Every action of a government is an inter- vention, an intrusion into what would otherwise be private. There is no point in calling, therefore, for an end to govern- mental...

A•disastrous fire in a village dance hall near Grenoble in France killed 144 young people. The emergency exit doors were locked. Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Foreign Sec- retary,...

PETER PATERSON A chilling moment occurred last Thursday evening in Committee Room No 10 at the House of Commons, chilling, that is. for all of us who are aware of the...

note that Dr Ralph Bunche has been adding his small voice to those raised by, or from, the Foreign Office against George Brown. Foreign emissaries no less than other men can be...

The centralising tyranny of London MERVYN JONES (THE GAS) Parliament must soon decide the proper future structure of the nationalised gas industry. The Gas Act 1948 set up...

SWITZERLAND On the wing RICHARD KILIAN Geneva The only thing worse than anti-hijacking measures in Switzerland is actually being hi- jacked. The Swiss have carried airport...

On political indecency JOHN GRAHAM Washington DC No one expected the political campaign to be a tea-party, but some of the things that have been said and done in the last...

The non-future of the iron horse DENTS BROGAN It was with a sense of shock that I read in Saturday's newspaper of a sudden strike of the crew of the 'France' which stranded...

Bantu stances MOLLY MORTIMER 'Every nation has the right to self-determina- tion, to choose its allies ... and we don't need the United Nations to help us.' So said Chief...

Jack Lynch on his crisis Ian Lyon talks to the Irish Prime Minister Is the North dragging its feet? 'I believe that the right-wing element in the North is very much opposed...

Blaney's hard line STAN GEBLER DAVIES Now there is no one in the Republic of Ireland better entitled to the description hard-liner than Neil Blaney. The govern- ment has gone...

The men on the Clapham omnibus SALLY VINCENT SATURDAY EVENINGS at 52 Clapham High St, 5W4. 31 Oct. 'Spotlight on Aircraft Industry'. Open discussion. 7.30. Buffet at 9.30. The...

We are the child-dervishes of the Chilterns, We whirl, We roll in chalk, We strike sparks from flint, 2 The fire is a roaring red giant. Beacons echo him everywhere We look. The...

Bad taste ROGER BARNARD Last Remembrance Sunday at the Ceno- taph. Whitehall, a group of people courag- eously voiced their objections to British government policy in Nigeria....

Red taping drugs JOHN ROWAN WILSON It isn't so often, these days, that the British can claim to have devised a method of doing something very much more efficiently and cheaply...

by 'another Conservative' On seeing the advertising claim that `when the Times speaks, the world listens' one is aware of a tone that cannot easily be dis- regarded. One feels...

The PIB report on ITV BILL GRUNDY Never having been much of a fan of Mr Aubrey Jones and his Prices and Incomes Board, I was not surprised to find that his swan-song, last...

Sir: I was horrified to read your entirely unwarranted attack on horses and their accommodation (31 October). It is time we realised that horses have hearts and feelings similar...

Dealing with kidnappers Sir: Your recent editorial approv- ing the strong stand taken by the Canadian government against the FLQ was appreciated here. It is always nice to be...

Sir: It should not be thought that hunting the 'clean boot' by a blood- hound pack is peculiar to Germany (Clive Gammon, 24 October). This form of sport is enjoyed in En - gland...

Sir: In your Personal Column last week you published a review by me of Professor Paul Robinson's The Sexual Radicals. Had I seen a proof of the review. I would have deleted...

Sir: 1 hope that Dr Bernard Øi (Letters, 31 October) doesn't CIF that I was criticising either hini New Scientist, on the contrary, I have the greatest admiration for both. The...

in list week's Notebook on the decision which prevented the retired head gardener at Sandringham from capitalising on his years of service with the Queen by publishing his...

Sir: With reference to Mr Weid- berg's letter in your issue dated 21 October, I would ask him to remember that 'contempt' is no substitution for discussion on the Shakespeare...

Sir: Your extremely funny story of my post-general-election dinner with Mr and Mrs Michael Clark gave great pleasure. But, alas for accuracy, such a dinner never oc- curred. (I...

Sir: I doubt if I am the only reader whose delight in the new sFEcrarna was marred by the intrusion of two nauseating examples (Notebook : 31 October) of the one really use-...

Sir: With compliments and warm congratulations to the writer of Notebook (24 October) on his truly magnificent and fearless piece on `the great Common Market Swindle'. Henry...

Sir: In his article `Mr. Nixon's Crime Bill' (24 October), Louis Claiborne makes inappropriately snide remarks about precautions taken to protect the life of Presi- dent Nixon....

Sir: Although I was horrified by the notion that the Government should be inluenced in its decision over South African arms sales by a desire for 'a useful exercise in public...

Sir: May I draw attention to an error in Kuldip Napes article, India Estranged, in your edition of 10 October. He contrasts the British Govern- ment's attitude on preferential...

Maxwell's India's China War does less than justice to a first-class historical work. Mr Maxwell writes from close obser- vation of the events described in his book (he was the...

Sir: The sale of arms to South Africa is not the ideal issue on which to test how far the (British) 'Commonwealth' can withstand contemporary international poli- tical stresses....

Sir: Having been away from London for several weeks my attention has only just been drawn to the correspondence conducted by Mr Peregrine Worsthorne and Mr Anthony Lewis in the...

Sir: A momentary aberration led me to describe Mr William White- law, the Lord President of the Council, as Lord Privy Seal in my Political Commentary last week. Mr Whitelaw, in...

which blew the two unfortunate us generals across the artificial frontier divid- ing western Armenia from the Soviet Republic would presumably be described as an 'act of God'....

