Sir William and Sir Burke \'1 d(lid nlcither Sir Willimiin A rmstronig Ofe( of thle Civil Service) nor Sir Burke T -nld (secretar y } to tile (O hi nt) tel lI the P lilile...

Above suspicion j lioriuL lnteCly tile .1 nle ri kin:il Will llOt be eiulipped or authorlised to illLIirC into0 this --c-zonlstituLtionltlcl thie Most serioLs - ;ASt)eCL of the...

New look on old lines I live a lwvaIyS enj-ocd the ph rtse usedl in thc /IY'ws o')f /e lWorld a id thIe PIeop/'h, by theit iinvestigattye reporters \\lho lilte l'oulid theil...

and Sir Antonv I is almn1ost unhlinkablC tia I Sir Antonv Partl permanllent secretarv at tile Boa rd (o1 'Irl-itde SinC'e 1 968 and inko permanenitiei SeCI'Ctill'}' rat the...

Classy distinletions T'he sNnobbely s'as uorse. [lhere was a great socidti division in Mancnhestei letw c n th1e lpople onl '[le Corridor, who were the leadcr %Nritels. and...

Carry on, chaps llhis set up) I disCovered wasv not peculiar to the Al.(; thle Iiwx Wats muich thle samne. I)uLr1in ai talhour confr1eInC I-Inrvl! Fa I r lic, then a lea der- w...

1It J~ THE II SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK With (lie appointmlent o(l M r J.istice J ames to be chairman of the tribuInal of inquLiry into the alleged v&(., lek one aspect of the...

Full internal hypocrisy I"Lill I-IontL:l II ocI' S- screimecd the front page of the Old Staggers. denouinci ng new attempts at censorship. L.ditor Dick Crossnman Was re port...

Whose is Gibraltar? Sir: Mr 1). G. Dav'ies writing about (Gibraltiar (IM) April) invites an answer to tile question: 'I-ow shoulld we like it if a foreign power hcld, however...

Quaker money Sir: I amil one of the (lirectors of the Joseph Rowntree Social Scrvice Trust and share with my colleagues rCsp(}nsibility for the grant to the Mo.ambique...

Si r: It \was with near-despair and iflikzenient that 1 halve hear(d oil the radio tHa a, British Qjiaker Or1-Plnisatioll 11;hs dccidd(l to suipPort the piblicity wing of the...

Flagrant weed Sir it \.Is interesting to see in N1\r Sea ton's report onl ylour No 641 Co(mpetition. set by Mr I mlothy Snow. , osv--ollosving hi. riceit iimed ical...

To The Advertiser Sir: I ha1ve read with interest the advertisement\ ct filed '(onlsle rv;ativC pacitism' andIlL thle elnsuling COIrrespondnce1CC, includi jn~gthe lettCr from...

Is this the last of Les Halles? Sir: I've only jist coenic across Yomr issute of 10 April, and Carol Wi lgtrs reassurancc onl page 514 that I cs II alics is hecing prcsc ivCd...

Sir: Adecitiately to dcal with the siluject of Conserva live pacifisl-i(le IThe Advertiser's' letter in yvour issue for 1t) A pril--would, ] Slispect. rcqlulire more 5vacC...

Politics of Europe Sir: In his hunianie and judicious letter of 24 April, Mr C. BI. Goodhart asks: 'So far as the Abortion Act 1967 is concerned, what reason is there to...

Dark thoughts Sir: On my arrival in Salisbury recently I took a taxi from tihe airport into the town. The following was said to rnc by the black Rhodesian taxi-driver: 'Madam,...

Letwin on Spencer Sir: No author can le really oflended by a review whose criticisms hear so little on what he actually wrote as do Mrs Letwin's of my book on Herbert Spencer:...

Aunty telly Sir: ]as there been ally suggestion that the 'controversial' sex education film, (;ronting Up, be shown on television ? If so, I have missed it. If not, I query...

The view from Moscow Sir: Stella Fitz%'lhornas Hlagan (Letters, I May) was admirably relevant and to the point in her analysis of Leninismll, in particular in the context of...

John Dunn on Azikiwe's odyssey A'Iy Ody.s.vey: An Autobiography Nnanidi Azikiwe (Hurst £3.50) In the carly 1960s the Cambridge University Press issued, with StilCed...

Christopher Booker on a mournful feminist XII.e I)ialecic of S.e'x(: The (C, s for F.,,miiisi Je (Vo)/IioU Sh u llaillith FI1irCstone (Cape £2.50) \What ire we to make of...

