Page 2
System? What system?
The SpectatorT he foreign prisoners scandal has revealed nothing less than a crisis of governance: the fundamental incapacity of what ministers feebly call âthe systemâ to respond to a...
Page 4
Ndjamena
The SpectatorT hird-world airports are more satisfactory than ours in every department. They are more efficiently run. There is no need to walk several miles to your departure gate. They...
Page 5
The idea that Brownâs succession will save Labour is pure fiction
The SpectatorW hen the last Conservative government sacrificed its reputation for competence, it was at least for a worthy cause. On Black Wednesday, British monetary policy was rescued from...
Page 6
A s I write, no one knows what the result of
The Spectatorthe local elections will be, but it seems safe to predict that the turnout will not be high. Politically minded people tend to worry about low turnout because they find it hard...
Page 7
DIARY OF A NOTTING HILL NOBODY
The SpectatorTHURSDAY The government is in âmeltdownâ and we are marking the occasion with lots of glacier jokes (Steve not amused) and by gazing at our collective navel. Much argument...
Page 8
Blessed are the spin doctors
The SpectatorAusten Ivereigh , who is leading the battle against the movie of Dan Brownâs Da Vinci Code in this country, reveals how its principal target â the controversial Catholic...
Page 10
Opus Dei is scary because itâs so normal
The SpectatorMary Wakefield visits one of the groupâs halls of residence and meets not albino assassins but a more pious version of Trinny and Susannah A fter three hours with Opus Dei...
Page 11
Immigration, Iraq and oil: a bitter brew for Bush
The SpectatorRepublicans are bitterly divided about immigrants, and the public is blaming the President for high petrol prices. Irwin Stelzer reports on ugly times in Washington D onât...
Page 12
Mind your language
The SpectatorOn BBC televisionâs Newsnight they have got one of their reporters to live for a year âethicallyâ. By this they do not mean that he must remain faithful to his wife,...
The future of Europe will be decided by tomatoes
The SpectatorDavid Rennie says that the euro has been a public relations disaster because consumers associate it with the rising price of ordinary goods Ioannina, Greece L ike a penitent...
Page 14
The real disgrace is a fit of bogus morality about Prescott
The SpectatorRod Liddle say that â whatever his political failures â the Deputy Prime Minister is the victim of a deplorably hypocritical press assault I spent Bank Holiday Monday trying...
Page 16
Expel foreign crooks?
The SpectatorNo, weâre far too nice Tom Stacey , a prison visitor for 30 years, says that jails devote scandalous resources to âdiversityâ. No wonder the Home Office has so little...
Page 17
Prepare for coalition
The SpectatorFrom William MacDougall Sir: I hope Fraser Nelson is mistaken in his talk of a âLib Dem Testâ for Tory policies (âCameronâs secret planâ, 29 April). Of course the...
PC Beeb
The SpectatorFrom Colin Broughton Sir: Rod Liddle is right in suggesting that the fiction of the BBCâs impartiality should be addressed by more openness (âBBC staffâs views should be...
Fascists are socialists
The SpectatorFrom Frederick Forsyth Sir: Lord Tebbit (Letters, 29 April) is quite right to rebuke idle journalism which relentlessly repeats untruths instead of analysing the meaning of the...
Lions and donkeys
The SpectatorFrom Sir Simon Day Sir: I was most interested by the article by Lord Ashcroft to mark the 150th anniversary of the Victoria Cross (âConspicuous bravery celebratedâ, 22...
Freudian quip
The SpectatorFrom William Oddie Sir: Roger Scruton (âAn unhappy birthday to Sigmund the Fraudâ, 29 April) could have quoted G.K. Chesterton, who prophetically warned against most of the...
Little Americans
The SpectatorFrom Steve Spurrell Sir: Allow me to clear up Jason Boatrightâs misunderstanding about the âstrange criticismsâ Europeans so often make of Americans (Letters, 22 April)....
Still alive
The SpectatorFrom Timothy Williams Sir: Frederic Raphael writes: âPapon was tried and condemned for war crimes only as an old man, in the late 1990s, and died in prisonâ (Books, 29...
Page 18
My fantasy Cabinet would be a ministry of all the failures
The SpectatorM ost of us know what it is to finish a task undertaken for the first time, having made every mistake in the book, and regret we are unlikely ever to have to do this job again....
Page 19
Galbraith versus Friedman: the great debate is not over yet
The SpectatorI would love to have been a fly on the wall â or a butler â at the US embassy in New Delhi in March 1963 when Milton Friedman, champion of laissez-faire, came to lunch with...
Page 20
High standards of grub are the norm in West Somerset
The SpectatorW andering through the Vale of Taunton recently, I reflected that few places on earth could be more fair in April-time. The trees were still mostly bare but the blossom was out...
Page 21
Looking back in judgment
The SpectatorFerdinand Mount J OHN O SBORNE : A P ATRIOT FOR U S by John Heilpern Chatto, £25, pp. 528, ISBN 0701167807 â £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 T he heart starts to sink...
Page 23
We are told too that Faith, Osborneâs sister who died
The Spectatorin infancy, was christened at St Martinâs in the Fields by âthe Reverend Dick Sheppard, the England star cricketerâ. In fact, David Sheppard, the great batsman, later...
Page 24
Wives and wallpaper
The SpectatorCressida Connolly A M UCH M ARRIED M AN by Nicholas Coleridge Orion, £12.99, pp. 464, ISBN 075285254X â £10.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 A nyone baffled by the...
