and inflation The Government's wage settlement with the miners spread a great deal of alarm, even in areas of opinion hitherto favourable to the so-called social contract, and...

Sir: Lord Beaumont's article (February 15 ), 'The Real Case for Electoral Reform', sets out some cogent arguments in support of a change of the Present electoral system but does...

Sir: Bravo, Margaret Thatcher! Congratulations, too, for the hundred and forty-six Conservative MPs who had the good sense to elect her as their leader. And top marks to Patrick...

of the Conservative Party is the best thing to happen for a long time! I hope one of her first steps will be to recognise that within the Tories, as in the Labour Party, there...

crowing about it, and treble congratulations on that marvellous cartoon of two-gun Wyatt Thatcher gunning down the baddies in Westminster's OK Corral — in both the foreground...

Sir: Bill Grundy never lets the facts get in his way, and it would probably be churlish to blame him for that. But your readers should know that the Sun, " . . . the home of...

From the Rt Hon. Julian Amery, MP Sir: In his Political Commentary of February 15, Patrick Cosgrave writes, "Mr Gilmour simply does not understand the history of the...

Sir: 'Me thinks the gentleman doth protest too much!' Mr Ernest Wistrich of the European Movement pleads poverty (February 15) as his funds shrink to less than £200,000. Yet...

paper of which I was at one time editor, there is not a word of truth in the reference to me in 'A Spectator's Notebook' in your issue of February 15. Your ill-informed...

Sir: Beverley Nichols (February 8) puts the case for voluntary euthanasia clearly and cogently. It is nothing short of scandalous that 18 per cent of suicides today are...

compels the utmost sympathy from everybody; but the true remedy for the state of things that he describes is not euthanasia, with its hypocritical paraphernalia of formfilling...

was both moving and very frightening. And speaking as one who knew him both as reporter and colleague in his healthy, gardening days, I felt his suffering even more keenly....

February 8) is sincere and painful enough but that it "may help, in however small a measure, to bring comfort to many" is doubtful. Indeed it may frighten some people to death....

that he regrets being stiLl alive as a result of not having readily to hand a self-administrable euthanasia pack which he thinks should be as readily available as a first-aid...

From Professor Antony Flew Sir: In the last fortnight there has been a lot of publicity about attacks by thugs on London busmen. Mr Jack Jones, in particular, has been reported...

Sir: It is perhaps a sign of the times that The Spectator, previously a lukewarm defender of the free-market, should launch an attack upon one of the few institutions now...

and the replies drawn from Messrs Cropper and Marks cannot be dismissed as trivia when one considers the size of the situation and that it has made one or two of these...

Sir: Happening upon the address of an organisation which works to further the idea of military withdrawal from Northern Ireland, I have drawn their attention to the, to me,...

Sir Dr Sargant's bittersweet review of' my book, The Age of Madness, (January 18 ) mentions everything from his own Past medical experiences to the wonders of the NHS, from...

Sir: On • ; e Might say that William Sargent *. r _ In f undamental agreement with P S Szasz when he says, "But sy re l li atrY must not mix with politics." , Y this is the...

Sir: I am writing to you about some serious errors in John Linklater's article 'Coming back' in the February I Spectator, and am asking you to publish corrections of them. In...

Sir: As one who has followed with keen interest the debate on press freedom with particular reference to the 'Tether Case' it was interesting to see that the latest example of...

From Councillor John Heddle Sir: Almost ten years ago to the day (Friday, February 12, 1965) the late Richard Crossman wrote in his diary, "Of course the land commission as...

From Mrs Marie McCrone Sir: The telephone number of the Abortion Law Reform Association, now campaigning for abortion on demand, given in the February Newsletter of the British...

Sir: The simplest difference between an adverse review and a non-review is this: the latter offers no internal evidence that the book has been read. As a barrister, Mr Mortimer...

The lady and her luck Patrick Cosgrave Now that the euphoria has died down somewhat and she is actually installed in the hot seat, there are a few more observations to be made...

There has been a considerable stir in Fleet Street caused by the decision of the editor of the Financial Times to ban certain articles submitted by C. Gordon Tether, who is...

Lord Pompous was an awful bore, When he addressed their Lordships, for, Althou g h he spoke with practised ease, On any subject that you please, He didn't seem to want to hear...

Monday. February 10 Mv rest was disturbed this night by a curious dream of hallucination, which in other circumstances 1 might have supposed to he of prophetick character. For...

