`I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o er vales and hills, When all at once 1 saw a crowd, a host of nuclear power stations!' M r Nigel Lawson introduced his...

ABOUT 20 years ago, the Observer colour magazine published an article on show jumping. According to Richard Hall, in his forthcoming book on Tiny Rowland (My Life With Tiny,...

THE STERILE DEBATE T he decision by the Court of Appeal earlier this week to authorise the sterilisa- tion of a 17-year-old girl is highly question- able. What limits are to be...

Spectator on Wednesday and Thursday last week. The telephones had broken down and British Telecom proved temporarily incapable of mending them.

F rom the beginning of the Wright trial in Australia, I have been convinced that the 'destabilising' of the Wilson and poss- ibly other governments is the only thing worth...

The problem of housing the brightest and the best AUBERON WAUGH F igures produced by Which? magazine in its 30th anniversary issue confirm what I have always thought and often...

DAMN RELAXES; BLESS BRACES Ferdinand Mount praises the wonderful dulness of the Chancellor IT WAS a scratchy March day, the sort that snaps tempers and splits hair-ends. There...

THE Russian Government, after a mo- ment's hesitation, admits that a desper- ate attempt was made on Sunday last to assassinate the Czar, and there is no sound reason to doubt...

AN ARM-LOCK ON PRICES Jock Bruce-Gardyne on a short-term damping down of the Retail Price Index I FEEL a bit like Philip Snowden this weekend. Ramsay MacDonald's Chancel- lor...

NIGEL WINS THE RACECOURSE VOTE Christopher Fildes applauds a tax abolished, but finds many other reforms postponed IT IS no more than courteous to congratu- late the...

Charles Glass exposes attempts to make Index on Censorship silence an author GEORGE Theiner is a quiet, thoughtful man who has worked at the excellent magazine Index on...

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard argues against the new enthusiasm for bargaining away Western weapons Washington THERE is a real danger that Western nuclear defence will soon begin to...

SUBSCRIBE TODAY - Save 15% on the Cover Price! Please enter a subscription to The Spectator I enclose my cheque for £ (Equivalent SUS & Eurocheques accepted) RATES 12...

Richard West joins the growing number of those attacked by immigrants THOSE who anguish about the growing number of guns in modern society, might spare a thought for the that...

Alexandra Artley has her palm double-crossed by a gypsy VENICE is such a sensual city that even being robbed in it is a pleasure. It was all so deftly and gracefully done. As...

Michael Trend describes the risks which homosexuals and heterosexuals share `LIFE itself is dangerous.' But how much more so since the advent of Aids? On 9 March the Health...

The media: Paul Johnson argues it pays to advertise but only if you have the right product ONE of the great truths of modern times is, it pays to advertise. It is also a truth...

Sir: A. N. Wilson's complaint against the admission of divorced men to the priest- hood should not stop there. Divorced and remarried laity are admitted to Holy Com- munion: how...

Sir: I must take issue with my friend Taki over the rubbish he writes about Jane Holzer (High life, 28 February). She was not 'from the wrong side of Park Avenue' (there is no...

Sir: A tiny correction, to keep the Specta- tor record spotless. Connolly . ('Waugh drops the pilot', 7 March) did not get a third in Greats, but in the Modern History School....

Sir: As a member of Britain's ethnic community I read Andrew Gimson's arti- cle on Harvey Proctor ('Right behind Harvey', 14 March) with horrific fascina- tion. It is clear from...

'Waugh drops the pilot' (7 March)? Where Waugh wrote of the Belfast Irish- man receiving a bible and a bowl of broth, the final sentence should read: 'He has excreted [not...

Sir: There are two articles in the 7 March issue of the Spectator which contain refer- ences to Ruskin College, Oxford. The first is by Peter Jenkins, 'The treason of the...

Sir: There was one mistake in Peter Jenk- ins' otherwise excellent article in the Spec- tator two weeks a g o (`The treason of the hacks'), and since it is repeated by the...

Sir: Do you think your lot could now lay off layin g into Entertaining with Style by me and my co-author Polly Tyrer? For Ni g ella Lawson (Restaurant, 3 January) to have a g o...

Sir: It would be a pity to end this corres- pondence (Letters, 7 March) without men- tion of that other distinguished Oliver Dr Oliver St John Go g arty. His pi q uant parody of...

Sir: There is no scriptural warrant for the view, `Onan is a wanker' (David Austin, Cartoon, 14 March). Andrew Brown Religious Affairs Correspondent, The Independent, 40 City...

