It is repugnant to the great majority of people in this country that, as a direct consequence of the Government's European policy, it will become easier for Germans, Italians,...

The foreign policy pursued by President Nixon, with the aid of Dr Kissinger, is, in strategy and tactics, designed not to solve problems but to change a system. Four years ago...

The rough beast of Ireland Patrick Cosgrave And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? — W. B. Yeats Until last week I had not...

PUZZLE HEARS THAT Roy Jenkins has been rather shocked by the success of his erstwhile ally, Harold Lever, in the Labour Shadow Cabinet elections. Jenkins, gentle readers will...

Europe is likely to become a better place as a consequence of Willy Brandt's electorial triumph in West Germany. The consequences of the Brandt-Scheel victory . are calculable...

The Mediterranean, Middle East, Palestine and the EGG Ian Meadows During the last three years, the phrase, 'joint Mediterranean policy ', has cropped up with increasing...

King Hassan's last chance Joel Cohen On high ground with commanding views over the hills of Rabat to the Atlantic, the finishing touches have been put to a magnificent...

Injustice and commercialism Yvonne Brock When my husband came out of the Navy in the mid-'fifties he applied to the National Trust for a custodianship of one of their...

Only Henry James could do justice to the current crop of Stravinskiana," could properly apprehend and adumbrate the manifold ironies of both personal and cultural history that...

Auberon Waugh Fabrications Michael Ayrton (Seeker and Warburg £2.25) Wild Thing Philip Norman (Heinemann £2.00) The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith Thomas Keneally (Angus and...

Christopher Sykes Only the Wind Will Listen: a biography of Lord Reith Andrew Boyle (Hutchinson £4.50) Was Reith a great man or not? He had the appearance or rather the...

Edward Norman Disestablishment and Liberation William H. Mackintosh (Epworth Press £6.50) The adjustment of the relations of Church and State in the nineteenth century had a...

Philip Hope-Wallace Distinguished Company John Gielgud (Heinemann £2.50) Lewis and Sybil John Casson (Collins £3) The assumption that all actors and actresses are interesting...

Dick Davis Passions and Ancient Days Twenty-one new poems by Constantine Cavafy, translated and selected by Edmund Keeley and George Savidis (Hogarth Press £1.25) There is a...

Bookbuyer Shareholders of the theatre owners, Howard and Wyndham, will be reassured to hear from the company's annual report that its subsidiary W. H. Allen " continues to...

Royal reserves Evan Anthony If there is a sluggishness that generally informs reviews of such exhibition as The Age of Charles I it shouldn't really be all that surprising....

The best we have Clive Gammon "We used to sing in the same choir at Bury St. Edmunds. For eight rears I loved that man. I'll never forget his name. E. R. Harrison. He'd smile...

Vagabond king Benny Green The death of Rudolf Friml severs the last tie of the modern world with that indeterminate and totally spurious principality where the oscillations of...

Leading with the stomach Pamela Vandyke Price It could never have been anticipated that I should have anything in common with that persistent and eventually triumphant old...

The vanishing elms Peter Quince These frosty mornings reveal the leafless trees to perfection. When I go up the hillside through a world of white hoar and sharp, chilly...

Sir: As one who supported the abolition of the death penalty, I must con g ratulate you on your well-reasoned and thou g htful article on crimes and punishment (November 18). I,...

Sir: The recent parliamentary decision to continue sanctions a g ainst Rhodesia is a throu g hly shameful one. When Harold Wilson, six years a g o, connived with forei g ners...

Sir: However many Asians we admit t) our country, is it not somewhat unrealistic to expect them to want to 'integrate ' with us? Supposin g Mr Heath suddenly expelled thousands...

Sir: The predominantly liberal press in the United States syste matically denies a hearin g to those who disa g ree with it. Its idea of objectivity is that everyone should...

Sir: I was impressed by the sound and unpretentious comments in the excerpt from Mr Amis's new book which appeared in your last issue However, I should like to take issue with...

Sir: I write to say how much I a g ree with Colonel's Skinner's letter (November 18). No one need buy Simon Raven's filth, but your unfortunate subscribers have no choice, when...

Sir: I am sorry that Jennifer Hawley had such an unhappy time in Westminster Hospital (November 18). To balance the picture I would like to describe my own experience. Two weeks...

Sir: I am increasingly aware of tile value of John Rowan Wilson s column. I think we would symP,. thise more with his views on t°,` coronary because of his father s early tra g...

Sir: Bernard Dixon (November 4), is of course right in what he says, and would, in fact, have been absolutely right if he had said a lot more — that is to say, if he, had said...

Sir: In two ways Mr Vaizey does well (November 18) to cite Geoffrey Crowther's Economist as the exemplar of the process among periodicals of bringing the findings of specialists...

Sir: Your leading article earlier this year, entitled Iniquitous Bill,' (February 19), was the finest and most succinct exposition of the treachery of Common Market membership...

of continental slaughterhouses in al their diabolical cruelty, Jane Hilary has neatly placed in proper perspective the quality of the " glittering prize " Mr Heath describes as...

Sir: A mini-matter in general to bother your readers with, but vital enough to me. Your Bookbuyer ' (November 11) gave a hearsay and inaccurate version of my encounter with the...

Sir: As a leading authority, Mr Maurice Collis (November 18) has reviewed my biography of Lady Astor in generous terms. I feel nevertheless that "for the record " I should...

Sir: It's a very surprising thing how few people seem to understand the simple, basic principle which underlies all economics. I learnt it myself at the knees of Dr Hjalmar...

Sir: Preparations are being made in Great Britain to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Bhai Vir Singh, a great Indian poet of the Panjabi language, and a religious...

Sir: In your issue of November 4, 1972. (' Another Spectator's Notebook ') you speak of "the murderous activities of the Black September and other groups, including graduates of...

Sir: Edward Norman answered 'The priestess question' (November 18) very interestingly — and to my mind, with good effect. In the Catholic Church, I do not think that the Pope is...

Sir: Your article 'On trial: The aim of the game' (October 21) 'prompted me to try and warn your readers of the possible consequences they face if they take advantage of the new...

Sir: Your reviewer makes an explicit point against Dr Leavis (Letters, November 11). May I, in good faith, be allowed a general criticism, a recommendation and a prophecy: Dr...

A punter from Pinner writing to the Sporting Life last Tuesday, voiced his " disgust " at ante-post betting lists which " kidded" the public into supporting non-runners. Yet...

Nicholas Davenport The chairman of the Stock Exchange was fully justified in protesting to the BBC against the money programme which sought to bring the whole City into...

What amounts to a reverse bid for Ralli by Bowater has just scrapped through, thanks to the Prudential's five per cent holding of Bowater has just scraped through, thanks...

Up, up and away John Bull High technology is treated on the stock market with more than usual caution. It is all very well for a group to be run by a team of engineers or...

Buyes Toye Nephew Wilde As I live within walking distance of the Hyde Park Hotel in Knightsbridge, out of rather more than idle curiosity last Friday I passed the scrutineers...

Alfred Morris Mrs Dorothy Fisher is in her mid-fifties. She has had one leg amputated below the knee and also suffers from diabetes and arthritis. Her husband, Fred, is more...

Death on the dole custos Most old, people still fear a pauper's funeral. It is for this reason that burial clubs can look forward to a long life — if one can be forgiven the...

All those letters John Rowan Wilson Recently, my new secretary, a lady of American descent, came to me in some agitation. Part of the job she had found fairly easy to master,...