Ian Robinson on a prospectus for a European dictionary "There is much talk of our still being an English-speaking member of the Commonwealth, linked with America and so on. It...

The historical and sociological fallacies of the EEC Clive Ashworth All of the million and one arguments that have been made in favour of Britain's membership of the European...

Spotlight on Honours C. Gordon Tether Partly, no doubt, because in this country we find ourselves continually experiencing the greatest difficulty in keeping the main...

I was 'Albany's' footman James Hughes-Onslow Kenneth Rose has been ringing me up to ask , `Do you ever dine?" This is an odd question but particularly for me because I am one...

Geoffrey Bocca Returning to London, I was depressed to find that the American 'you-know' tongue-torture has penetrated our islands. Originally black and female, the torture now...

Margaret, thy power and thee, We obey. Homage to thy victory! And we pray We'll celebrate this day. Lead us from the wintry heath, Where we've lost our own right way On the...

Racial facts and racial myths Gillian Athisayan One of the more harmful myths prevalent among social workers, teachers, and others who should know better is that there's...

Worried thick Bill Grundy I don't know what it is about him, but I don't hold Mr Michael Foot in quite the same veneration as do many others. I know he is brilliant, was a...

Educating MPs Philip Kleinman Next week a large number of MPs from both main parties will be told .what advertising is all about. Doing the telling will be a group of four...

Second thoughts John Linklater The media and the press have recently and belatedly focussed public attention on the fact that doctors in this country are grossly overworked...

Faith and doubt Martin Sullivan There are two kinds of doubt on religious matters which command our attention. The first attaches itself to some particular doctrine or event...

Two pines Penis Wood Looking through the six volumes of Sir Herbert Maxwell's enchanting Memories of the Months I found, in the fourth series, of 1907, some random notes on...

Cook Britannia Pamela Vandyke Price As no man — and, in these — bon - Ili shadowed days, no country — is an island, I wonder if travel sections in the magazines of...

The formative years of the Labour Party were not notable for either harmony or unity. Evidence of affection among the leaders was conspicuous by its absence. Trade union...

William Douglas Home The American Prison Business Jessica Mitford (Allen and Unwin f4.50) "With the same wit and pungency that made The American Way of Death so explosive and...

Ted Dexter Nice Guys Finish Last Paul Gardner (Allen Lane E3.50) You can learn most things about the United States of America without the need to travel much further west than...

Sir Ian Jacob Spoiling the Egyptians John Marlowe (Andre Deutsch £4.95) This book gives us the history of Egypt from the invasion of the country by Napoleon in 1798 to the...

Mary Whitehouse Permissive Britain Christie Davies (Pitman £3.25) In perhaps the most interesting chapter of this ,very carefully researched and readable book, Christie Davies...

Light relief Peter Ackroyd The Glory of the Hummingbird Peter De Vries (Gollancz £2,75) Invisible Cities Italo Calvino . (Secker and Warburg £2.50) Enormous Changes At The...

In deadly earnest Benny Green The bibliography continues to prosper; steadily the related volumes creep along the library shelves, advancing remoselessly past the point Where...

Later this year Gollancz are to publish a book called The Cats, an American thriller reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier's The Birds, which Gollancz also published. The Cats...

a young artist hermetically Sealed That life often follows art may be the basis for the fiction persisting that — along with estate agents, pop star managers, and solicitors...

A play of no importance Kenneth Hurren The Picture ofDorian Gray adapted by John Osborne from the novel by Oscar Wilde (Greenwich Theatre) There is no reason why I should...

Petite Guignol Kenneth Robinson bocto r in the Nude Director: Alain 8 -slla. Stars: Alain Delon, Annie (Iirardot. 'X' Classic, Victoria (95 M inutes). banish Pillow Talk...

While the campaign running up to the referendum on the EEC cannot be said to have started officially until the Prime Minister gives the word, outlines the renegotiated terms and...

Nicholas Davenport As the "'public amazement at the stock market 'boom' seems to grow week by week I must continue my technical comment even if my approval of it offends the...

A new class system for Britain Bernard Hollow ood There seems to be something wrong with the nomenclature of our class system. For some years now sociologists and economists...

Try too hard to stop unemployment and the result could very easily be even greater unemployment. That is, if the aim is merely the shortterm policy governments seem incapable of...