Page 2
The sense of an ending
The Spectator'S leaze has been the dominant factor throughout,' declared the opposition, 'and sleaze has been the end issue. Nothing better encapsulates what people think of this government....
Page 4
Diary
The SpectatorANDREW ROBERTS Well, I've learnt my lesson. After my last Speccie diary was satirised by the Guardian, Emily Maitlis, Michael White, Taki, a newspaper called the Asian Age, and...
Page 5
The Labour party has ended up as the unloved child of the Blair Brown divorce
The SpectatorANNE MCELVOY eepparty feuds never really die: they just lie buried under the flimsy covering of the good times. For Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, such times have been brief...
Page 6
CHARLES MOORE We all know about spin in theory, bu
The SpectatorCHARLES MOORE We all know about spin in theory, but we are slow to notice it in practice. The approved version of the release of Gillian Gibbons, the 'teddy bear' teacher in the...
Page 7
Diary of a Notting Hill Nobody By Tamzin Lightwater SUNDAY Weekend duty totally r
The SpectatorBy Tamzin Lightwater SUNDAY Weekend duty totally ruined by silly Sayeeda's trip to Sudan. Spent all dayyesterday fielding calls for pre-trip interviews, but she couldn't do any...
Page 8
Labour would get rid of Gordon if the plotters had a real candidate
The SpectatorAs the government sinks into a mire of sleaze and incompetence, Fraser Nelson says that Labour MPs and ministers are braced for electoral disaster and already plotting...
Page 10
Guess what? Gordon has done something right For al
The SpectatorGuess what? Gordon has done something right For all Brown's woes, he is spot on about anti-competitive sharp practice in business, says Irwin Stelzer. Now he needs to import...
Page 11
'Zimbabwe is like a flipped coin in the air'
The SpectatorAs the first EUâAfrica summit for seven years opens, Christopher Thompson talks to those who still suffer under Mugabe's tyrannical rule and see no reason for optimism Harare...
Page 13
The teddy bear teacher was released from prison too soon
The SpectatorRod Liddle is unimpressed by Gillian Gibbons and her view of Islam â but pleasantly surprised by the unequivocal reaction of British Muslim groups to her treatment So the...
Page 14
'The Arab world with its own European union'
The SpectatorWalter Russell Mead, the chronicler of US power, talks to James Forsyth about the geopolitics of the Middle East and says that Bush has 'carried the sins of his people' The...
Page 16
The older the Queen gets, the more she changes
The SpectatorRobert Hardman, presenter of the acclaimed BBC series on the monarchy, hails Elizabeth II for her ability to adapt and for her dwindling interest in 'VIPs' 1 n a fortnight the...
Page 18
The US needs the UK
The SpectatorSir: David Howell is certainly correct (Letters, 1 December) in pointing to the massive shift of wealth to Asia and oil producers, a devel- opment to which I have repeatedly...
A church, not a cult
The SpectatorSir: Individuals may disagree with the policies pursued by Tony Blair in office but all the Roman Catholic Church asks is that he acted on the basis of an informed conscience...
Full circle
The SpectatorSir: Miranda Sawyer should not have included The Sound of Music in her list of 'films turned into live shows' (Diary, 24 November). It was, of course, the other way round: a...
Larry's Freudian kiss
The SpectatorSir: Lloyd Evans is incorrect in stating that Olivier played Othello twice (Arts, 1 December). In the 1938 production at the Old Vic, Olivier played Iago and Ralph Richardson...
Despair, but also hope
The SpectatorSir: Paul Johnson need not be so terrified by what he finds written in Matthew xxvii 46 (And another thing, 1 December). Jesus' reported last words on the cross are quoted from...
Money mad
The SpectatorSir: What a funny and insightful piece by Andrey Slivka on the effects of mass consumption on Ukraine (Money culture is ruining Kiev', 1 December) Perhaps now he could be...
Page 19
I oppose a 'gay-hate' law because that is not what criminal legislation is for
The SpectatorMATTUFW D, plc Should 'gay-hate' be a crime? Stonewall, the gay lobbying group of which I remain a solid supporter, has just sent me a briefing paper urging members to support...
