3 JUNE 2000

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PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK

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T he Northern Ireland Executive was res- urrected, with Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein once more as education minister, after the man who is now once again First Minister, Mr...

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The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LL Telephone: 020-7405

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1706; Fax 020-7242 0603 LONG LIVE ELITISM N o words arouse the wrath of the m ean-minded with greater certainty than the words 'elite' and 'elitist'. To the envi- ous and the...

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DIARY

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ULRIKA JONSSON T he 20th of May saw the long-awaited, much talked about, highly competitive, verti- cally social-climbing, potentially embarrass- ing and unashamedly...

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POLITICS

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Populism can mean better policies and more votes BRUCE ANDERSON H igh-minded persons who care about political morality will not enjoy the next few months. Between now and the...

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ANOTHER VOICE

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I rang the Chancellor and asked him to explain himself but he was watching football BORIS JOHNSON W ar is terrible. War is hell. War makes a man do unaccustomed things,...

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THE ANIMAL PROTECTION RACKET

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Lloyd Evans joins the vegans and veggies picketing the 'Nazis' in charge of a scientific research lab I'M standing in the middle of Auschwitz try- ing to stifle a contemptuous...

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Mind your language

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UNDUE socialist influence on Anglo- French relations has been detected by an ever-alert reader in Antibes. In his Oxford/Hachette French–English Dictio- nary (£23.99) he...

HELLO, MR CHIPPY

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his encounters with resentful and socially insecure state-school teachers `AS soon as you came in I thought "Tory MP", so I am afraid I wasn't going to give you the job,' an...

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THE DAY OF THE POODLE

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Edward Heathcoat Amory wonders if Charles Kennedy has lost his political bite by attempting to curry favour with Labour IF he stood in for Carol Vorderman on the next celebrity...

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Petronella Wyatt

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My late father, Woodrow Wyatt, adored old Champagne, preferably drunk from a silver mug. This non- plussed dinner guests who couldn't understand why their glasses were snatched...

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DIAMONDS ARE FOR EVERYONE

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Andrew Gilligan discovers that in eastern Sierra Leone the rebels are engaged in joint mining ventures with the pro government militia Freetown IN so many ways, Sierra Leone...

Banned wagon

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A weekly survey of the things our rulers want to prohibit TEENAGE rebellion is widely accept- ed as a natural stage in the evolution of the individual. But then again it might...

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IN THE LAND OF THE DEAD

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Robert Penn discovers a nightmare of conformity and cleanliness in North Korea, and an interesting way of cooking grass Pyongyang A LEXANDER Potemkin is remembered as the man...

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THE NEW CONTEMPTIBLES

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John Hughes - Wilson on the ideologues who have brought false hope to those who want pardons for soldiers shot at dawn TOM Stones is angry. Before the 1997 election he was...

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THE ITALIAN BOOK OF WAR HEROES

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Nicholas Farrell warns Britons against jumping to conclusions following the sudden invasion of Sweden by crack Italian troops Predappio NO doubt you all had a good laugh in...

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AND ANOTHER THING

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`Clap your hands!' says Peter Pan as the alien geese meet their doom PAUL JOHNSON T here was a morning, earlier this month, when all nature conspired to delight the eye, and I...

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Fr o m Mr Detlev Schlichter Si r: While I have sympathy for

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Mr Gim- son's frustration about finding a ff ordable housing in London, and while I happen to r e with him that some speculative fo und his seem to have emerged in the capital,...

Italy and the Bard

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From Mr Christopher H. Dams Sir: Professor McWilliam asserts, as a refu- tation of the Oxfordian case (Letters, 20 May), that 'the playwright [Shakespeare] knew absolutely...

LETTERS Tale of two landlords

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From Mr Irwin M Stelzer Sir: That such as Andrew Gimson CA city of spivs and speculators', 27 May), with his peculiar bundle of prejudices and his ability to confuse...

Hot air in cyberspace

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From Mr Alasdair Ogilvy Sir: It frightens me to contradict Christo- pher Fildes (City and suburban, 20 May), but even he walks close to the trap of con- fusing technology and...

Fly us, Mr Hambro

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From Mr Charaf-Eddine Lamriki Sir: Rupert Hambro (Diary, 20 May) wrote that there is 'only one flight a week from London to Marrakesh, and none at all by BA'. Leaving aside the...

