30 DECEMBER 1972

Page 5

Unacceptable surrender

The Spectator

On January I this country creeps, unwillingly, like a snail, into Europe. Neither the supporters nor the opponents of the Continental Policy have yet fully grasped the profound...

Page 6

Political Commentary

The Spectator

Honours of the year Patrick Cosgrave I have said a lot of unkind and unfriendly things about him over the last year — and The Spectator has said them even more emphatically —...

Page 7

Corridors . .

The Spectator

PUZZLE HEARS THAT Mr John Selwyn Gummer, that bright, new, young Tory Party vice-chairman, recently meditated shaving off his trendy beard. But then he looked at the...

The Spectator's Notebook

The Spectator

Were it not so potentially disastrous, our European entry would be pure farce. France says it is determined to force its forty-ton lorries on to our road, and we officially...

Page 8

Harry S. Truman

The Spectator

A man of courage and candour Denis Broghn Thanks to the vigilance of my wife, I was one of the first British commentators on the American scene to see the name of Harry S....

Page 10

Creeping into Europe (1)

The Spectator

Risks and opportunities of joining Russell Lewis How can a Conservative of free market convictions possibly support the policy of entering the Common Market and what on earth...

Page 11

Creeping into Europe (2)

The Spectator

Strategy and chances of quitting Lionel Gelber Britain joins the 'European Community while opinion polls suggest that a huge segment of the British people 'recoils from so...

Page 13

Shirley Robin Letwin on the masks of politics

The Spectator

"That insidious and crafty animal, vulgarly called a statesman or politician,'' said Adam Smith in passing, and no one contradicted him. For everyone knows that the politician...

Page 14

Tears, idle tears

The Spectator

Auberon Waugh A Transatlantic Tunnel Hurrah! Harry Harrison (Faber £1.90) Having no interest in science and very little curiosity about the future I have never supposed there...

Page 15

Pattern of islands

The Spectator

Ronald Blythe Pieces of Land. Kevin Crossley-Holland (Gollancz £3.75) Beside the Seaside Anthony Smith (Allen and Unwin £3.75) When the centre cannot hold, move out to the...

Page 16

Text-book formula

The Spectator

Norman Stone Europe in the Eighteenth Century, Aristocracy and the Bourgeois Challenge George Rude (Weidenfeld and Nicolson £4.50) The Weidenfeld series, History of...

Rehearsing the old movie magic

The Spectator

Tony Palmer The Name above the Title Frank Capra (W. H. Allen, £4.50) • Underworld USA Colin McArthur (Secker and Warburg £2.20) Frank Capra's is a giant book about giant...

Page 17

Bookend

The Spectator

Bookbuyer A As usual there has been little agreement this Christmas between the general public and the book reviewers of the national newspapers who have obediently contributed...

Page 18

Cinema

The Spectator

Christmas carolling Christopher Hudson Christmas and musicals go together: they both have a tradition of orchestrating our emotions for profit. And as satisfaction of the...

Television

The Spectator

Dark reflections Clive Gammon In the dark pre-dawn of the year, one is entitled to some liverish reflections and I do not intend to deny myself the opportunity. So let us...

Page 19

Television Opera

The Spectator

Verdi good indeed Rodney Milnes Opera on'television is of great importance to those who believe that music-theatre has something to offer to a larger audience than the...

Page 20

Theatre

The Spectator

Two to miss Kenneth Hurren I doubt whether there is anything very useful to say about the juvenilia that presently infests the theatre. Reviews of the annual assortment of...

Music

The Spectator

Song book Benny Green In all the furore of the last few weeks of the year, that strange period of summation when literary editors and their contributors attempt to finalise...

Page 21

The Good Life

The Spectator

What we're really made of Pamela Vandyke Price Quite apart from the seasonal accentuation of all one's frailties, there are several moments around the winter solstice when,...

Will Waspe

The Spectator

The Yorkshire branch of an anti-EEC g roup called British Business for World Markets thou g ht it would be a g ood idea to put one of their dissentin g advertisements in the...

Page 22

Voluntary legal advice

The Spectator

Sir, I was disturbed to read in Socialities ' (December 23) that the Law Society is considering the withdrawal of their voluntary ccheme whereby half an hour of a solicitor's...

Justice for Apollo

The Spectator

Sir, Your. Notebook's mean complaint about the A7ollo programme makes me furious. God knows our generation has produced little enough for future ages to remember us by, but what...

The spy left out in the cold

The Spectator

Sir: Thank you for drawing attention to the plight of Leopold Trepper (December 16). Our committee, which was formed to press for the release of Trepper from Poland has its...

Ulster and Westminster

The Spectator

Sir: In your article ' Ireland, can there be peace? (December 2) you argue that " . . control of Ulster must remain for a considerable time being in Whitehall." You fail,...

Juggernauts

The Spectator

Sir: Quite obviously the writer of your recent leader 'Against the Juggernauts' did not stop to think before putting pen to paper. If he had done so he might have balanced his...

European security

The Spectator

Sir: In your leading article of December 9 on the European Security Conference you write: "It is worth recalling that one of the Russian excuses for the invasion of...

Juliette 'S Weekly Frolic

The Spectator

Racecourses, like churahes, open their doors to an army of non-believers at Christmas time. An excess of drink, food and families on December 25 and your average telly-bound...

Page 23

Ageing lawyers

The Spectator

Sir, Mr Robert Briggs in his letter (December 2) commenting on the harsh sentence imposed on a girl for abducting a baby for fifteen minutes speaks of "legal menace" (of the...

Page 24

Leaders and laggards of 1972

The Spectator

Nicholas Davenport Once a week the Financial Times gives a list of 'leaders and laggards ' for the year on the Stock Exchange. It is remarkable to find that the outstanding...

Page 25

Skinflint's City Diary

The Spectator

The first premium bond prize is to be increased to £75,000 I was glad to see. It has always struck me that football pools perform a useful anti-inflationary function by...

Page 26

Portfolio

The Spectator

The tattered topee Nephew Wilde As I have discovered, if you wish to find where the spirit of Christmas is in the City, pay a lunchtime visit to one of its numerous wine bars....

Account gamble

The Spectator

Firth and Brown's year John Bull This account share recommendation column has been running under a year so I can avoid a review until next April. I think in the main, however,...

Page 27

Attendance allowances

The Spectator

The case of Julie's incapacity Henry Hodge J's current state is that she is almost totally blind, apart from some crude light perception. She is severely defective, unable to...

Page 28

The Law

The Spectator

Good news for house buyers? Ian McD. Wright It has come to pass at last! After years in which solicitors have been the whipping boys of the press and television because of...

Science

The Spectator

Pasteur and aetiology Bernard Dixon One hundred and fifty years ago this week, one of my heroes was horn. Louis Pasteur, the son of a tanner, was to make a staggering impact...