U nemployment fell to below ten per cent of the working population for the first time in six years. In the past 12 months it has fallen by 445,000 and now stands at just over...

Mr Ken Livingstone's declaration of sup- port for the IRA's objectives in the wake of the Enniskillen bombings has been condemned by members of his own party as 'inopportune'...

AN ODD BODY P ress reaction to the debate about sexual sins in the General Synod of the Church of England was hysterical. 'Pulpit poofs WI stay', said the Sun, and so, with a...

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

All powerlessness corrupts, but it needn't corrupt absolutely NOEL MALCOLM In the Prime Minister's Guildhall speech on Monday some of the jokes were very good and some were...

NICHOLAS COLERIDGE F or the last 18 months I have been renting a cottage near Bourton-on-the- Water, in a little hamlet as pretty and unspoiled as any in Gloucestershire. It is...

One's more leisurely reflections on Paul Foot's 50th birthday AUBERON WAUGH I t sometimes happens to one at a party that the host or a deputation of guests demands that one...

The Conservatives have rushed in many changes to the criminal law. Has their populist response England — and I am specific, as it is mainly English law with which we are...

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard sees the Nicaraguan opposition emerging as a force to reckon with Washington THE Ortega brothers were reviled as `putschist adventurers' by the...

Andrew Robinson on India's most original and controversial thinker I LAST met Nirad Chaudhuri, then a few months short of his 90th birthday, on 15 August, which happened to be...

article ('Alice in Jujuland', 31 October), the impression was given that the author had met Alice Lakwena. This is not the case.

is looking for a responsible person to manage and develop the marketing and distribution of their subscriptions and news-stand sales. He/she will be responsible for conceiving...

Edward Theberton visits the area of Angola controlled by Unita and meets its ruler UNITA controls As Terras Livres de Angola, the free lands of Angola — the south-eastern...

Ian Thomson witnesses the closing scenes of the trial of more than 400 mafiosi Palermo TRADITIONALLY, the Mafia have nick- named the Italian judicial system la son- nambula,...

As the Channel tunnel prospectus is the fate of the Panama canal. THE financial euphoria over the launch of the Channel tunnel brings to mind the excitement over another great...

Terence Kealey on a university principal who cut out the dead wood among his teaching staff UNIVERSITY lecturers are paid both to teach and to do research — but there are some...

THE attack on Trafalgar Square threatened for Sunday was actually made. Although processions had been strictly forbidden, and were, after se- vere fighting, broken up by the...

STUDENTS! How to save yourself 51 trips to the library. . . or almost 130 on The Spectator If you're forced to share The Spectator with fellow students, then you'll know how...

Alistair Home encounters unexpected violence on the way to Peru ALL my South American friends had been warning me that things have changed markedly for the worse in Peru since...

The media: Paul Johnson surveys the growing number of taboo subjects THE study of history suggests that the sum total of intolerance in society does not vary much. What...

Of aspirins, appendicitis and poppycock-land JOCK BRUCE-GARDYNE nflation', the Chancellor informed us 18 months ago when he was officiating at the memorial service for the...

MY heart is on the picket-line at Cowley, where the car-makers of Rover (ex-BL, ex-Leyland, ex-BMC, ex-Morris) have for once staged a thoroughly sensible strike. It is about...

Lay down some Eurotunnel for your godson it's a Channel port CHRISTOPHER FILD ES T ony and Caroline Doggart, the Gault and Millau of the tax haven, for many years gave their...

ENJOY Sir Kit McMahon's flair as he pulls rabbits out of the Midland Bank's hat, but do not let the quickness of his hand take your eye away from what he is doing. His alliance...

THE Bank of England's chief cashier, David Somerset, is handing over the pen that signed a billion banknotes, and is unreliably said to be lined up for a retire- ment job —...

NOUGHTS stretching out to the year 2042 have an ethereal quality of their own. As the Eurotunnel prospectus charmingly says, its financial projections do not consti- tute a...

columns is greatly to be welcomed; and the quality of the contribu- tions has been excellent. Noel Malcolm (Politics, 14 November) rightly picked out the point that the greater...

Sir: Though your leading article ('React in anger', 14 November) is nominally pegged to our recent joint publication with Friends of the Union Two Years of Peace, Stability &...

Sir: Poor 'Poor Caroline' ('Household words, government sums', 7 November) . . . she would be 'devastated' to lose her Child Benefit. She has so little money left once her...

Sir: Mr Robert Silver (Letters, 7 Novem- ber) suggested that on the subject of ritual slaughter I should make 'my meaning clear and maybe do more research'. May I make the...

Sir: Before Paul Johnson wrote his article 'Who speaks for Labour?' (The press, 30 October), it might have been useful if he had been able to read Nicholas Garland's piece on...

Sir: I have been commissioned to write a book about All Souls College. It is not intended to be a formal history, but will concentrate on recent decades in an anec- dotal way....

Sir: I read with interest Richard West's article ('Breaking up the school', 10 Octo- ber) concerning the proposed closure of Reydon High School. I fear he misunder- stands the...

