'He keeps going on about zero inflation. A rise in interest rates was avoided despite last week's appeal for calm by the Chancellor, Norman Lamont; the Bank of England had used...

A the tide of racialism rises, from Russia to Rostock, from Bosnia to Belfast, to the English bus stop where, unbeliev- ably, an Asian woman can be burnt to death, there is a...

Why can't he keep his yellow toes to himself? AUBERON WAUGH O n Tuesday of last week, the Office of Health Economics, a body funded by the pharmaceutical industry, published a...

Veronica Lodge on the growth of the envious school of journalism, and its corrosive effects on society THINK HARD — you probably knew them at school. They were small,...

Nigel Short looks forward to Bobby Fischer's rematch against Boris Spassky, and says that he, too, wants to play the American genius GARY KASPAROV, the world chess champion,...

I TRUST IT IS by now evident that I favour the utmost economy in the public service, which is why I heartily applaud- ed the recent decision of the hospital management to...

Howard Davies explains his transition from Euro-sceptic to positive enthusiast THE JOURNEY from Edward Heath's signature of the Treaty of Accession to Maastricht has for many...

But Tim Congdon, still a Euro-sceptic, says Britain's future lies within the English-speaking world THE GOVERNMENT is on the defensive about the European exchange rate mecha-...

Michael Heath

Michael Trend on how the new system of exams has failed in its purpose - to disguise under-achievement THE GCSE examination, which was intro- duced by a Conservative...

Tabitha Troughton goes undercover with the dole-busters and helps to save the tax-payer £34 million JAN 'KNUCKLES' HEPPEL strapped on her shoulder holster, slipped in her two-...

THERE ARE men who lack the courage of their convictions. Of these is not Mr. Frederick Engels. He has the courage both of his convictions and his predictions. In 1845 he wrote a...

Sacred and profane love in the Republican allegory I t is not hard to see how the Republicans stumbled upon their campaign pledge to increase sexual conformity and improve...

How to stay sane in a manic-depressive world PAUL JOHNSON S ome of the papers presented at this year's British Association for the Advance- ment of Science have attracted...

British Rail acts the fierce bad rabbit in Mr McGregor's garden CHRISTOPHER FILDES A nasty surprise awaits John McGre- gor, the transport minister, on his return from (you...

Sir: I was alarmed to read on the subject of John Bryan's activities as a financial adviser (City and suburban, 29 August) that, while some argue that he has exceeded the bounds...

Sir: In spite of it being a very hot day on the continent I think I have to say something about the anti-German articles in The Spec- tator ('After you, Helmut', 1 August). Do...

Like Mr John Mortimer, QC (Diary, 29 August), I too am'puzzled as to when child abuse became common. I practised the law in the criminal courts from 1935 until 1986, 25 years as...

Sir: How true it is that the right and left of the imperialist bourgeoisie is united in painting the revolution in Peru in the dark- est colours. Anthony Daniels in 'The Shin-...

Sir: Sadly I cannot speak from personal experience of either, but I must query the preference shown by your peripatetic reviewer, Nigella Lawson, in her review of Salloo's...

Sir: P.D. James, in her thoughts on coun- selling (Diary, 15 August), refers to the sec- ond world war. Serving as a very young WAAF officer from 1941 to 1945, I recall there...

Sir: I was interested to read Sir Fitzroy Maclean's account of Evelyn Waugh's con- frontation with Marshal Tito, and in partic- ular with the item of equipment described as...

Sir: While, for obvious reasons, I would be the very last person to complain of anyone wanting to brighten up a contribution to your pages by dropping into the text a name or...

Sir: Noel Malcolm (`The new bully of the Balkans', 15 August) had better not show his face in Greece in the near future. Alas, I nevertheless agree with him. Despite the fact...

Sir: I doubt whether the Victorians, or any- body, ever put trousers on piano legs (And another thing, 22 August). The story seems to spring from a 19th-century cartoon ridi-...

