26 FEBRUARY 2000

Page 6

PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK

The Spectator

Tony Blair at the helm of the new privatised control tower at Milbank M r Frank Dobson, the choice of the national Labour leadership, beat Mr Ken Livingstone in the polls to...

Page 8

POLITICS

The Spectator

How they spun the good news from Bruges to Ghent BRUCE ANDERSON In Ghent, Mr Blair had no intention of addressing the big questions. His aim was to blur them. So he set out to...

Page 9

DIARY

The Spectator

CHARLES MOORE A an editor, I find the Piers Morgan affair a little embarrassing. The Daily Tele- graph revealed last week that the editor of the Mirror bought shares in a...

Page 10

ANOTHER VOICE

The Spectator

Act II: the bodies return, knife in hand, to destroy their destroyer, King Tony MATTHEW PARRIS 6 W as it Jung who said. . . ?' is the coward's way out, but the only way I...

Page 12

THEY WANT MORE TAX - AND NOW IT'S PERSONAL

The Spectator

New Labour is looking for new ways to make you pay more tax, says Dominic Hobson. But be warned, Mr Brown: a great tax rebellion is on the way HONEST people everywhere know...

Page 14

HANDLE WITH EXTRA CARE

The Spectator

Martin Mears on a ruling that found the Crown Prosecution Service guilty of racism and sexism LAST year the Bedford Employment Tri- bunal found the Crown Prosecution Ser- vice...

Page 15

Banned wagon

The Spectator

A weekly survey of the things our rulers want to prohibit 'CHILDREN should be seen and not heard,' elderly aunts used to recite. But not even the aunts would have consid- ered...

Page 16

THE JOY OF BUSES

The Spectator

Joe Hyam on the unexpected delights and mishaps of a journey through the Weald by public transport Tunbridge Wells FOR the first time in nearly 40 years we were without a car....

Page 17

THE BLAIRS

The Spectator

Michael Heath

Page 20

NEITHER CHRISTIAN NOR DEMOCRATIC

The Spectator

Daniel Hannan says the collapse of Christian Democracy leaves a vacuum in Europe that the Conservatives can fill EUROPE is witnessing the strange death of Christian Democracy....

Page 22

ARTFUL DODGERS

The Spectator

The genteel reputations of Christie's and Sotheby's have been shattered by the discovery of sharp practice, says Martin Vander Weyer THE world's two great auction houses,...

Page 23

Mind your language

The Spectator

A.L. KENNEDY was on the wireless again the other day complaining about being a writer. Well, who said she was a writer? I only ask because last year I tried to read a very...

Page 24

AS FUNNY AS AN ABATTOIR

The Spectator

Chuck it, Parris, says Peter Hitchens: there's no such thing as right-wing political correctness SILLY people, the sort who take nothing seriously except themselves, think...

Page 25

AND ANOTHER THING

The Spectator

Sunshine in February reminds us that nature works beneficent miracles PAUL JOHNSON T here is no greater blessing of God than sunshine in February. The rains come too, to be...

Page 26

MEDIA STUDIES

The Spectator

The editor of the Mirror should go. He wasn't licensed to swill STEPHEN GLOVE Indeed, until he encountered his own spot of bother, Mr Morgan waged a cru- sade against fat...

Page 28

From Mr Paul LA. Raw Sir: I fear religious wars

The Spectator

are still simmering. Catholicism is still a hotpot in Great Britain. How can your correspondents com- plain? The Speccie is famous for its contro- versial views, that's why we...

Interpreters of the past

The Spectator

From Sir Nicholas Serota Sir: By highly selective quotation from a panel discussion, Roger Kimball (Arts, 12 February) presents a parody of the views expressed by Glenn Lowry,...

Nickname unknown

The Spectator

From Mr Roger Alton Sir: Amid all the guff in Stephen Glover's extraordinary farrago last week (Media studies, 19 February), one bizarre fact leaps off the page: he claims the...

LETTERS Anti-Catholic attitude

The Spectator

From Mr Adrian Hilton Sir: I must voice a word in defence of Julie Burchill's article on the Roman Catholic Church (Diary, 12 February), if only to bal- ance the histrionic and...

From Mr David Watkins Sir: I was born a Catholic,

The Spectator

am a Catholic and am resolved to die a Catholic. I wish to defend Julie Burchill against my fejlow- Catholics Maria Niall and Walter Hooper. Surely, to a serious Catholic, Ms...

