The Government's decision to abolish Stormont to introduce Direct Rule into Northern Ireland, and to reassert the sovereignty of the Westminster Parliament, was, and remains,...

There are two specific criticisms to be made of the Chequers and Downing Street negotiations. The first is that they are an attempt to assault reality. At one end of a seesaw...

Power and demoralisation Patrick Cosgrave On the way to his celebrated epigram about power and its tendency to corrupt Lord Acton made a number of false starts. He often, as...

PUZZLE HEARS THAT the great reshuffle is coming this weekend. It was planned for two weeks ago, and then again for last week; now it seems definitely on. The Prime Minister no...

The shameless gutlessness of the West German government in the face of the latest hijacking spree must surely give new impetus to various plans which have been mooted for an...

Beginning 'the middle game' Ronati—r arming Mr Whitelaw's Green Paper on the future of Northern Ireland is the most shattering reverse suffered by Ulster Unionism since the...

Militants and moderates Terry Pitt Whenever trouble faces the British economy—whether it be industrial ineffici ency (1961), international finance (1967) or pure pig-headed...

Towards a friendless victory Henry Fairlie Washington It is rather an embarrassment to have both the end of a war and the end of an election to write about in one week, even...

Two punts John Bull To me nothing epitomises the broker's dilemma more than for him to develop close relations with a particular company, recommend its shares, but then, alert...

Steel appeal Nephew Wilde Alas! Had I heeded Aunt Maud's frequent tirades about our neighbours across the Channel I might not now be nursing a loss of £100 on my holding in...

It is only during a period of raging inflation that a serious effort may be made ' to deflate. At times of approximate , equilibrium the enrichment of lenders at the expense of...

From Dr F. R. Leavis Sir: The practice of calling attention to my insignificance by dragging in my name gratuitously is one with which readers of reviews are familiar: there are...

Sir: I read with interest in your number of October 14 the article by Andrew Faulds on museum admission charges. This is a matter which cannot leave foreign visitors to England...

newspaper from 3p to 4p was a further illustration of the fact that decimalisation in its present form aggravated inflation, already bad enough when it was introduced last year,...

Sir: May I ask why the Government is so persistent in pressing sanctions against Rhodesia, but is so pusillanimous over the protection of our own fishermen off the coast of...

Sir: The Government, and The Spectator, put morality before strict legality in dealing with the unfortunate Ugandan Asians. Would it be unreasonable to ask the Government to...

Sir: Benny Green's version of his own half-remembered parody of what he thought George Orwell wrote about boys' weeklies and P. G. Wodehouse (October 23) appears to have strayed...

Sir; Mr Cameron's description of a Scottish burial and re-burial puts me in mind of the old Warrington story of Grandfather Clayton's Funeral. According to this, old Mr Clayton,...

Sir: I enjoyed 'Two Views on Marcia Williams', but I want to protest that while you told us what Terry Pitt is, you did not tell us what Peregrine Worsthorne is. Eric T. Speer...

of Inside Number 10) to me as one whose " private " advice to Harold Wilson Transport House officials found difficult to counter. I did everything I could to improve...

Sir: Much as I enjoy Auberon Waugh's reviews, I cannot escape the impression that his criticism of Come Like Shadows (October 28) is a trifle partisan. Passing over the...

Sir: If Clive Gammon (October 14) were really as literate as he wants all his readers to be, he would remember that Miss Boot's name was not Patricia but Priscilla, and that the...

From Professor Antony Flew Sir: Professor Rex was good enough to send me a copy of his response to my comments on his contribution to Race, Culture and Intelligence. I think the...

Sir: My attention has just been drawn to Mr Montgomery Hyde's review of a book of mine, Aubrey and the Dying Lady: A Beardsley Riddle (September 30). I should be most grateful...

Sir: Is it possible to allow me space to reply to Mr Douglas Curtis (Letters, October 28) on my "errors and unfounded assumptions"? I agree that the number of criminals does...

The entire betting population of Britain, and Ireland, appear to be ' on ' Abergwaun for Saturday's Vernons Sprint, and as I have failed to dream up any alternative that's both...

Soldiers have often taken over the government of their country by force of arms. Most of them made a mess of it but at least they have sometimes brought with them a measure of...

Auberon Waugh Catholics Brian Moore (Cape £1.25) The Holiday Friend Pamela Hansford Johnson (Macmillan £2.25) The great Christmas rush of novels is now well under way, which...

Barbara Hardy Virginia Woolf: A Biography, Volume II, Mrs Woolf Quentin Bell (Hogarth Press £3.00) Virginia Woolf compared the biographer to the miner's canary, going ahead to...

John Casey A House for the Truth John Wain (Macmillan £3.75) According to the blurb, Mr Wain sees literature as a broad and central human activity. Hence his literary criticism...

Christopher Hollis The Unknown Orwell Peter Stansky and William Abrahams (Constable £3) This is to me a wholly fascinating book. The text, and still more, the dust cover. with...

Joseph Lee The Shadow War: Resistance in Europe 1939-45 Henri Michel (Andre Deutsch £3.50) Helmuth von Moltke: A Leader against Hitler Michael Balfour and Julian Frisby...

Stormy weather Rodney Milnes Wexford has celebrated its twenty-first festival with a nice new Wimpy Bar, the inimitably graceful fascia of which has added immeasurably to the...

Pilgrim's regress Christopher Hudson In its desperate search to find out what the public wants and then give it to them, the film industry scrambles after bestselling novels...

Penalty Clive Gammon When Heritage (BBC 2, to be repeated this Friday) trumpeted itself on to the box at teatime on Saturday I was still numb with the trauma of watching the...

Carve up Evan Anthony Suddenly: an outbreak of sculpture in the London galleries. Any poor soul who has been brought up to believe that a sculptor is one who paints himself...

My general view of the artists who are exhibited at the Drian Gallery in Porchester Place is that they have more money than talent, and I had not thought that the present show...

Poet and peasant Benny Green This may come as a rude surprise to those who have any conception of the vast ramifications of my social experience, but I never actually met...

Scoff as she is noshed Pamela Vandyke Price Animals tend to go slightly bonkers in the spring for obvious animal reasons, but humans, privileged (or handicapped as some might...

Frank Field One of the eight members of the Supplementary Benefits Commission was reported as saying recently that their 48,000 employees, both clerks and executive officers,...

Screening drugs Bernard Dixon About twice a week I groan and grimace at the yawning innocence of those who believe that absolute, black-and-white answers are possible in...

Fuel bills custos With the winter approaching an increasing number of families will be faced with fuel bills they are unable to meet. Last year, over 140,000 consumers were...

Out of school Carol Wright The first and only school party holiday I went on was strictly educational. Paris and a series of lectures at the Sorbonne on French literature —...