Thought for food Hilary Mantel THE RITUALS OF DINNER by Margaret Visser Viking, £17.99, pp.448 W e shall begin,' Margaret Visser says cooly, 'with a brief look at cannibal-...

Charles Maclean SPRING STREET SUMMER by Christopher Hudson Viking, £16.99, pp.259 T here's something irresistible about a quest. When it shapes a book, provided we find...

Simon Courtauld LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY by Alan Hoe Gollancz, £13.99, pp.507 D avid Stirling's period of active ser- vice in the Western Desert lasted little more than a...

Nigel Spivey A PLACE OF GREATER SAFETY by Hilary Mantel Viking, f15.99, pp. 873 T his is a tale of three men: Georges- Jacques Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Maximilien...

Cressida Connolly THE ENGLISH PATIENT by Michael Ondaatje Bloomsbury, £14.99, pp. 303 I f there is anyone out there who can write as well as Michael Ondaatje, then I'd like to...

Philip Hensher POOR THINGS by Alasdair Gray Bloomsbury, £14.99, pp.317 I t's hard not to like a book which includes an erratum slip which reads "The etching on page 187 does...

Richard Lamb THE UNNECESSARY WAR by Patricia Meehan Sinclair-Stevenson, £18.99, pp.44 I Af ter the war the story that 'good Ger- mans' had plotted and nearly succeeded in...

`Use your feet, and bring the bat down true to the line of flight, head down, and Bob's your uncle !' they said ; or maybe, 'Think the problem through, tackle it stage by stage,...

Architecture Lament for Coleshill Alan Powers on the destruction 40 years ago of a classic English country house C oleshill House is no more,' wrote John Burrow-Hill,...

The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center (Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, USA) Weighty implications Giles Auty M indful of my deeply Eurocentric nature, I approached a...

Pitch battle Peter Phillips A semitone separates Russia from England,' proclaimed the headline (in the Daily Telegraph, 27 August). One read the small print: 'political...

Juice (`15', selected cinemas) The Cutting Edge (`15', selected cinemas) BFI New Directors (Metro) Teen angles Vanessa Letts I enjoyed Juice, which is one of those...

Richard III (Other Place, Stratford) Les Miserables (Palace) Miss Saigon (Drury Lane) A third great Richard Sheridan Morley W e are rich in Richards: after the...

On the margin Martyn Harris I n Paxos last week a silly fat Englishman pointed out to me the absence of beggars, alkies and other underclass vermin on the Loggos quayside...

Peaceful fortress Taki R Gstaad ain and snow above 6,000 feet have suddenly engulfed the Alps, and when the sun comes out it falls on the glistening mountainsides and makes...

A fine wedding Jeffrey Bernard N orman's daughter, Natasha, was mar- ried a few days ago and it was an honour for me to be invited to the wedding and the reception after. It...

Tunnel vision Nigel Nicolson T he Channel Tunnel is within a year of completion. The terminals at Folkestone and Sangatte are no longer vestigial foun- dations etched into the...

Stephen Bull's Bar and Bistro IN FASHION it's called diffusion, a way of turning reputation into revenue. It's com- merce for couturiers: Giorgio Armani dif- fused into...

Raymond Keene I n appearance Fischer, not captured by any photographer, or seen by any chess- player in public for so long, is now a revelation. He is wild-eyed, staring, bald-...

Astrolatry Jaspistos n Competition No. 1743 you were invit- ed to write a poem in salute to a favourite film actor or actress, major or minor, who a . appeared in...

A first prize of £20 and a bottle of Graham's Malvedos 1979 Vintage Port for the first correct solution opened on 21 September, with two runners-up prizes of £10 (or, for UK...

In the swim Frank Keating LAST WEEK was the 107th anniversary of Captain Webb's pioneering - Channel swim. The nutters of both sexes are still at it. On Sunday, Alison...

Dear Mary.. . Q. What is the social etiquette when you take an extremely good bottle of vintage wine to some friends for dinner and find on arrival that there are more guests...