Pay as you learn

The Spectator

From Dr Eamonn Butler Sir: Your undergraduate authors (`It's time to scrap the Millennium Don', 12 February) might like to know — for I am sure no don has taught them it — that...

Page 30

Rhodri's muscle

The Spectator

From Mr Christopher Booker Sir: May I leap to defend Rhodri Morgan against Bruce Anderson's charge (Politics, 19 February) that he is a man who 'always speaks from the heart...

Goldoni betrayed

The Spectator

From Professor G.H. Mc William Sir: Isn't it time you got yourself a new the- atre critic? Sheridan Morley's enthusiastic review of Goldoni's The Servant to Two Masters (Arts,...

Police flashers

The Spectator

From Mr Harry Cotterell Sir: I was interested to read that London Underground has banned flash photogra- phy from stations as it can temporarily blind drivers (Banned wagon, 19...

From Robert Service Sir: As someone who teaches Russian and

The Spectator

East European studies at Oxford and who sometimes (but not 'invariably') polishes my shoes (invariably made in my native Northampton) with a toothbrush, I suspect I may be one...

Bitter lessons

The Spectator

From Mr Gregory K Pilkington Sir: Your Country Life correspondent demonstrates (19 February) the gritty com- mon sense of the countryside to which we townies can only aspire....

From Dr Peter T. King Sir: Every year I attempt

The Spectator

to reassure the undergraduates I teach, especially those in their first year, by explaining that no one expects them to produce original philo- sophical ideas and arguments....

Page 31

SHARED OPINION

The Spectator

Ralph Fiennes's bottom, the rise of Jorg Haider and rebuffing Marilyn Monroe's advances FRANK JOHNSON F or this, my first appearance in this magazine in this millennium, I...

Page 32

CITY AND SUBURBAN

The Spectator

A long farewell to Millbank's limewood corridors — the Offswitchers are moving in CHRISTOPHER FILDES H ead offices are out of fashion, and Imperial Chemical Industries is...

Page 33

BOOKS

The Spectator

Significant sound and fury Philip Hensher HARRISON BIRTWISTLE: MAN, MIND, MUSIC by Jonathan Cross Faber, £14.99, pp. 295 T owards the end of his life, Stravinsky remarked that...

Page 34

Recent books on tape

The Spectator

Charlotte Moore I t is hard to avoid The End of the Affair these days, but for anyone not sated with Graham Greene's examination of faith and faithlessness, I recommend Michael...

Page 35

Falling from grace

The Spectator

Byron Rogers SWAGGART by Ann Seaman Continuum, £16.99, pp. 438 W hen I was a boy there was a drama- tisation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Face in the Rock on Children's Hour....

Page 36

Nobody's business but hers

The Spectator

John McEwen GEORGIA O'KEEFFE by Barbara Bubier Lynes Yale, L'100, 2 volumes, pp. 1198 G eorgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) is prob- ably America's most famous female artist. Her...

Page 37

Questions and answers

The Spectator

William Keen JAFSIE AND JOHN HENRY: ESSAYS ON HOLLYWOOD, BAD BOYS AND SIX HOURS OF PERFECT POKER by David Mamet Faber, £9.99, pp.171 WILSON: A CONSIDERATION OF THE SOURCES by...

Page 38

Preferring the dark side

The Spectator

John Charmley DAY OF DECEIT by Robert B. Stinnett Constable, £25, pp. 386 H ere is yet another definitive book proving that Roosevelt knew that the Japanese were going to...

The awfulness of Harold Shipman

The Spectator

Brian Masters PRESCRIPTION FOR MURDER by Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie Warner Books, £5.99, pp. 348 h ere is one crucial discipline which must be exercised whenever one writes...

Page 39

One big, happy family

The Spectator

Patrick Skene Catling STILL MEMORIES by John Mills Hutchinson, £20, pp. 208 T hat most lovable and loving of luvvies, Lewis Ernest Watts Mills — Sir John Mills — rejoices in a...

Page 40

Zealous for Zion

The Spectator

Philip Ziegler FIRE IN THE NIGHT: WINGATE OF BURMA, ETHIOPIA AND ZION by John Bierman and Colin Smith Macmillan, £20, pp. 434 0 rde Wingate was viewed with some uncertainty by...