Set by Caroline Moore T he first three winners of the eight-week Spectator Twin-Town Treasure Hunt will receive outstanding prizes. The first prize has been presented by...

How a newspaper lost its unique authority through populist delusions JOHN CASEY I RECENTLY heard the Master of a Cambridge college announce at dinner that after taking the...

The phantom mole Richard Deacon MOLEHUNT by Nigel West Weidenfeld & Nicolson, f10.95 M alcolm Muggeridge once amusingly described Andrew Boyle as 'the keeper of the Queen's...

The old folk-poet bundled Against the heavy, hard Hand of the ill wind That blew no good to her yard. Birds of a feather flocked Beyond her in the hedge. The blade of morning...

Victoria Glendinning E. SYLVIA PANKHURST: PORTRAIT OF A RADICAL by Patricia W. Romero Yale, £17.50 A t the name of Pankhurst every knee shall bow. Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst and...

Peter Quennell FRANK HARRIS by Hugh Kingsmill Biografia, £17.50 F or a literary portraitist, one of the problems of depicting a human character is often its curious...

Francis King THE COUNTERLIFE by Philip Roth Cape, f10.95 E ither wholly or in large part, this novel is the product of what Philip Roth's alter ego and narrator, a highly...

Dennis Sewell BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS by Richard Cottrell Grafton, L12.95 C ollectors of conspiracy theories should by now be familiar with many of the circumstances attending...

Hilary Mantel ANOTHER DAY OF LIFE by Ryszard Kapu§chiski Picador, £8.95 JONAS SAVIMBI Fred Bridgland Mainstream, £14.95 R yszard Kapugcifiski is a connoisseur of...

Dance Swan Lake (Royal Opera House) Hellbent on effect Julie Kavanagh I f Ursula Buchan will forgive me for encroaching on her territory, there is an obvious analogy to be...

Danton's Death (Young Vic Studio) Pitiless revolution Christopher Edwards T he decision of the 21-year-old Buch- ner to write a play about the French Revolution was a display...

Current Affairs (Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, till 29 March, then travelling to Budapest, Prague and Warsaw) Paula Rego (Edward Totah, till 4 April) Diluted diplomacy...

National glory-hole Kenneth Robinson I was scooping out my waffle-cone sun- dae at the Ideal Home Exhibition, when who should come along but Her Royal Highness, Princess...

Panning shots Wendy Cope Y esterday a friend of mine told me he had read my column in last week's issue and found it quite amusing. The reason I am especially pleased about...

The Green Ray ('PG', selected cinemas) She's Gotta Have It (`18', selected cinemas) French lesson Zenga Longmore L ast week I was merrily sitting at the pictures, eating...

Exhibition Centre till 5 April.

Flat out Jeffrey Bernard T he business of waiting for a flat and meanwhile having nowhere to live is get- ting up my nose and on my tits. Two or three more weeks of it and it...

Royal cactus Taki Gstaad ( thoughlthough some readers might suspect I'm on the take from the Swiss office of tourism, if anything it is the other way around. However broke I...

Toad away Alice Thomas Ellis oor Janet's toad, Michael, passed away the other day and she was very upset. Don't give your heart to a toad to tear. Now her fish have got white...

HIDDEN away in the south-western hinterland of France are probably the least known and appreciated of all the country's rich store of wines. Bergerac, Buzet, Cahors and Madiran...

Killing softly Raymond Keene B efore the Candidates' super-final match started in Linares, Spain, I had expected Andrei Sokolov to put up a stern fight against Anatoly Karpov,...

The State of California, according to the Times, is putting up $375,000 to promote, among other things, 'self-esteem' among its citizens. You are asked to imagine a similar...

Mono-poly Jaspistos I n Competition No. 1463 you were asked for a dialogue between a speaker who uses only monosyllables and one who favours polysyllables and pedantry. I try...

A 'II E 6 14I 7 13 I S TEEUNC'i-ILINE ALA II I 7 T E RIAEOTL E S s ALIMILEEMCIE A N E S t UR ARES I Y MIK II IR, i fft v .1 , A S T R E E 1 E E 1j I E R 1 ' IL I 0 SH L I .EE n...

A first prize of £20 and two further prizes of £10 (or, for UK solvers, a copy of Chambers Dictionary, value £13.95 — ring the words 'Chambers Dictionary' above) for the...