of the missing parrot
The SpectatorAndrew Taylor T HE F INAL S OLUTION by Michael Chabon Fourth Estate, £10, pp. 127, ISBN 0007196024 A t the centre of Michael Chabonâs earlier novel, The Amazing Adventures...
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Danger behind the security gates
The SpectatorCharlotte Moore H UMAN C APITAL by Stephen Amidon Penguin, £12.99, pp. 375, ISBN 0670915270 â £11.99 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 H uman Capital is set in a prosperous...
A tongue that still wags
The SpectatorChristopher Howse L ONG L IVE L ATIN by John Gray Canis Press, Little Hollies, Bonnington, Kent TN 25 7AZ, £12.99, pp. 218, ISBN 0954887808 â £11.99 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870...
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A celebration with a warning
The SpectatorGrey Gowrie S CENES FROM C OMUS by Geoffrey Hill Penguin, £9.99, pp. 66, ISBN 0141020237 G eoffrey Hill publishes books in verse rather than collections of poems. This is...
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From heroes to hicks
The SpectatorPeter Jay T HE P RESIDENTS : T HE T RANSFORMATION OF THE A MERICAN P RESIDENCY FROM T HEODORE R OOSEVELT TO G EORGE W. B USH by Stephen Graubard Allen Lane, £30, pp. 927, ISBN...
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The only game in town
The SpectatorJohn de Falbe C OME D ANCE W ITH M E by Russell Hoban Bloomsbury, £15.99, pp. 162, ISBN 0747574529 â £13.99 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 E arly in Come Dance with Me ,...
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He didnât linger
The SpectatorP. J. Kavanagh T WILIGHT OF L OVE : T RAVELS WITH T URGENEV by Robert Dessaix Scribner, £12.99, pp. 269, ISBN 0743263383 â £11.99 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870 800 4848 T he...
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Losing street cred
The SpectatorJosie Appleton wonders why so much public art is second-rate A nother week, another âlandmarkâ piece of public art. This time itâs Manchesterâs celebration of the 2002...
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Jokes and bitterness
The SpectatorAndrew Lambirth William Orpen: Politics, Sex & Death Imperial War Museum, until 2 May T he first question to spring to mind concerning this most welcome and indepth study of...
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Killer without menace
The SpectatorLloyd Evans Macbeth Almeida The Anniversary Garrick M ission impossible for Simon Russell Beale. This brilliant, charismatic actor seems mesmerised by the notion that greatness...
Short and sweet
The SpectatorMichael Tanner A Nitro at the Opera Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House The Thieving Magpie Opera North S omehow I missed A Nitro at the Opera when it was first put on at the...
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Ironic caper
The SpectatorMark Steyn Oceanâs Twelve 12A, selected cinemas T he 1960 Oceanâs Eleven and the 2001 Oceanâs Eleven were oceans apart. The original Rat Pack shambles is a sobering...
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Fitting tribute
The SpectatorGiannandrea Poesio Ashton 100 Celebrations La Fille Mal Gardée The Royal Ballet N o celebration of Ashtonâs choreographic legacy would be complete without La Fille Mal...
Loitering with Mozart
The SpectatorPeter Phillips E vidence that we live in clichéd times is everywhere about us, but I didnât think it would extend to The Magic Roundabout . The new film, for which several...
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Spendthrift fever
The SpectatorCharles Spencer I âm trying to write a novel at the moment, which means, of course, that I am spending a great deal of time looking for other things to do. Itâs amazing how...
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Master orator
The SpectatorMichael Vestey A part from a strange and silly piece on Today accusing Sir Winston Churchill of being a racist over his attitude to India â he was, after all, a product of...
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Load of mumbo-jumbo
The SpectatorSimon Hoggart â tâs neat, itâs authentic, it makes sense. I The trouble is, itâs rubbish,â said Tony Robinson, speaking about the research behind The Da Vinci Code ,...
Happy faces
The SpectatorRobin Oakley âD epend on the rabbitâs foot if you will,â said the philosopher. âBut, remember, it didnât work for the rabbit.â On the whole, I ignore superstition....
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True Courage
The SpectatorTaki I keep writing about how London has gone downhill, yet the moment Iâm there I have the time of my life. Starting with a wonderful party at Annabelâs given by Jason and...
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Under a lowering sky
The SpectatorJeremy Clarke B ack on track with the abstinence regime after the debacle at the dog lunch, I treated myself last weekend to a guided walk on Dartmoor. The walk, advertised in...
Grace and favour
The SpectatorPetronella Wyatt T he Prime Minister may be accused of many things. Mistakes in some peopleâs eyes, lies or âcrimesâ in others. But the latest thing of which Mr Blair...
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O ff to the Gun, the Docklands gastropub. Itâs a brisk
The Spectatorwalk from Surrey Quays station. Well, I say brisk but of course it is impossible to get anywhere briskly these days, what with the swarms of swarming immigrants swarming all...
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Six of the best
The SpectatorFRANK KEATING S pring is springing ... and the ancient rugby rituals are under way once more. Cardiff is en fête and the little land on tenterhooks, for surely the brightest...
Q. I am becoming increasingly annoyed by friends and acquaintances
The Spectatorwho think it is acceptable to snort coke. At civilised dinner parties, we find increasingly that someone will bring it out in a pathetic attempt to show they are still young and...
Q. What has happened to the nit nurses who used
The Spectatorto be a feature of schools when I was a girl? As anyone with children at school will testify, the head lice problem seems to be out of control. I do not wish to keep polluting...
Q. My husband and I are lucky enough to own
The Spectatora rather lovely corner of Tuscany. A couple who came to stay with their four children last year have started putting pressure on us to invite them again this summer, saying that...