Genesis
The SpectatorSitting at the window shelling peas into a battered colander between my knees (sweet, pod-swollen peas of early May) till suddenly I find Iâve slipped away sixty years and...
Captain of a dreadful crew
The SpectatorDavid Pryce-Jones B LACK S HIRT : S IR O SWALD M OSLEY AND B RITISH F ASCISM by Stephen Dorril Viking, £30, pp. 717, ISBN 0670869996 â £24 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655...
Page 25
No reason to pull down the statue
The SpectatorNoble Frankland B LOOD , S WEAT AND ARROGANCE by Gordon Corrigan Weidenfeld, £20, pp. 495, ISBN 029784623X V £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 C HURCHILL â S S ECRET W...
Page 26
A philosopher rescued from politicians
The SpectatorMartin Vander Weyer A DAM S MITH AND THE P URSUIT OF P ERFECT L IBERTY by James Buchan Profile, £14.99, pp. 198, ISBN 1861979053 â £11.99 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 I...
Page 27
Giants in petty strife
The SpectatorJohn Laughland R OUSSEAU â S D OG by David Edmonds and John Eidinow Faber, £15.99, pp. 405 ISBN 0571224059 â £12.79 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 âI n London, if a...
Page 28
Ghosts from the past
The SpectatorDigby Durrant A S TAIN ON THE S ILENCE by Andrew Taylor Penguin/ Michael Joseph, £12.99, pp. 343, ISBN 0718147499 â £10.39 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 A ndrew Taylor...
Fighting a war in all but name
The SpectatorAlistair Irwin D USTY W ARRIORS by Richard Holmes HarperCollins, £20, pp. 385, ISBN 139780007212842 â £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 H IGHWAY TO H ELL by John Geddes...
Page 29
Serious but not solemn
The SpectatorT owards the end of the Seventies I was asked to write a short, critical study of Muriel Sparkâs novels. I accepted, with some trepidation and misgivings. At least I hope...
Page 30
Reassuring period pieces
The SpectatorAndrew Lambirth on exhibitions focusing on the life and times of Shakespeare and Bellini H ere in London are two historical exhibitions which treat more of human identity,...
Page 31
American demands
The SpectatorPeter Phillips T he war on terror means little to a lot of people, but to the itinerant musician at an airport it means ever-increasing hassle, rough treatment and delay. In...
Page 32
Moving on
The SpectatorAlan Powers T wenty years ago, Britain was gripped by an architectural battle of styles. The Lloydâs building in the City opened, representing the hopes for a resurgence of...
Page 33
Hitched and hooked
The SpectatorOlivia Glazebrook Confetti 15, selected cinemas I donât know quite what came over me during the screening of Confetti . I was well prepared: I had curled my lip and rolled...
Page 34
Missing erotica
The SpectatorGiannandrea Poesio Companhia de Danga; Deborah Colker The Barbican D ance and eroticism have long gone hand in hand. For centuries, moving bodies have been regarded as...
Page 35
Cool cat
The SpectatorCharles Spencer M y sister and I never had pets as children, or rather we had them but they didnât tend to last very long. Indeed, no sooner had some dumb animal entered the...
Murder in the cathedral
The SpectatorMichael Tanner King Canterbury Cathedral T here canât be many more tantalising prospects for an operatic composer than writing an opera about the murder of Thomas Becket in...
Page 37
Fiddling with Milton
The SpectatorLloyd Evans Paradise Lost Watford Palace Trainspotting Hackney Empire, and touring Psychosis 4:48 Arcola G ood and evil slug it out in Paradise Lost . Good triumphs, just...
American beauty
The SpectatorMichael Vestey A lthough I donât buy it often, Iâve always liked the New Yorker magazine, not only for its good writing but also for the humour. The cartoons are...
Page 38
First impressions
The SpectatorSimon Hoggart I greatly enjoyed The Impressionists (BBC1, Sunday) in spite of clunky lines such as âThis is Paris, in 1862,â and âCézanne! Do you know everybody?â...
Page 39
Pipe dream
The SpectatorRobin Oakley âT he unexpected ones are always the sweetest,â said J.P. McManus after his Hasty Prince had followed half a dozen duck eggs by running out the 14â1 winner...
Page 40
Warrior writer
The SpectatorTaki New York I âm in the middle of rereading Storm of Steel , Ernst Jüngerâs account of his first world war experience, which was published in 1920 and immediately made...
Page 41
In at the deep end
The SpectatorJeremy Clarke O n Saturday morning I woke early. I was in a strange bed, in an unfamiliar bedroom, fully clothed, with my shoes on. Curled up beside me was a woman I didnât...
Page 44
Testing times
The SpectatorFRANK KEATING B lossom by blossom, the season changes. So should the headlines. Fat chance. Weird times: roll up, roll up for a Lordâs cricket Test even before the mudlarks...
Q. While staying at a house party in Norfolk I
The Spectatorlost a much loved and very expensive Georgina von Etzdorf scarf. And Iâm afraid that when I couldnât find it I suspected one of the other guests â whoâd admired it and...
Q. What is the polite but expressive way to respond
The Spectatorwhen people at parties surge up to me, faces aglow, leading me to believe they feel some joy in seeing me, and then proceed to make it clear as soon as they open their mouths...
Q. I belong to a modest lawn tennis club with
The Spectatorgrass courts and a few hard courts. Now that the season has come round again people are starting to say to me, âWe must play tennisâ and I am aware that one of the reasons I...