Sir: I do not see what is to be gained by such articles as that from 'Israel Amos' on the one country in the Middle East that understands human rights. Israel is equivalent to...

Sir: Blackpool may be an abomina- tion to Mr Bernard Levin, but a lot of people go there knowing what it has to offer, and because this is what they like. Would Mr Levin bundle...

Sir: I am writing a life of Thomas Robert 'Population' Malthus (1766-1834). You may be surprised to learn that no full-length bio- graphy of him exists, and I find that many...

No. 629: Desdichado The news that the Consumer Coun- cil has lost its grant—and Des Wil- son his prospective job as chair- man—has been rather over- shadowed by the rest of Mr...

ENOCH POWELL Memoires d'Espoir, Vol. 1: Le Renouveau Charles de Gaulle (Plon 52s 6d) There was something instantly familiar about de Gaulle's memoirs, the moment I opened them...

From the 'Spectator,' 5 November 1870—Bad news seems to act on Frenchmen like acid on an alkali. The moment it falls there is a splutter. The news of an armistice was received...

DOUGLAS JOHNSON Marshal Main Richard Griffiths (Constable £4) It has often been said that what most bewil- dered Winston Churchill in the catastrophe of 1940 was his inability...

PETER HAWKES Last Things C. P. Snow (Macmillan 55s) When we came in. I found an urgent message from St Peter: 'G. would like a word with St Lewis as soon as possible'. I handed...

Broken rules AUBERON WAUGH Like Men Betrayed Frederic Raphael (Cape 45s) The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker Charles Webb (Andr6 Deutsch 30s) Four golden rules should be...

FRANK LIPSIUS Revolt into Style George Melly (Allen Lane The Penguin Press 50s) Lots of people make money in the music business, but none of them seem to be the right people....

E. R. NORMAN Eamon de Valera The Earl of Longford and Thomas P. O'Neill (Hutchinson 80s) Whatever may be said about de Valera, one thing is certain: his long pursuit of an an-...

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER What really happened to Britain in the Six- ties? A year ago, I published a book called The Neophiliacs, which could at least claim the dubious distinction...

TOM HUTCHIN SON What a fun time it has been at the Royal Court! My bronchial tubes have been ignited by smoke bombs. I have been spattered by vomit. My mind has been bludgeoned...

KENNETH HURREN To anyone unacquainted with its anteced- ents, the version of Cyrano de Bergerac that Patrick Garland has adapted and directed for the National Theatre Company...

Hybrid dinosaur PENELOPE HOUSTON Hollywood's recent decision to take a more parsimonious approach is probably hardly worth the paper it wasn't written on. No doubt it would...

Evolution Patrick Skene CATLING Pets and Vets (Bac 2) is a sensible, straight- forward, informative series on domestic animals and the people who care for them. As pets in...

Bobbery pack FRANCIS WATSON Between the amiable ferocity of Tipu's Tiger and the ivory vacancy of a throne presented to Queen Victoria by a Travancore rajah, the curious may...

Spry old timers RODNEY MILNES There can scarcely be two hardier perennials in the opera repertoire than The Marriage of Figaro and La Boheme, and the fact that both make a...

Noble creatures CLEMENT CRISP When Sir Frederick Ashton surveys the Royal Ballet he must see a group of beings whom he, like Viganei's Prometheus, 'civil- ised . . . by giving...

Voice of the past GILLIAN WIDDICOMBE How mediaeval man would disport himself in mirth at the sober attention we pay his music nowadays. How he would envy us, too, being able...

NICHOLAS DAVENPORT The reception given to Mr Barber's mini- budget—from the press to the pub, from the Bank of England to the Stock Exchange— has been unfair, ungenerous, mean,...

At this time of year everyone seems to be busily noting the signs of the changine season and no less busily pointing them out to anyone who will listen. It's odd, because autumn...

If you like building pyramids (now called conglomerates) you will before long be asked to sell a large block of shares on behalf of a major shareholder who will probaby have got...

Now their weapons are Long-bowes and forked Arrowes, Swords and Targets, Ear- quebusses, Muskets, Durks and Loquhabor Axes. . . all the Valley on each side being way-lay'd with...

Pamela Vandyke Price 'The season', as far as writers on wine are concerned, has just opened. Invitations to tastings crowd each other and, as one scuttles from a presentation...

TONY PALMER Last Monday work began in Wales on a new film of Macbeth. 'Utilising the text of Shakespeare's famous play', as it is officially described, this version will be the...

DAEDALUS A prize of three guineas will be awarded for the first correct solution opened on 16 November. Address solutions: Crossword 1454, The Spec- tator, 99 Gower Street,...

ANDREW WHITTAKER From the viewpoint of the businessman— particularly one from outside the country— it must have seemed in the past ten years that in setting up an enterprise in...

The most fervent pride comes from the past. The Constitution is quite explicit: 'The Irish l a nguage is the first official language. The English language is recognised as a...

TIM PAT COOGAN Normally when people talk about changes in Irish attitudes they are overlooking the fact that the biggest change in Irish attitudes took place some years ago....

urging change in the Republic. The relaxation of the censor- ship of books is one of their victories. In the old days. when a book was banned, it was banned for ever. Now a ban...

GARRET FITZGERALD After the split in Sinn Fein over acceptance of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921, which conceded Dominion status to the greater part of the island,...

LIAM HOLTRICAN Two days before President Nixon's arrival in Ireland (3 October), Simon Dee failed to appear at the official opening of a Dublin shopping centre. He had agreed...

IRWIN STEWART My personal gastronomic map of the Irish Republic is heavily weighted in favour of the Dublin area. The blank areas do not necessarily represent gastronomic...