5 SEPTEMBER 1992

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PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK

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'He keeps going on about zero inflation. A rise in interest rates was avoided despite last week's appeal for calm by the Chancellor, Norman Lamont; the Bank of England had used...

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DIARY JOHN MORTIMER

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A the tide of racialism rises, from Russia to Rostock, from Bosnia to Belfast, to the English bus stop where, unbeliev- ably, an Asian woman can be burnt to death, there is a...

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ANOTHER VOICE

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Why can't he keep his yellow toes to himself? AUBERON WAUGH O n Tuesday of last week, the Office of Health Economics, a body funded by the pharmaceutical industry, published a...

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OUTBREAK OF THE POISON-PEN EPIDEMIC

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Veronica Lodge on the growth of the envious school of journalism, and its corrosive effects on society THINK HARD — you probably knew them at school. They were small,...

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AFTER YOU, BORIS

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Nigel Short looks forward to Bobby Fischer's rematch against Boris Spassky, and says that he, too, wants to play the American genius GARY KASPAROV, the world chess champion,...

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If symptoms persist. . .

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I TRUST IT IS by now evident that I favour the utmost economy in the public service, which is why I heartily applaud- ed the recent decision of the hospital management to...

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THOUGHTS FROM A 'DANGEROUS MAN'

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Howard Davies explains his transition from Euro-sceptic to positive enthusiast THE JOURNEY from Edward Heath's signature of the Treaty of Accession to Maastricht has for many...

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HOME IS WHERE OUR LANGUAGE IS

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But Tim Congdon, still a Euro-sceptic, says Britain's future lies within the English-speaking world THE GOVERNMENT is on the defensive about the European exchange rate mecha-...

THE OUTLAW

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Michael Heath

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CLASS STILL SHINES THROUGH

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Michael Trend on how the new system of exams has failed in its purpose - to disguise under-achievement THE GCSE examination, which was intro- duced by a Conservative...

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RAIDING IN READING

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Tabitha Troughton goes undercover with the dole-busters and helps to save the tax-payer £34 million JAN 'KNUCKLES' HEPPEL strapped on her shoulder holster, slipped in her two-...

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One hundred years ago

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THERE ARE men who lack the courage of their convictions. Of these is not Mr. Frederick Engels. He has the courage both of his convictions and his predictions. In 1845 he wrote a...

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VOICE FROM AMERICA

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Sacred and profane love in the Republican allegory I t is not hard to see how the Republicans stumbled upon their campaign pledge to increase sexual conformity and improve...

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AND ANOTHER THING

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How to stay sane in a manic-depressive world PAUL JOHNSON S ome of the papers presented at this year's British Association for the Advance- ment of Science have attracted...

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CITY AND SUBURBAN

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British Rail acts the fierce bad rabbit in Mr McGregor's garden CHRISTOPHER FILDES A nasty surprise awaits John McGre- gor, the transport minister, on his return from (you...

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Financial premium

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Sir: I was alarmed to read on the subject of John Bryan's activities as a financial adviser (City and suburban, 29 August) that, while some argue that he has exceeded the bounds...

How others see us

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Sir: In spite of it being a very hot day on the continent I think I have to say something about the anti-German articles in The Spec- tator ('After you, Helmut', 1 August). Do...

LETTERS Modern crimes

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Like Mr John Mortimer, QC (Diary, 29 August), I too am'puzzled as to when child abuse became common. I practised the law in the criminal courts from 1935 until 1986, 25 years as...

Support for Shining

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Sir: How true it is that the right and left of the imperialist bourgeoisie is united in painting the revolution in Peru in the dark- est colours. Anthony Daniels in 'The Shin-...

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Yum yum

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Sir: Sadly I cannot speak from personal experience of either, but I must query the preference shown by your peripatetic reviewer, Nigella Lawson, in her review of Salloo's...

L.M.F

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Sir: P.D. James, in her thoughts on coun- selling (Diary, 15 August), refers to the sec- ond world war. Serving as a very young WAAF officer from 1941 to 1945, I recall there...

Household cleaning

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Sir: I was interested to read Sir Fitzroy Maclean's account of Evelyn Waugh's con- frontation with Marshal Tito, and in partic- ular with the item of equipment described as...

No snob he

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Sir: While, for obvious reasons, I would be the very last person to complain of anyone wanting to brighten up a contribution to your pages by dropping into the text a name or...

Get out of town

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Sir: Noel Malcolm (`The new bully of the Balkans', 15 August) had better not show his face in Greece in the near future. Alas, I nevertheless agree with him. Despite the fact...

Pull the other one

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Sir: I doubt whether the Victorians, or any- body, ever put trousers on piano legs (And another thing, 22 August). The story seems to spring from a 19th-century cartoon ridi-...

