Last week the Prime Minister's ecclesiastical appointments secretary, Mr Colin Peterson, met the standing committee of the General Synod of the Church of England to discuss the...

The vicious escalation of the conflict in Ulster has clearly deeply shocked ministers only beginning to find their feet in the Northern Ireland Office for, although both Mr Rees...

The victory of Sic Charles Court's Liberal Party in the Western Australian elections carries considerable significance of a healthy kind for the future of Australian politics....

From Lord Longford Sir: In his article (March 30) in favour of the liberation of pornography Mr Abse feels called on to remark, "Lord Longford, that most immodest of...

John Calder to review the latest volume of his autobiography, The Grain of Wheat (March 23). As the successful publisher ot a certain type of book Mr Calder has a vested...

Sir: I believe I was the first person to employ the phrase 'government of national unity' in a letter to the national press, prior to its employment by Mr Thorpe, and this is my...

Sir: While I can share Mr Angus Maude's dislike of Scottish Nationalism I must protest against his use of the terms Scots and Celts as if they were synonymous (Notebook, March...

Sir: I am prompted by Mr Bell's letter hinting termination of his subscription after the perusal of over 2,500 issues, which is about fifty years, to tell you how refreshing it...

Sir: It is to be hoped that the chairman of Holborn Conservatives, whose letter from (strangely) a WI address appeared in the Daily Telegraph (March 22), will read the letter...

Sir: Dr D. M. Jenkins (March 23) admits that the abortion operation "isn't particularly dangerous" — which is true. So why should not the decision about it rest with the patient...

Sir: A recent suggestion regarding multi-member constituencies implies that a distribution of seats in Parliament which exactly mirrors the number of votes cast for party...

Sir: If your readers were to take Richard Wort's letter of March 15 seriously they would become very confused, educational salvation in London is to be achieved by making the...

Sir: It was heartening to see Angus Maude protesting against the misuse of the English language. I hope he or another of your contributors will find time to castigate other...

Mr Heath is a child of ill-fortune. He was not trained for the role of prime minister by himself. He was trained for it by nearly 100 Jrears of predecessors. He is the last of...

I disagree with my old friend Enoch Powell when he recommends increasing taxation to close the deficit gap. It is true that extra taxes restoring neutrality to a budget produce...

No substance in the shadows Patrick Cosgrave When he was last Leader of the Opposition Mr Heath, despite his inadequacies for that job — indeed, perhaps because, in those...

Ronan Fanning It is now quite lawful," wrote H. L. Mencken half a century ago, "for a Catholic woman to avoid pregnancy by a resort to mathematics, though she is still...

The rumble in the bog Rawle Knox It can be discerned throughout the Irish twilight that a rescue operation is on the way to save the Sunningdale agreement. As yet there can be...

The events of this past week at the Club have been so bizarre and the inaction of the Government so total, that I offer as some words of encouragement to Mr Edward Heath and his...

Just keep taking the tablets John Linklater One of the surprising discoveries that each doctor makes for himself after a few years in general practice, is the high proportion...

After Pirelli Philip Kleinman One group of people who must have given a collective sigh of relief when the Heath government got thrown out was the planners and designers of...

One who embraces Martin Sullivan Disaster personal or national, when it falls upon us, always poses afresh the problem of evil, in one form or another. There is no solution to...

Turning green Peter Quince Horse-chestnuts are always among the first trees to come into leaf: this year they seem ahead of schedule. The landscape at this stage of the spring...

Richard Luckett Whistler Stanley Weintraub (Collins £4.95) It is said that a visitor to Beau Brummell encountered the valet on the stairs, his arm draped with crumpled...

Denis Donoghue The Faber Book of Irish Verse Edited by John Montague (Faber and Faber £3.50) In theory it should not be very difficult to make a good anthology: pick the best...

J. Enoch Powell Britain and India: the Interaction of Tw°, Peoples M. E. Chamberlain (David an d Charles £5.25) I never meant to stay in India.* When wangled for myself a...

Out of the salon Benny Green For reasons I am unable to discover, and perhaps for no particular reason at all, the Whistler boom continues. Last year I wrote of my enjoyment...

Bookend The Scottish Arts Council's decision to close down its monthly magazine Scottish Interna tional leaves something of a sour taste. Of& .! announcements indicate that the...

At last the 1962 show Christopher Hudson At last the 1962 show — the wave ot nostalgia laps closer to the present, beaching memories of neon-winking drive-ins serviced by...

I must congratulate the publicists working for film writer-producerdirector John Boorman. They seem to have a rare way with the media. Even granted that they have an almost...

Shadowy eminence Clive Gammon Frissons a-plenty were promised us in the Man Alive Profile (BBC2) last week. No less a shadowy eminence than Sir William Armstrong. KC13 . MVO,...

Njcholas Davenport "I always think better under pressure," Mr Healey told us in the tijanorarna programme, but the b udget ue presented after a few weeks' pres!urised...

This column in the Spectator has not been alone in ur g in g that there should be a curbed Government-induced inflation and that a cut in spending is urgently needed. This...

Maeve Binchy One of the problems that Ireland used to have in the old days of attracting tourism was that it was not very well known as a destination. Europeans were inclined...