8 MAY 1976

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Committee wrongs, public rights

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The untimely death of Mr Hugh Delargy, chairman of t.he House of Commons Committee of Selection—which itself chooses members of the parliamentary committees charged with the...

Page 3

The Week

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Mr Denis Healey hogged the headlines. He began by warning that living standards were likely to fall by between one and two Per cent. Then he attacked a previously Obscure group,...

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If the crunch comes ...

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John Grigg Crisis, as well as spring, is in the air. People are asking what will happen if, in spite of another pay deal with the unions, and in spite (or because) of Mr...

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Notebook

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scandalous act of self-interest on the part of Members of Parliament is receiving too little attention, too little public criticism, and from all appearances will soon be...

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Another voice

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Swallows and Amazons Auberon Waugh Living as I do in the depths of the country I find that my knowledge of life around one comes about entirely from the newspapers. Sometimes...

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The end of education

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Geoffrey Wagner New York 'flits constant cliff-hanging fiscal crisis New York has hit hardest, of all its city agencies, at higher education, This is listed as lowest Priority...

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Flat on their faces

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John Horgan Dublin Historians delving into the recently-released Cabinet files for the 'twenties and 'thirties in what was then the Irish Free State have found fascinating...

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Along the slippery slope

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Ludovic Kennedy That within the next ten or fifteen years Scotland will once again become a sovereign nation, as she has been for 750 of the last thousand years, I have not the...

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Are journalists often red?

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Jim Higgins Buxton is a rather sad little town. It retains the features of its former glory, but greyer and slightly frayed around the edges—a place where the pension queue is...

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Precious Stones

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Michael Wale The Rolling Stones this month return to Britain to play for the first time for three Years in concert. There is also a new album, Black and Blue, from the group who...

How to confer

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James Hughes-Onslow Last week 500 delegates from all over the world came to London for a five-day conference—to discuss the art of holding conferences. The excuse for this...

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Cup fever

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Jeffrey Bernard I remember when it became alright to like football. It was when the posh papers began to use writers instead of sports reporters. Cricket was already accepted...

Page 15

Consuming interest

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'Extensive' Elisabeth Dunn The language of estate agents is a miracle of semantics and self-delusion involving, shall we say, a somewhat oblique approach to reality. Not that...

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In the City

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The case for the bulls Nicholas Davenport Writing before the announcement of the new pay deal I must be guarded, but instinct tells me that the bulls who trade in the City...

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Greek broadcasting Sir: ' have been away and my attention has

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Only just been drawn to Professor Devletoglou's letter (10 April.) One must almost admire the Professor's remarkable ability to get everything wrong. He Says that I `helped...

Vietnam Sir: Richard West (1 May) finds it `more than

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ever difficult to understand why the Americans sent an army of 600,000 men to defend an unpopular right-wing regime against the Communists'. The `domino theory' may be...

No Cuba Sir: Patrick Cosgrave . does Stuart Holland an injustice

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in suggesting that he intends to construct a second Cuba in this country. In Cuba, all large-scale industry is stateowned. Stuart has only proposed that at most one quarter of...

Electoral reform

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Sir: Since Hugo Page's letter (24 April) is the first I have read or heard of 'Conservative Action for Electoral Reform', it seems this group has been inclined to hide its light...

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Tariffs and trade

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Sir: Is it not more ironic to Ian Bradley that the nervous voices, fearful of reciprocal action, should come from the right ? Why should we be so worried about tariff barriers...

Balls of fire Sir: Brian Inglis welcomes the recent article

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in Nature on 'Balls of fire' as you called it (24 April), or spontaneous combustion to use its proper name. But equal credit is due to the Spectator in taking up the subject for...

Sir: Regarding the threat of rabies and, in particular, the

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fear that it may be introduced by animals being smuggled into the country by people returning from abroad or visitors, why not use dogs at the customs? If dogs can sniff out...

Naval power and pride Sir: Since I stated in the

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preface to my study of The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery that I expected that my questioning of traditional British assumptions about the influence of sea-power would...

Sir: The best writers about St Paul have ' often

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been those who were not professiona l theologians. I look forward to seeing Michael Grant's new book, and Len Abse must have aroused the interest of many to whom the most human...

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Books

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Showing the flag John Terrame Britain's imperial Century 1815-1914: A Study of Empire and Expansion Ronald Hyam (Batsford £10.00) Captain Shakespear: A Portrait H.V.F. W i...

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The great tradition?

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Penelope Houston The Rise and Fall of British Documentary Elizabeth Sussex (University of California Press £6.50) Documentary has always been a dour, sobering, power-hungry...

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In good spirit

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Nick Totton MY Belief Hermann Hesse (Jonathan Cape £6.50) These selected essays and reviews are important for students of Hesse, and interesting to all of us legitimate or...

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Blasting on

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Bryan Robertson Vorticism and Abstract Art in the First Machine Age. Volume I: Origins and Development Richard Cork (Gordon Fraser £29) In the last ten years, a handful of...

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Faithful

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Benny Green Found, Lost, Found J. B. Priestley (Heinemann E2.90) There is a simplicity of design about J. B. Priestley's new novel which smacks of sheer Cheek . Had he not been...

Food

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Duncan Fallowell Light Years James Salter (The Bodley Head E3.50) Light Years is what is known as an impressionist novel. That means the prose is pellucid and the net result...

Page 24

Racing books

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No ghosts Jeffrey Bernard Second Start Bobby Beasley (W. H. Allen £4.95) Good Horses Make Good Jockeys Richard Pitman (Pelham Books £3.75) Most jockeys nowadays end up by...

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Time and again

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Geoffrey Wheatcroft Racehorses of 1975 (Portway Press £12.50) Timeform Computer Timefigures of 1975 (Portway Press £5.00) Ruff's Guide to the Turf (Mirror Group Books £7.00)...

Page 26

Arts

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Fending off Charley's Aunt John Spurling The twenty years since the so-called Theatre Revolution of 1956 have been the most fertile period in the whole history of the British...

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Art

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Steel pastries John McEwen Before he turned to steel in 1960 Caro was a modeller, that most intuitive of sculptural t echniques, a constant search through addition and...

Music

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Persian mode John Bridcut Sending Magna Carta to remind the States that we had our Watergate seven centuries ago is in its way just as propagandist as the World of Islam...

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Theatre

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Drag race Kenneth Hurren Cycle Sluts (Broadway, Kilburn) La Grande Eugene (Round House) The Zykovs by Maxim Gorky; Royal Shakespeare Company (Aldwych) Miss Julie by August...

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Cinema

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Sore throat Ian Cameron L ike most other American films about Politics, All the President's Men (at many c inemas, `AA' Certificate) is not. really a Political film. It is...

Television

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Musical chairs Jeffrey Bernard I think perhaps the camera should remain almost static when they televise concerts. It's not exactly the most fascinating thing in the world to...