L eaders of the four biggest unions, including Mr Terry Duffy's engineers, threatened a national strike against Mr Teb- bit's Employment Bill. Among other things, this measure...

The people in between Ferdinand Mount L et us risk a scandalous theory: viz, that the trade unions have suffered not merely a temporary setback, but a lasting reverse from...

I do not wish in any way to denigrate the Power of prayer. But Brigadier-General nizier's emphasis upon it should not be ‘ 11 °wed to overshadow the remarkable ac hievement of...

Eire Surface mail Air mail 6 months: £12.00 £13.00 £14.50 £18.50 One year: £24.00 £26.00 £29.00 £37.00 US subscription price: $65.00 (Cheques to be made payable to the...

J' Accuse Auberon Waugh Fro all those tempted to come and live in 1 the West Country, or even to visit it on their holidays, I give a warning: avoid Taunton for it is the...

This article, which was smuggled out of r cnand last month, was written by a Polish university lecturer who is a member both of S olidarity and of KOR, the opposition Workers'...

Wh ite Paris T he French Communist Party is holding its 44 th Congress next week and, if it were a p olitical party like any other, one could ex- g i its present leadership,...

Nicholas von Hoffman Washington T he political culture of the United States makes it impossible for public business to be transacted in secret. Every Ad- ministration bewails...

Andrew Brown Helsinki `Solidarity', I was told by an editor of the evening paper here, 'were just a bunch of stupid, amateur ... ' he searched for a word that could bear the...

Olivia O'Leary Dublin H ounded on economic policy at his first election press conference, the leader of the opposition, Mr Charles Haughey, turn- ed gratefully to the British...

Rich ard West T he Michael Parkinson show last Saturday gave us a full hour of Barry Hu mphries, the Down Under comedian, first in his own persona (decrying the evil of drink),...

Brother Blue Pencil Paul Johnson T he attempted censorship of four British newspapers by members of ASLEF raises a number of interesting points. In the first place it ought to...

The meeting on Wednesday at the Mansion House to protest against the outrages upon the Jews in Russia was a considerable success. It was largely at- tended by important persons...

Contradictions TOny Rudd A. 25 0,000 ton oil tanker built in a German yard at an approximate cost 1 3 . f $ 4 0 million and in virtually mint condi- ' In n, having been laid up...

reference, but allowing Thomas Wte cle j mann's correction (Letters, 23 JanuarY) , still do not think that making his ma le slaves pay his female slaves for sex makes Cato a...

Sir: Thomas Wiedemann (Letters, 23 January) accepts an explanation about the sex life of Cato's slaves that was, to the best of my knowledge, first made by Professor A. H. Astin...

Sir: Alexander Chancellor in his Notebook (30 January) was quite right to observe that `people like Prince Chula Birabongse of Siam' were hardly among those who, according to...

Sir: Paul Johnson last week, while condemning most newspaper gossip col- umns, explained that the Observer 'used to have an entertaining "Pendennis" feature by Harold Nicolson',...

Heroic resistance Sir: In his article of 30 January Mr Simon Winchester says that there is hardly any sign of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. It seems the interest of the Western...

Philosophical Enlightenment A• J. Ayer Thoughts and Thinkers Anthony Quinton (D uckworth f28) 14 r Quinton's new book is a collection of 33 essays, all or very nearly all of...

Eric Christiansen w hat will we think about Poland, when Poland is no longer news? What will happen to the Polish experts? I cannot think of an encouraging answer to either...

P.J. Kavanagh Nightingale Fever Ronald Hingley (Weidenfeld and Nicolson £12.95) Y ou can begin to quarrel with Mr Hingley's account of four Russian poets (Akhmatova,...

Humphrey Carpenter Selected Letters of James Thurber ed. Helen Thurber and Edward Weeks (Hamish Hamilton £8.95) 6 T he effect of Thurber's letters on his 1 generation was about...