Page 41

Dreadful, delightful city

The Spectator

t's official then, London sucks. So at any rate declares the latest edition of the Lonely Planet Guide, berating the city's inhabitants for their bad manners and deploring the...

Page 42

ARTS

The Spectator

Face to face with Christ The National Gallery has triumphed where the Churches have failed, says A.N. Wilson W ith the dawn of the Millennial year, we might have looked to the...

Page 44

Opera

The Spectator

The Silver Tassie (English National Opera) Cup fever Michael Tanner rvi ark-Anthony Turnage's new opera The Silver Tassie has been launched with all the publicity appropriate...

Page 46

Theatre

The Spectator

A Place at the Table (Bush) Freelancers (Man in the Moon) The now and then Sheridan Morley I s writing for television a life or merely a livipg? Simon Block's bitchy, black...

Dance

The Spectator

Offenbach in the Underworld (Scottish Ballet, New Victoria Theatre, Woking) Underworld delight Giannandre a Poesio T he contagious buoyancy and the catchy immediacy of...

Page 48

Music

The Spectator

Pillar of the establishment Robin Holloway S uddenly the contemporary music scene in London is more active than for many years. A new boost in funding, a new breath of...

Page 50

Cinema

The Spectator

The Talented Mr Ripley (15, selected cinemas) The making of Law Mark Steyn I n motion pictures, adaptation is the art of compression. The novel has too many characters, too...

Page 51

Television

The Spectator

We do care James Delingpole S omething bothered me about the BBC's trendy new eco-drama series Nature Boy (BBC 2, Monday) but I didn't work out what it was until about ten...

Page 52

Radio

The Spectator

Vacuous lives Michael Vestey 0 n Saturday morning, unable to get to the radio in time to switch it off, I heard John Peel telling listeners to stop 'coveting their neighbour's...

Page 53

The turf

The Spectator

Brave souls Robin Oakley T he billionaire Nubar Gulbenkian once said that the ideal number for a dinner party was two: 'Myself and a damn good head waiter.' That was taking...

Page 54

High life

The Spectator

Foul play Taki Mind you, football back then reflected society, and Greek society was still very conservative. Most players had brought their families to Athens and lived with...

No life

The Spectator

Planetary turmoil Toby Young H aving moved in with my girlfriend four weeks ago, I have decided the time has come to seek some 'relationship coun- selling', particularly as...

Page 55

Country life

The Spectator

Follow your prejudices Leanda de Lisle A survey in this month's Health Which? found that most people who buy organic food do so for health reasons. The Con- sumers Association...

Page 56

Singular life

The Spectator

Spoiled for choice Petronella Wyatt G osh. Blimey. Three marriage propos- als in one day. I'll bet that Elizabeth Tay- lor, when sublimely fresh, or even my fellow Hungarian...

BRIDGE

The Spectator

Well played Andrew Robson GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY claims that the brain is more receptive when it can compartmentalise and organise. So forgive me for categorising declarer's...

Page 57

SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

The Spectator

EVERY day for the last two months I have reflected that I must have suffered a moment of madness — as we politicians describe the spasm of succumbing to ungovernable urges —...

Page 58

Rdbeq

The Spectator

The Ultimate [slay Malt. Rdbeg www.ardbeg.com CHESS Playing the Blues Raymond Keene NEXT Saturday (4 March) sees the clash over the chessboard of the Dark Blues and the...

COMPETITION

The Spectator

Metre and meter Jaspistos IN COMPETITION NO. 2124 you were invited to write a taxi-driver's poem. This begged for the lyrical talent of W.S. Gilbert, though even he would...

Page 59

CROSSWORD

The Spectator

A first prize of £30 and a bottle of Graham's award-winning, Late- Bottled Vintage Port for the first correct solution opened on 13 March, with two runners-up prizes of £20 (or,...

Page 63

SPECTATOR SPORT

The Spectator

Banishment of boy Beckham Simon Barnes WHEN a father meets a son at the cross- roads, it is generally the beginning rather than the end of a story. The inevitable row about...

YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED

The Spectator

Dear Mary. . . Q. I am a British diplomat and, as such, have a soft spot for foreigners who, after all, cannot help it. A few years ago I was attending an important function in...