M rs Thatcher delivered a rousing defence of the role of the police in the miners' dispute after Mr Gerald Kaufman, shadow Home Secretary, and other opposi- tion politicians had...

From the Harvey Road T hanks to the work of Dr Edward Norman, the Dean of Peterhouse, we now know that most of the pro- nouncements of modern western churches on political and...

T he deal which Britain is in the process of concluding with the other members of the EEC should lay to rest for ever the accusation that Mrs Thatcher is not Prepared to...

D art of the explanation for Nottingham- shire's refusal to join the miners' strike — and for the angry reaction of more mili- tant areas — lies in the history of the miners'...

Architecture is a supremely public art. That is why a public inquiry into the P roposed extension to the National Gallery now being held. Architecture is also a yberY...

T he public has remained calm in the fort- night since Sir Henry Marking, retiring head of the British Tourist Authority observed that Britain has the worst tourist information...

before Easter, the Spectator will go to press a day early.

Ere Surface mail Air mail 6 months: £17.25 £17.25 £20.50 £26.50 One year: £34.50 £34.50 £41.00 £53.00 Name ............................................... Address...

Summa Pilgerica Auberon Waugh T here was something sweetly babyish in Channel 4's decision to use the evening of the Fifth Sunday in Lent, otherwise known as Passion Sunday,...

S ome weeks ago it was announced that the Abbot of Nashdom was leaving his monastery in order to become a parish Priest in the north of England. The Bishop of Leicester, who is...

Fred Bridgland W hen Malcolm Rifkind, junior minis- ter in the Foreign Office, was in Luanda last November he spoke of the good prospects for bilateral trade and pro- mised the...

Geoffrey Wheatcroft Windhoek In public as in private life it is gener- , ally a good idea to refrain from atm- "ting motive. But since the South African 8° , vernrnent does...

Paul Martin Cardiff T he Welsh Rugby Union has rebuilt the Arms Park with all the love and care due to its national cathedral. A massive sweep of grandstand extends for 320...

William Deedes M rs Jeane Kirkpatrick is always a rewarding interview because after a long academic career at innumerable seats of learning she has a grasp of affairs and a...

Simon Blow Some years ago I paid a visit to the last Some of Marcel Proust's small and restricted circle of intimates. This friend was Celeste Albaret, who had officially gone...

Harry Eyres Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera You come in to Jerez from Seville, of eye is caught by a long, proud lineofhoardings, each marked with the sign of th...

Alan Watkins D uring the second general election of 1974 one of Mr David Frost's aides, a lady (now a leading producer with the 813C), telephoned me and said Mr Frost Would be...

Gerald and the Schnorrer Paul Johnson W hen BBC1 missed an entire day's broadcasting last week, as a result of its dispute with the scene-shifters, did anybody miss it? Twenty...

It is believed that the expiration of Aleko Pasha's term as Governor, which is now approaching, will be the signal for agitation in Eastern Roumelia. He has governed so well,...

Jock Bruce-Gardyne I take as my texts this week two quotations. Firstly, from Sr Ernane Galveas, Brazil's Finance Minister: US in- terest rates are 'causing more havoc than the...

Sir: Richard West's article on Bombay (3 1 March) was most enjoyable and I am gla d that he found the preservation of the city 5 Victorian buildings just as pleasing as I did'...

Sir: In his review of Timeform's Racehorse s of 1983 (March 10) Jeffrey Bernard writ es that the weekly Raceform was th e brainchild of Phil Bull. It wasn't. Raceform is an...

Sir: In his interesting article 'FlelP ing hands' (10 March) Mr Phillips says of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust that it ha t not 'had to fulfil its original purpose'• 1311...

Cultural police Sir: Mr Welch ('Centrepiece,' 10 March) wants critics to function as a cultural police force, arresting art when it is wicked. But where is the legislation for...

Sir: If Giles Gordon (`On the rails, and off,' 7 April) is going to enter the field of the cinema he, too, must stay on the rails. The score, the music, for Night Mail was by...

Sir: May I reassure readers of Andrew Wilson's Diary (7 April) that the Toby Fitton who wrote for Blackwood's magazine and the Toby Fitton who contributes occasional fiction...

Sir: Geoffrey Strickland's article (`The torture lesson', 17 March) includes a familiar misconception when he says I was warned that, although I had never signed the Official...

Sir: I write appealing that you can find a small corner to reproduce this letter. I hope, eventually, to write a modest book looking mainly at the lighter side of anything...

Bogus and real guilt Colin Welch W ith all my heart I wish the English rugger players an enjoyable and suc- cessful tour of South Africa. 1 hope their form and fun will not be...

The most amazing tale A. N. Wilson Jesus: The Evidence Ian Wilson (Weidenfeld and Nicolson £10.95) Is Christianity True? Michael Arnheim (Duckworth £7.95) T hese two highly...

Peter Levi Boys Together John Chandos (Hutchinson £15) W hen Winston Churchill said that the traditions of the British Navy were n un, sodomy, and the lash, he might with more...

Allan Massie Jonathan Swift, Political Writer J. A. Downie (Routledge & Kegan Paul £25) W as Swift a Whig or a Tory? An arid and exhausted question you may think; Dr Downie,...

Wilfred De'Ath Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages Phyllis Rose ( Chatto & Windus/The Hogarth Press £11.95) R eading about these Victorian marriages (Jane and Thomas...

Christopher Hawtree Edmund Gosse Ann Thwaite (Seeker & Warburg £15) s a child, Edmund Gosse was 'rather injudiciously' shown a large print of a human skeleton and asked...

Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd Ladies-in-Waiting Anne Somerset ( Weidenfeld & Nicolson £12.50) A nother titled person,' remarks Sir Percy Shorter upon being presented to Delia...

Not so Oriental Nicholas Garland `The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse' European painters in North Africa and the Near East (Royal Academy, till 27 May) C ubists,...

Dressing up Peter Ackroyd Swann in Love ('18', Lumiere Cinema) A ll of the critics have been describing the difficulties involved in filming Proust s to Recherche du Temps...

Heart and soul Giles Gordon Camille (The Other Place, Stratford - upon - Avon) War Music (Almeida) Benefactors (Vaudeville) The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court) Checking...

Rough ride Maureen Owen t's been a long morning,' said Richard Baker towards the end of Radio 4's first edition of Rollercoaster the other Thursday. But I thought the whole...

Truth time Taki New York T his is a grim tale with an even grimmer cover-up. It involves none other than America's first political family, the Ken- nedys. The cast of...

Folk tune Alexander Chancellor Panorama interview with the Prime Minister. This was on the famous occasion during the election campaign when she ad- dressed him eight times as...

Gangs P. J. Kavanagh A o correspondent writes expressing ; I surprise to fi nd 'a decent poet rubbl shoulders with scruffs like Ingrams a n d Waugh'. The 'decent' is kind of...

Back-scratching Jeffrey Bernard U p until this week, the large vodkas in Wiltshire have been as few and far bet- ween as Bernard Levin's full stops. Only the most appalling...

No. 1316: Let's face it Set by Jaspistos: Recently a team of jour- nalists attempting a parody of the Sun gave up because they found that their spoof editorials were no sillier...

Jaspistos reports: Competitors were asked for a poem, six lines at the most, containing all the letters of the alphabet. The best entry this year. I salute you. Technically, it...

Final rally Raymond Keene A Smyslov's match situation became in- creasingly desperate he sought to lash out and challenge Kasparov in the tactical sphere. For game 11 Smyslov...

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