Leaving aside altogether the question of principle, whether the state should intervene on a h la rge scale in the industrial life of a democratic country, the matter of...

From the Rev 'rebuke Rotten Sir: I do not know whether Banaba will be the 'mini-est state' of all when we regain our independence, but as spokesman in London for the Banaban...

gin Pointing some of the lessons to be learned from Germany's experience of worker participation, Professor Ralf Dahrendorf (August 16) stressed that "the dynamics of industry;...

From Lord Shin well, PC CH Sir: In a recent issue of The Spectator reference -was made to improving The Spectator and suggestions would be welcomed. I suggest that exposure of...

Sin I have purchased The SpectaLo r , regularly since the year 1938 and supptse, therefore, that I must be one 0' its oldest readers. • I have always regarded its propet...

the answer, for your Notebook (August 9 ) also refers to the importance of 'good writing'. This is surely the key to it. There is far too .much sloppy writing these days in a...

Spectator 1 would like to put forward some suggestions: A return to letterpress printing. If .litho is to be retained perhaps a sparing Ase could be made of half-tones: they,...

of subscribers, to put forward some complaints? (1) Too many articles appear to be written from reading the papers instead of from experience. The day we get an ,article from...

\ , Sir: If your newest press pundit Robert Ashley (August 9) was really working for Mirror Group Newspapers, he would probably get his facts right. So he probably isn't....

From Professor C. 0. Carter Sir; I would be grateful if I might correct an error in your correspondence columns. Mrs Sanders writes (August 9) that "The Eugenics Society gives...

Sir: I am indebted to Miss Llewellyn (August 9) for her natural desire to put me right about three errors I'm alleged to have made in my recent article on Darrow. But am I wrong...

Sir: Nicholas Davenport, writing about the distribution of the national wealth, quotes the Royal Commission as arriving at a figure of 34.9 per cent of the national wealth being...

Sir: Mr Nicholas Walter is of course quite right to remind us that in the Gospels a "threefold tradition" is often only a single tradition; but at least it is comparatively...

Sir: Last week you published a letter criticising some curious comments on writers' earnings made in 'A Spectator's Notebook'. Since I prefer to give my opinions under my own...

Israel and her risks for peace' Patrick Cosgrave On the surface at least it is bewildering to observe the contrast in Israel between a totally united and totally dedicated...

My own version of a familiar story can be put briefly. In Edwardian times No 99 Gower Steet was a hotel of sorts, offering — none too discreetly — the additional amenities of a...

Roll up! Roll up! And come and see The greatest stunt in history. A workers' team in co-op wed Standing on its collective head, Riding upon a motorbike. Fit swear I've never...

Three questions on the bridge David Martin Barring a last-minute hitch, Rhodesia's recalcitrant rebel, Mr Ian Smith and the country's black nationalists, led by Bishop Abel Mu...

Wish you were here? Frank Norman How many of your closest friends or worst enemies can you point an accusing finger at and say: "There's a person who would go to Southern...

Whose Ulster is it? Rawle Knox The Birmingham bombers are, pending appeal, put away, which may temporarily make Englishmen sleep more soundly at nights, but there looks to be...

Why buy foreign? Piers Paul Read It's up to everybody in Britain to help out the British car industry. — Peter Shore, Trade Secretary In conditions of fair competition, the...

On the trail Simon Freeman The eleven o'clock ferry from Felixstowe to Zeebrugge will be especially crowded and noisy on August 21 — packed with the 200 or so members of the...

The biggest change is the price C.A. Johnson "The year is 1910 — or 1940, but it is all the same," wrote George Orwell, describing the world of boys' weeklies thirty-five...

An open letter to the Metrication Board Oh, tell me where is logic found? You scrap the lb and keep the £. Most connoisseurs have thought in metric; I'll grant you that, in...

This is the time of year when those journalists who are not frying eggs on the pavement are looking for the Loch Ness monster. Now 1 have travelled the length of Loch Ness with...

This, my one hundredth Puzzle, is designed as a Speculation on the Subject of Hope. It is a precept of mine that we should not entertain an Hope of any thing in Life which lies...

Wasp e "The argumentative razzle-dazzle, the intellectual pyrotechnics, the verbal acrobatics that caused Tom Stoppard's Travesties to be chosen as the Evening Standard's Best...