From Lord Charles Spencer-Churchill Sir: My old friend Rupert Hambro

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has many assets — mainly in his lower abdomen! He is one of the world's great networkers who happens to be part-owner of Wiltons, one of London's most expensive restaurants,...

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Ogden on the English

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From Dr Aubrey Wilson Sir: Surely your competition asking for poem in the style of Ogden Nash on Englishness (20 May) will never better Nash's own views. Let us pause to...

Churchill's options

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From Mr John Crookshank Sir: 'Old reporter', Frank Johnson, judi - ciously edits (Shared opinion, 27 May) Churchill's speech to the Cabinet on the evening of 28 May 1940 to...

Cannes of worms

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From Mr Michael Fabricant, MP Sir: I read Charlotte Edwardes's Diary (27 May) concerning her experiences with the French authorities following a mugging in Cannes with a sinking...

Lordly language

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From Mr J. Morrish Sir: While Michael George's anecdote (Let- ters, 27 May) is amusing, I would be very surprised if the then Academy sergeant- major, the late Jackie Lord, had...

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SHARED OPINION

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There is only one person in Britain to touch Miss Hurley and that is Mr Blair FRANK JOHNSON D riving from central London to Hen- ley-on-Thames over the Bank Holiday weekend,...

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BOOKS

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Fighting on the beaches Alan Sked T he Anglo-French naval attack on the Dardanelles in March 1915 followed by the Allied military campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula between...

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The thinking man's president

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Raymond Asquith FIRST PERSON by Vladimir Patin Hutchinson, £9.99, pp. 219 T his is a well crafted book, calculated at perfect pitch to appeal to several Russian and ex-Soviet...

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He knows a thing or two

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Julian Mitchell WHICH LIE DID I TELL? by William Goldman Bloomsbury, £16.99, pp. 490 I read this book in a heat-wave far up Hardangerfjord in Norway, where ten professionals,...

Getting back into touch

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P. J. Kavanagh THE SONG OF THE EARTH by Jonathan Bate Picador, £18, pp. 322 T his book is an analysis of the progress of our disconnection from `nature', though there is no...

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Adding to the gaiety of the nation

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Charles Osborne AARON COPLAND by Howard Pollack Faber, £30, pp. 704 T he United States of America pro- duced some of the 20th century's most important composers, ranging from...

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On the side of the angels

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Richard Shone BERTHE MORISOT: THE FIRST LADY OF IMPRESSIONISM by Margaret Shennan Sutton Publishing, £14.99, pp. 342 F ew paintings by Berthe Morisot are Widely familiar, the...

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A linguist of many parts

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Victoria Glendinning GEORGE MOORE, 1852-1933 by Adrian Frazier Yale, £29.95, pp. 604 G eorge Moore was a brilliant and important writer who slips through the net. He should be...

SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE WEEK

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The Straits of War Galipolli Remembered The landing by British and Anzac troops on the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915 was the great- est amphibious opera- tion to be undertaken...

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Three into one doesn't go

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Jonathan Sumption THE BATTLE FOR GOD: FU NDAMENTALISM IN JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM by Karen Armstrong HarperColilins, £19.99, pp. 442 T his his rather indigestible book...

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From Sarajevo to Chicago

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Nicholas Fearn THE QUESTION OF BRUNO by Aleksandar Hemon Picador, £12.99, pp. 230 W ith the publication of Zadie Smith's White Teeth, and now The Question of Bruno by...

Alpha for the Chinese world

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Jonathan Mirsky WAITING by Ha Jin Heinemann, £10, pp. 308 very summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shu Yu. Together they had appeared at the court-...

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Western country blues

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Byron Rogers LEI I hRS FROM WALES edited by Joan Abse Seren, £14.95, pp. 336 1 w ales was a bit of a shock. If you W in with an army it was much like Eng- la ent nd today...

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Fame and fortune

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Sarah Jane Checkland on the effect of Young British Artists commanding such huge prices T ime was when the Tate Gallery ignored the existence of the avant-garde. It took a...

Some top prices for British artists

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Artists represented by Jay Jopling Damien Hirst (b. 1965): £1 million for 'Hymn, based on £14.99 child's toy. Antony Gormley (b. 1950): £1 million asking price for 'Critical...

