There is a merciful element of sheer comedy about elections. One would need a heart of stone to contemplate Mr Harold Wilson's current defence of orthodoxy and financial...

The view from Whitehall PETER PATERSON We are all cynics when it comes to general elections—well, most of us are—but perhaps the most cynical, world-weary and dis- illusioned...

Elections I have known-2 GEORGE GALE It is easier to recall by-elections than general elections and I suppose this is because they are more concentrated. You get to know the...

CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS When the Kenyans are choosing a team for the race, They don't reckon an Asian is fit for a place, And Indian committees, if proud of their caste, Think...

A brush with Clive Jenkins HUMPHRY BERKELEY On 6 February 1969, I appeared on a television programme called Late Night Line Up with Mr Clive Jenkins, the jqint general...

Pollution and politics BARBARA MAUDE So they are actually going to ban sonic booms at last! The new White Paper The Protection of the Environment (Cmd 4373) says so. But—in...

When the screen went dim BILL GRUNDY A couple of weeks ago I heard a radio inter- view with D. A. N. Jones, one of the con- tributors to the book The Press We Deserve which I...

Wanted: a dose of money JOHN ROWAN WILSON Whatever issue looms largest in the elec• tion, one can be pretty confident that it won't be the National Health Service. We are...

From the 'Spectator,' 4 June 1870—The Derby this year has been a failure. The crowd was smaller, dingier, and more blackguard than usual, the road was very dull, the weather was...

'Under Winston Churchill's leadership the British people were able to win the war with lower taxation than the present Labour government needs to survive in peacetime.' (Mr...

ANTHONY KING My wife and I believe we own the only dog in East Anglia named after Hubert Hum- phrey. He was named Hubert because, like his namesake, he is loyal, affectionate...

Singapore revisited ANTHONY BURGESS When I wrote my first published novel, fifteen years ago, 1 called it Time for a Tiger, which is the slogan of Tiger Beer, one of the...

Italy looks towards the East CRABRO Britain is not the only country in western Europe which is going to the polls this month. On Sunday something like nine out of ten Italian...

The day we struck camp ANDREW CAVE Was it when we woke up at 6 am in Canton Thurgau and the dew had soaked through everything, socks included? Or that time at Schmelz in the...

ROBERT RHODES JAMES There is much to be said in favour of the argument that, for an objective political commentator, the only thing worse than having a prejudice against a man...

C. Northcote PARKINSON Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture Johan Huizinga (Temple Smith cloth 45s, Paladin paper 12s) Johan Huizinga published Homo Ludens in...

JOHN TERRAINE Britain and her Army Correlli Barnett (Allen Lane The Penguin Press 100s) 'Wars,' says Correlli Barnett, 'would keep breaking in.' They do indeed. He is speaking...

J. G. FARRELL lack B. Yeats Hilary Pyle (Routledge and Kegan Paul 105s) Some years after his wife had died in the Portobello nursing home in Dublin the old gentleman went to...

Maurice CAPITANCHIK Thirst for Love Yukio Mishima translated by Albert H. Marks (Seeker and Warburg 30s) The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea translated by John Nathan...

CHARLES REED Beethoven: The Biography of a Genius George R. Marek (William Kimber 84s) Beethoven: The Last Decade Martin Cooper (out , 90s) Ludwig van Beethoven edited by...

Currying flavours CYRIL RAY The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight Jimmy Breslin (Hutchinson 30s) The Young Prey Hillary Waugh (Gollancz 24s) The Candle-Holders Val Giclgud...

JOHN HIGGINS A score unperformed since 1651 and a libretto concerned with lusting gods and chaste nymphs: such a combination could well produce dire results. It is easy to...

Phoenix dances CLEMENT CRISP Once again Japan runs away with the week's superlatives: . 4 1 single performance at the Albert Hall of Gagakit—the Imperial Dancers and...

Mum's the word HILARY SPURLING Café La Mama at the Royal Court The Friends (Roundhouse) The week in which the Moscow Arts com- pany leaves England, a week which also sees the...

GILLIAN WIDDICOMBE Considering how eagerly their solo musicians flock to Europe and flaunt the immaculate efficiency of their services, it is surprising how seldom the great...

NICHOLAS DAVENPORT Any move to break down the secrecy sur- rounding the City pope and his court hiding behind Soane's classical wall is to be wel- comed. The all-party Select...

Sir: Is it permitted to the ordinarily edu- cated man to differ from Mr Nicholas Davenport's pronouncement in your issue of 23 May, that the 'cult of the equity is dead'? He...

Sir: How refreshing to have in your journal, not for the first time, such sound sense about Britain's dilemma with regard to re- surgent Europe, instead of the customary...

From Ian Trethowan, W. Hors/all Carter, Surgeon-Captain T. L. Cleave, RN, Clive Bin gley, Jeremy Burchill, Anthony C. Cowdy, G. A. Hodcroft, Desmond J. Shaw, Captain John A....

Sir: The biased tone of Gay Firth's letter (23 May) scarcely merits a reply in full. I restrict myself to a few salient points. We are told that the Unionist party is not...

Sir: Mr Ludovic Kennedy voices an often- heard journalistic plaint (23 May) that the Tories are 'quite unconvincing over how such a loss of income [abolition of SET, reduction...

Sir: Is not John (Mushroom) Allegro (23 May) indulging in a clever, gigantic leg-pull? His very surname provides the clue—lively, sprightly. If his middle name is Mirth (as I...

Sir: Mr Sherman (Letters, 23 May) is offensive; to me personally and to the BBC. His suggestion that the Bac 'puts me on to 'bark at' its critics is completely without...

Sir: I am obliged to Mr Nevin (Letters, 30 May) for indicating the difference between good and bad theology, and for pointing out that people are either Christians or they are...

Sir: Professor Beloff (30 May) asks: 'Marshal Voroshilov, we are told, was thought by Stalin to be a British agent. How does Pro- fessor Laqueur know what Stalin really thought...

Sir: For the benefit of your readers who are trying to buy our booklet 'In Place of Poisons' on safe garden pesticides (mentioned in 'Spectator's Notebook' on 2 May) through...

Across I Vex the medico for fear? (6) 4 French philosopher performs an old dance with fury (8) 10 Rose is a great walker (7) 11 It seems the husbandman must follow his calling...

PHILIDOR G. F. Anderson (The Problemist, Nov. 1969). White to play and mate in three moves; solution next week. Solution to No. 493 (Volkmann-483/136b/ 3pPpl...

No. 608: Come live with me One does not usually associate hippies with the formal, but competitors are nevertheless invited to fill a lacuna in the communica- tions field by...

Swing high, swing low JOHN WELLS Mr Desmond Donnelly's Democratic party could well sweep to power with a massive 200 seat majority in the House of Commons at the forthcoming...