The British bestseller lists, especially at Christmas, are exercises in undiluted nostalgia. The signs are that Christmas '75 will prove no exception — at least according to...

Derek Wood has been one of our leading commentators on aviation and defence for close on a generation. Project Cancelled* is an analysis of major developments in aviation whose...

Leo Abse The St. Alban's Poisoner Anthony Holden (Hodder and Stoughton: £2.75) You never seem to get a good murder these • days," complained George Orwell shortly before his...

you have received from a fellow Stubscriber the books that you required. ANY TITLES in the 0.P. series "Art Of The World" (Methuen). Buxton, 102 Park Place, Gravesend, Kent....

AL. Rowse The Cardinal • and the Secretary Neville Wil liams (Weidenfeld and Nicolson £5.25) Henry V. The Cautious Conqueror M. W. Labarge (Seeker and Warburg £4.50) ' Here...

Gyles 13randreth Idle Passion: Chess and the Dance of Death Alexander Cockburn (Weidenfeld and Nicolson £4.25) As the founder of the National Scrabble Championships and the...

Hugh Lloyd-Jones Moses: Man in the Wilderness David Daiches (Weidenfeld and Nicolson £6.50) The importance in world history of the traditions connected with the name of Moses...

when you have 'ret . eived from a fella' subscriber the books that you required. FOUR CENTURIES OF EUROPEAN JEWELLERY and ENGLISH VICTORIAN JEWELLERY by Ernie Bradford. Anne...

Wilfrid Blunt The Confessions of Lady Nijo translated from the Japanese by Karen Braze!! (Peter Owen £4.50) Those who are old enough will recall the sensation that was caused,...

Grandiloquent Peter Ackroyd The Understudy Elia Kazan (Collins £3.50) New Road Judy Cooke (Gollancz £3.20) The Understudy is just what it aspires to be, the mute shadow of a...

Old Flanner Benny Green From 1934 to 1939 the renowned Janet Flanner sent home to the New Yorker offices despatches on Lonon life*, and it is one of the lesser misfortunes of...

Social services Cutting the mumbo-jumbo down to size Frank Field The rise of the social work 'profession', as it likes to be called, is one of the wonders of the modern...

No moderates now Rhodes Boyson, MP The old Labour Party gained widespread sympathy in all classes because it was genuinely concerned about the improvement of the social,...

Change and decay Robert Ashley There once was, I seem to remember, a bright young man who kept popping through the ITMA door, saying, "Good morning, nice day". His constant...

One of twelve Martin Sullivan On an occasion I was conducting a viva for small choristers competing for a prize in Divinity. One of them, an enchanting little redhead whose...

Dog days Denis Wood 'Through ali the bright severity of noon' This line from 'Summer' in James Thomson's The Seasons (1730), conveys the torrid quality of the breathlessly hot...

Where the buck stops John Linklater We hear that a ward in a Colchester hospital is to close due to shortage of nursing staff, that there is a temporary ban on...

The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Director: Jim Sharman Stars: Tim Curry, Richard O'Brien 'AA' Rialto (1(15 minutes) Earth is a Sinful Song Director: Rauni Mollberg Stars: Maritta...

Make mine chop suey Kenneth Hurren Fanshen! by David Hare, from the book by William Hinton (Hampstead Theatre Club) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard...

Getatable John McEiven In 1959 Dick Smith went to New York. Although he was already twenty-eight, he is in that generation of British artists who did not have to adjust to the...

Sundowner John Bridcut Dedicated to "Sue, Sarah, Emily and the little man in the soiled lemon-coloured suit" (and may that speak for itself), David Bedford's new work Twelve...

South Bank cramps Robin Young Festival Ballet at the Festival Hall. The name's the same so it might seem a natural coupling, but it is not without its discomtfitures. Festival...

Nicholas Davenport This being proverbially the silly • season one might expect stockbrokers, seeing their turnover dwindling, to emulate the workers of Stoke-on-Trent and...

The uncharacteristic baring of teeth by that normally quiescent watchdog, the Post Office Users National Council, highlights again the limbo in which nationalised industries...

Bringing the good news Bernard Hollowood Have you ever wondered about a newspaper's stock market report and the person or persons who knit it together? I don't suppose so: we...