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BOOKS

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Thought for food Hilary Mantel THE RITUALS OF DINNER by Margaret Visser Viking, £17.99, pp.448 W e shall begin,' Margaret Visser says cooly, 'with a brief look at cannibal-...

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Of our C's wild, restless life

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Charles Maclean SPRING STREET SUMMER by Christopher Hudson Viking, £16.99, pp.259 T here's something irresistible about a quest. When it shapes a book, provided we find...

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One crowded year of glorious life

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Simon Courtauld LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY by Alan Hoe Gollancz, £13.99, pp.507 D avid Stirling's period of active ser- vice in the Western Desert lasted little more than a...

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The French Revolution as fiction

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Nigel Spivey A PLACE OF GREATER SAFETY by Hilary Mantel Viking, f15.99, pp. 873 T his is a tale of three men: Georges- Jacques Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Maximilien...

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A time to love and a time to die

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Cressida Connolly THE ENGLISH PATIENT by Michael Ondaatje Bloomsbury, £14.99, pp. 303 I f there is anyone out there who can write as well as Michael Ondaatje, then I'd like to...

Making a bad wife

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Philip Hensher POOR THINGS by Alasdair Gray Bloomsbury, £14.99, pp.317 I t's hard not to like a book which includes an erratum slip which reads "The etching on page 187 does...

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How Hitler might have been stopped

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Richard Lamb THE UNNECESSARY WAR by Patricia Meehan Sinclair-Stevenson, £18.99, pp.44 I Af ter the war the story that 'good Ger- mans' had plotted and nearly succeeded in...

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Uncle Bob

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`Use your feet, and bring the bat down true to the line of flight, head down, and Bob's your uncle !' they said ; or maybe, 'Think the problem through, tackle it stage by stage,...

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ARTS

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Architecture Lament for Coleshill Alan Powers on the destruction 40 years ago of a classic English country house C oleshill House is no more,' wrote John Burrow-Hill,...

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Exhibitions

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The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center (Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, USA) Weighty implications Giles Auty M indful of my deeply Eurocentric nature, I approached a...

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The Proms

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Pitch battle Peter Phillips A semitone separates Russia from England,' proclaimed the headline (in the Daily Telegraph, 27 August). One read the small print: 'political...

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Cinema

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Juice (`15', selected cinemas) The Cutting Edge (`15', selected cinemas) BFI New Directors (Metro) Teen angles Vanessa Letts I enjoyed Juice, which is one of those...

Theatre

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Richard III (Other Place, Stratford) Les Miserables (Palace) Miss Saigon (Drury Lane) A third great Richard Sheridan Morley W e are rich in Richards: after the...

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Television

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On the margin Martyn Harris I n Paxos last week a silly fat Englishman pointed out to me the absence of beggars, alkies and other underclass vermin on the Loggos quayside...

High life

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Peaceful fortress Taki R Gstaad ain and snow above 6,000 feet have suddenly engulfed the Alps, and when the sun comes out it falls on the glistening mountainsides and makes...

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Low life

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A fine wedding Jeffrey Bernard N orman's daughter, Natasha, was mar- ried a few days ago and it was an honour for me to be invited to the wedding and the reception after. It...

Long life

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Tunnel vision Nigel Nicolson T he Channel Tunnel is within a year of completion. The terminals at Folkestone and Sangatte are no longer vestigial foun- dations etched into the...

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Wi11111111 11 1 1 11 1 1 I (111

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Stephen Bull's Bar and Bistro IN FASHION it's called diffusion, a way of turning reputation into revenue. It's com- merce for couturiers: Giorgio Armani dif- fused into...

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Taking the plunge

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Raymond Keene I n appearance Fischer, not captured by any photographer, or seen by any chess- player in public for so long, is now a revelation. He is wild-eyed, staring, bald-...

COMPETITION

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Astrolatry Jaspistos n Competition No. 1743 you were invit- ed to write a poem in salute to a favourite film actor or actress, major or minor, who a . appeared in...

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CROSSWORD 1075: 42A by Mass

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A first prize of £20 and a bottle of Graham's Malvedos 1979 Vintage Port for the first correct solution opened on 21 September, with two runners-up prizes of £10 (or, for UK...

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SPECTATOR SPORT

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In the swim Frank Keating LAST WEEK was the 107th anniversary of Captain Webb's pioneering - Channel swim. The nutters of both sexes are still at it. On Sunday, Alison...

YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED

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Dear Mary.. . Q. What is the social etiquette when you take an extremely good bottle of vintage wine to some friends for dinner and find on arrival that there are more guests...