EUROPE Constitutions and consent NEIL MARTEN, MP Behind all the arguments for and against entry into the Common Market lies the little discussed booby-trap of whether the...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I1Cit,, ersJ)I J./7,¢52 N. Edwel,,Isds, 1t 1 F. ascildbel'., Jhn, TvN Iltial. 1. D. 1'. lXcl iRogcr t i/S~oll ellid (Illlerls Regional films Sir: 1 have...

The roullg Vie Sir-: I WOUld aSk or the l r itality of vourl Columns to v'cnilaltc aI Iatlcr' \\l hich I think is ol' soilC nipolr~tvance in lrncrilllple. Being illd LicC(l to...

Cry at night His cry rips across the dark and dies into a deep pool . Like a zombie I shamble from bed to the cot where his cry sears again in my head like a slow motion list...

Christopher Sykes on an Egyptian servant Alo anid Otlher Origiinalx Charles Johnston (Hamish Hamilton £1.50) The hero of this book is Mo, whose full name was Niohammed Aboudi,...

Richard Luckett on a musical vernacular The Classical St/ie: HaVdln, Mozmri Beethoven Charles Rosen (Faber and Faber £7.00) 'If the uncouth had becn forbiddcn by lawv.'...

JULIETTE'S WEEKLY FROLIC What hopc hlas a mere avariCiOLus female of ever Coining it on the turf, When even traincr (Mlirless) voices amazement at his second string sweeping to...

PEE'SONAL COLUM N Running out of cricket BENNY GREEN InI thc list ew \\ ecks there have laen apctar, ilg InI obscure corlers ol l e niaioaail precss Severaill interrlated...

Vere Vere I have seen the new tabloid !)ei/v NMil and though it's too carly to have seen Fleet Street's react ions it looks unbelieva bly (dull, ntld I 1have a gloomy tecling...

Message to MIr Chataway MIlr Chataway is too entangled with his illconceivedI commerci~al raLdio schemes to make suIT that present transmission serVices are adeqIuate,...

THE GOOD wD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 :--DItbs Pamela VANDYKE PRICE The anti-wine-snob movement is possibly even more boring than the snob one to me. If you really can't think further...

:1 COUNTRYam j 0 LIFE VtI PETER QUINCE When I read the other day of the very high prices now being offered by timber merchants for mature walnut trees, I was instantly...

Charles Wilson on the quality of the 'thirties BjI(lill in je l(c A!jicc/'eln- IT hiie s NJ orimin B3rallsoll and MLargoll't I'ICIlill llI) ('The HI story of British...

Homage to William Empson How small a chink lets in how dire a foe. What though the garden in one glance appears Winter will come and all your leaves will go.* Is this a reason...

Auberon Waugh on talent and neuroses The nclu/rable Nell Dunn (Ca pe I£ .25) The Same God John Jones (Flocider and Stoughlton £1.60) Is it too much to ask that novelists...

THE NATION'S WEALTH Swept away on the Euro-current riy 'AN ECONOMIST' A ncew spectrc is h1auniting the govCernmcnts Of lUIrOpe: not the spectre Of C011111oImmuism, butI that...

SCIENCE The slaves of chemistry BERNARD DIXON I ligh on those lists of potcntial scientific horrors compiled by the dloom-mnolgers is hlic possibility of controlling human...

MIDDLE EAST Suez and Americans with a past LIONEL GELBER Mr Gelber, Jormer Special Assistant to the Pjrimlle Minister of Canada, disci.i.ses one strange aspect of the Suez...

OUT WITH THE OLD THUG, IN WITH THE NEW? The retirement of Herr Walter Ulbricht as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the German Socialist Unity party marks the welcome...

2. JOHN MACKINTOSH Scotlanid has always beCn a hceadlache for the (Conservativc party. It is diflictilt politically it, that a ( onservative victory nationally last Jule still...

The State of Scotland 1. HUIlJGIH MACPHERSON Scottish politics are domina ted. or at least ought to be, by tile Secretary of' State. I-lis range of reslponsibiliuies is vast...

D)avid Walder on new fiction )'Oui Wai'an uhlc Ri.Q I' rame of Referentce \Villianm( Cooper ( Mlicimillan i2. 10) I Jil/il(n.s J j 1a)s NI MOSSI1a;n11 ( IBodlev [lead...

THE PRESS The coming of the mabloid DENNIS HACKETT On Mtdondaiy caLme the mabloid: an inch deeper than the Mirror 111d the SUn but still recognisable as the Daily Mail and...