Page 20
From Renaissance Florence to Hollywood in only one contrapposto step
The SpectatorPAUL JOHNSON The other day I came across a clever book on the movie actor John Wayne. I forget the name of the author but it may have been Simon Louvish, who writes better than...
Page 21
The last Victorian bastion besieged
The SpectatorMatthew Lynn says London's last 19th-century merchant bank, Close Brothers, is under threat of takeover by one of the modern breed of aggressive City traders, Andy Stewart...
Page 22
Braced for a new oil shock? Relax, this isn't the 1970s
The SpectatorAllister Heath Those of us born in the late 1970s have a great advantage when it comes to understanding today's oil market: we cannot remember Opec embargoes, nor the...
Page 23
Wine maker to the maharajas
The SpectatorRichard Orange meets Rajeev Samant, an entrepreneur whose products please the palates of new-rich India 1 t's not often your host has passed up dinner with Mick Jagger and the...
Page 24
Charm school: You don't have to be an eight-year-old to love charm bracelets, writes Sarah Sands
The SpectatorWhen I was a bridesmaid, at the age of eight, I was given two silver charms. One was of a ballet dancer, en pointe, in a full skirt, like a little Degas. The other was a tiny...
Girl gadgets
The SpectatorAmelia Torode chooses the techy devices most likely to appeal to 'lady geeks' Say the words 'gadgets for women' to most men and rather quickly schoolboy humour takes over. But...
Page 25
My new best cellar
The SpectatorDig deep for the wine-lover in your life, says Jonathan Ray Iknow what I want for Christmas and it ain't socks or handkerchiefs, thanks very much. I want a cellar. A grownup,...
Page 27
First past the post
The SpectatorBill Cashmore picks the winners among mail-order food companies Ilove the nectar and ambrosia of luxury Christmas hampers but recipients aren't as grateful as they ought to be;...
Page 28
All passion spent
The SpectatorPhilip Ziegler BALFOUR: THE LAST GRANDEE by R. J. Q. Adams John Murray, £30, pp. 479, ISBN 97807193541247 © £24 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 Sargent's portrait of Balfour,...
Page 29
A choice of cookery books
The SpectatorElfreda Pownall Let's start in the garden. This year cookery writers are as happy digging and planting as slicing and braising. Sarah Raven is a great gardener and, on the...
Page 30
Recent books of photographs
The SpectatorChristopher Howse In England by Don McCullin (Cape, £35) is, as might be expected, more gritty than pretty. Yet it is approachably humane compared with his famous war...
Page 32
Too funny for words
The SpectatorKevin Brownlow SILENT COMEDY by Paul Merton Random House, £25, pp. 322, ISBN 9781905211708 £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 1 n 1989, when David Gill and I celebrated the...
Page 33
Fear and loathing in old Europe
The SpectatorAllan Mallinson NAPOLEON'S WARS by Charles Esdaile Allen Lane, £30, pp. 621, ISBN X9780713997156 © £24 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 What marks out the Napoleonic wars from...
Page 34
Don't judge a book by its cover
The SpectatorChristian House THE JOURNAL OF DORA DAMAGE by Belinda Starling Bloomsbury, £12.99, pp. 452, ISBN9780747585220 £1039 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 With its quartos, rectos...
A love story
The SpectatorDaniel Swift SPITFIRE: PORTRAIT OF A LEGEND by Leo McKinstry John Murray, £20, pp. 435, ISBN9780719568749 £16 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655 The pilots called it 'the Spit',...
Page 35
A choice of first novels
The SpectatorArchie Bland Rarely has Nietzsche been taken so literally as in Ron Currie's God Is Dead (Picador, £12.99), wherein the deity adopts the form of a Sudanese refugee woman called...
Page 36
The enduring mystery of Mrs Bathurst
The SpectatorL â isten, Bill,' wrote P. G. Wodehouse (in a letter published in Pe/forming Flea), something really must be done about Kip's "Mrs Bathurst". I read it years ago and didn't...
Page 37
All points East
The SpectatorAriane Bankes takes the Trans-Siberian railway and encounters some surprising music and art Serendipity is the best aspect of travel â the chance encounter, the unexpected...