Sir: Lady Stansgate's response (Letters, 14 November) to your gentle chiding ('Times Share', 7 November) is revealing. First, it shows that she tends to take seriously what was...

Sir: I was pleased to read Gavin Stamp's article 'Si monumentum requiris' (24 Octo- ber), supporting the erection of a memorial to Lord Dowding in a prominent and appropriate...

Sir: Your leader on Tibet (17 October) was very welcome. However, you are wrong to suggest that we can do little to help the unfortunate Tibetans. There is plenty that we can...

Sir: In Peter Hebblethwaite's review (14 November) of a biography of Bishop John Robinson, he refers to the Bishop's evi- dence in the Lady Chatterley trial, and says this: He...

Sir: Messrs P. V. Jones and A. J. Spooner (Letters, 29 August) may take some com- fort from France, where the present gov- ernment recently approved a draft law making the...

A facetious young courtier Antony Lambton THE DIARIES OF LORD MOUNTBA'FTEN 1920-1922 edited by Philip Ziegler Collins, £15 T o understand these diaries it is neces- sary to...

Rupert Christiansen A SONG OF LOVE AND DEATH by Peter Conrad Chatto & Windus, £25 OPERA: A HISTORY by Christopher Headington, Roy Westbrook, and Terry Barfoot Bodley Head,...

Mary Keen A WOMAN OF PASSION by Julia Briggs Hutchinson, £16.95 J ulia Briggs is an English don at Oxford. It is doubtful whether she wrote the blurb which accompanies her...

He wonders where the time has gone. He's got up now to be quite old — Red-nosed like Rembrandt later on. His spectacles are gold. His gait is brisk; he stops to glare At...

Francis King MYRA BRECKINRIDGE and MYRON EMPIRE ARMAGEDDON?: ESSAYS 1983-87 by Gore Vidal Deutsch, £12.95, £11.95 and £11.95 I n an introduction to his revised versions of...

Max Egremont THE COUNTRYSIDE AT WAR 1914-1918 by Caroline Dakers Constable, £12.95 T he Countryside at War is not an exciting title. It made me think of an entry for one of...

H ow much wine writing has changed in the last 20, let alone 50 years! What distinguishes Charles Walter Berry's In Search of Wine (Sidgwick & Jackson, £13.95) from more modern...

The wizards are enchanting, The devils are endearing, Spooks make a silver haunting, Under the moon careering The witches on their brooms are A Hallowe'en, a riot; It is not...

Chinese cinema Some flowers bloom Anatol Lieven looks at a new generation of Chinese films reflecting the experiences of the Cultural Revolution C hinese films took a long...

Treading with caution Rodney Milnes I t took a little time to work out why the first night of the Royal Opera's new Entfiihrung, conducted by Sir Georg Solti, seemed so...

The Edwardian Era (Barbican Art Gallery, till 7 February) Seeing red Giles Auty T he Edwardian Era, as an exhibition, will in time be judged either as a curious success or as...

Macbeth (Donmar Warehouse) The guilt of kingship Christopher Edwards T his is a production from Cheek by Jowl, the touring company founded and run by Declan Donnelan...

Maurice ('15', selected cinemas) Tasteful repro Hilary Mantel E ver since their success with Shakespeare Wallah in 1965, the films of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant have...

Snowed under Marcus Berkmann A ccording to the Observer, half of all albums are bought in the months of Octo- ber, November and December. Why? I always thought an album a...

Fact- Wendy Cope ear Wendy Cope, I thought you'd like to know that serious non-political argument and debate is alive and well and appearing on BBC 2.. . . Michael Ignatieff...

Losing old friends Ursula Buchan N ot since the chance introduction of Ceratocystis ulmi in a consignment of logs from Canada in the late Sixties has such a devastating blow...

Wish you were here Jeffrey Bernard I Mombasa must say that I find it a little irritating that I should have to desert my sun-bed on the edge of the Indian Ocean to come inside...

Windy city wind-bag Taki Chicago The Oprah Winfrey show is the most popular daytime television show in the good old USA, which means it is watched by tens of millions of...

Street foolish Alice Thomas Ellis I may have remarked before that I seldom venture out of Camden Town. I now realise that this is because it is hardly possible to venture out...

do Berry Bros and Rudd Ltd., 3 St James's Street, LONDON SW1A lEG Telephone: 01-839-9083 I. 88906 1977 Givry Clos de la Baraude No. Value Propser Maufoux 12 bots. £85.20 2....

Last call for Christmas burgundy Auberon Waugh T wo Christmases ago, when I last managed to put together a Berry Bros Christmas burgundy spectacular, I ended on a slightly...

Hara-kiri Raymond Keene 0Seville ver the first five games here Karpov seized the initiative. Kasparov struck back during games 5 to 10 and equalised the score. Only in game...

Remember, remember Jaspistos I N Competition No. 1498 you were invited to write an acrostic poem in which the first letters of the lines, read down- wards, spell out GUY...

The plans for Colditz are suggestive. Perhaps other equally odd hotels will spring up. A drinkers' hotel? A Christian hotel? A hotel for very tall people, or people who want to...

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 first...

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