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Exhibitions 1

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Summer Exhibition (Royal Academy, till 7 August) Accent on change Andrew Lambirth T he RA Summer Exhibition is with us once again, still phenomenally popular with the general...

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Exhibitions 2

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ABCDavid Kindersley, a life of letters (Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, till 25 June; Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Bretton Hall, 14 July-28 August) Writing for pleasure Alan Powers t...

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Pop music

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Sibling rivalries Marcus Berkmann I t's strange, almost eerie how often this column seems to return to the subject of Oasis, although the Gallagher brothers' capacity to...

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Opera A rare

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treat Michael Tanner T here are some interpretations, espe- cially on the operatic stage, which seem so evidently to say the last word on a role, and, if the performer is...

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Theatre

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The Tempest (Shakespeare's Globe) Albert Speer (National) Notre Dame de Paris (Dominion) Dolly West's Kitchen (Old Vic) A good time out Sheridan Morley T he Shakespeare Globe...

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Radio

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What a whopper Michael Vestey I didn't listen to the radio much last week as I spent every day salmon fishing on the Tay. I went to Scotland with the best intentions, taking a...

Mark Steyn's film column returns next week

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Page 53

Television

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A toast for tea James Delingpole B ecause I like my weekend TV viewing to be as intellectually undemanding as pos- sible, I can't pretend I was delighted when my father-in-law...

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The turf

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Diminishing opportunities Robin Oakley B y the time you read this I will be in the swamps of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Betting opportunities there seem to be limited to...

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Food for thought

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Small is beautiful Simon Courtauld 0 n a flight to Bilbao a few years ago for a weekend conference, I was seated next to Sir Jeremy Isaacs, then general director of the Royal...

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High life

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Identity crisis Taki ast week I promised you a world exclusive about Hillary Clinton and how she has a double life posing as a male writ- er for the Big Bagel Times. Well, I...

No life

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Abused by Elizabeth Toby Young T he telephone call from Elizabeth Hur- ley was brief and to the point. 'Toby,' she said, 'you're a complete scumbag, d'you hear me? A complete...

Page 57

Country life

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Getting one's priorities right Leanda de Lisle W hat is more important, your garden or your children? Should we have gone to the Chelsea Flower Show last week, or held my...

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Singular life

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University challenge Petronella Wyatt I t's time I threw in my ten cents worth Over the Laura Spence business. First of ail, if I hadn't got into Oxford I would probably be...

BRIDGE

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Risking it Andrew Robson THE CURRENT trend among top players is to overcall freely at the one-level, but to require considerably more playing strength to overcall at the...

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COMPETITION

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Contrariness Jaspistos IN COMPETITION NO. 2138 you were invited to supply an imaginary passage from a famous author, written in his/her style but expressing startlingly...

Rdbefq CHESS rtdbeq

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The Ultimate Islay Malt. www.ardbeg.com By the book Raymond Keene IN a timely move, Everyman Chess, as if guessing that the Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik would be the...

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Solution to 1463: Commoners

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IA t M option 2 0 Eirl nanria 3 L MA z N dna 'T On . ' Traci iinard..K.H...n . n no 1 o L AR c ritirldnarla mend A n ri aOHA ari Gum! u PrICIO ei 0 ma „ P R E E s A L s e...

No. 2141: Cor!

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You are invited to supply a plausible piece of prose (maximum 150 words) incorporat- ing the following words in any order: corn cordite, coruscating, corgi, co-respondent,...

CROSSWORD 1466: Exchange of letters by Doc

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A first prize of £30 and a bottle of Graham's award-winning, Late- Bottled Vintage Port for the first correct solution opened on 19 J. one, with two runners-up prizes of £20...

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RESTAURANTS Deborah Ross

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SO, off to the Ivy. . . . Ha, ha! Ho, ho! Caught you out there, didn't I? You thought I was going to get straight down to it. No mad preamble. No slagging off Vanessa Feltz. No...

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SPECTATOR SPORT

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Bowled over Simon Barnes THE links between sex and sport have been explored only tentatively: a pity, because it is a wonderfully rich field for wild speculation, Freudian or...

YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED

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Dear Mary. . . Q. Since my dog was run over I feel self- conscious going for a country walk on my own. What should I do? C.H., Wick Pershore, Worcestershire A. Always carry a...