Page 38
Drawing on experience
The SpectatorAndrew Lambirth Theatres of Life: Drawings from the Rothschild Collection The Wallace Collection, Manchester Square, London Wl, until 27 January 2008 Pop Art Portraits National...
Page 39
Marital tensions
The SpectatorLaura Gascoigne Bauhaus 1919-1933 Middlesbrough Institute of Modem Art, until 17 February With all the 'boundary-blurring' going on in contemporary art, the old distinction...
Page 40
Insight denied
The SpectatorDeborah Ross The Killing of John Lennon 15, West End and key cities Mark David Chapman killed John Lennon on 8 December 1980 as he returned to his New York home after a...
Page 41
Bitter sweets
The SpectatorLloyd Evans Happy Christmas New End The Seagull; King Lear New London Ablast of seasonal cheer at the New End Theatre. Paul Birtill's bitter and hilarious family satire, Happy...
Page 42
Rubies to the rescue
The SpectatorGiannandrea Poesio Jewels The Royal Ballet George Balanchine's Jewels is an ideal acquisition for the Royal Ballet, for the evening-long work provides the artists with a...
Sound and fury
The SpectatorCharles Spencer Iwent out on the razzle with a bunch of reformed drunks last weekend. God, it was fun. The aim was a serious walk, eleven and a half miles, kicking off from...
Page 43
Breaking hearts
The SpectatorMichael Tanner The Rake's Progress Royal College of Music The Turn of the Screw English National Opera The Royal College of Music's Britten Theatre is the ideal size for...
Page 44
Prepare and reflect
The SpectatorKate Chisholm The onset of Advent in the last days of November is supposed to be the herald of great joy at the jollities to come, but for most of us who have left childhood...
Dark doings in the suburbs
The SpectatorSimon Hoggart No doubt one reason why British people like Kath & Kim (often on BBC2, now on Living, Thursday) is that it takes the mick out of Australian suburban life. That...
Page 45
Don't worry about Harry
The SpectatorRobin Oakley After Denman, the deluge. The downpour which followed the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury reduced my notes to soggy pulp, but no matter. Twill remember almost every...
Page 46
Name dropping
The SpectatorTaki New York OK. Next to last column before the end of the year one, and of course it has to be about the crisis that has enveloped Pug's, the world's most exclusive of clubs....
Page 47
Pill popping
The SpectatorJeremy Clarke G Where are you going?' said the nurse. 'Guyana,' I said. She looked blankly at me. 'South America,' I said, passing on information I'd only recently learned...
Page 48
Making records is ridiculous
The SpectatorAlex James people ask me sometimes if I still do any music and I always tell them that music is a garden and, once you've been there, you never stop going back. It's true. Then...
Page 49
California hikin'
The SpectatorSteve King goes for a walk through the Los Angeles hills Los Angeles, they say, has four seasons: fire, flood, earthquake and drought. More than 500,000 acres of southern...
Page 50
Christmas in the Highlands The air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself at Cawdor, says Ella Windsor
The Spectator1 nverness in winter. Sugar-coated riverbanks, glittering with leaves. Inverness â home to the Loch Ness Monster and Cawdor, land of Macbeth. I was staying with friends for a...
Page 51
Restaurants
The SpectatorDEBORAH ROSS The new champagne bar at St Pancras Station â sorry, St Pancras International â is said to be the longest in Europe, which is fine, although I pity the poor...
Page 54
Me in Who's Who? Until I see the 2008 edition, I'll assume it's a hoax
The SpectatorTOBY YOUNG When the letter anived last April I thought it was a joke. 'Dear Sir,' it began. 'On behalf of the publishers A & C Black I am very pleased to invite you to compile...
Mind your language
The SpectatorSome years ago The Spectator was sued for libel. It was a silly case, but it went to court and, early on, the counsel for the defence explained that The Spectator had no...
Page 55
Your Problems Solved
The SpectatorDear Maly Q. Although I consider my dog Claude to have been born without a brain, he miraculously remembers that Wednesday is the day for his extra-long walkies and sits by the...
Lords of the ring
The SpectatorFRANK KEATING Another big fight on Saturday in Vegas: Britain's welterweight Ricky Hatton vs the accomplished American Floyd Mayweather. Victory for the four-square brickhouse...