Greyhounds straining at the leash J ohn Major, the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer, delivered his first Budget speech as the Labour lead rose to around 20 per cent in the opinion...

OR The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LL Telephone 01-405 1706; Telex 27124; Fax 242 0603 PROPPING THE PILOT I n the enthusiasm of their counter- charge against...

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ANTHONY HOWARD udget Day has always struck me as one of the more bogus rituals of British life. The occasion — televised 'live' for the first time last Tuesday — has long since...

BACK TO THE GRANTHAM HEARTH Noel Malcolm examines Mr Major's Budget doctrine and finds it full of Victorian values 'A DULL Budget and a weak Budget'; 'a grey Budget by a grey...

SAVING VOTES Christopher Fildes is pleased that the Chancellor followed his advice THE ELDER parrots and the modern mortgagers were disappointed in the Budget, but I cannot...

Stephen Handelman asks what life is left in communism in the Soviet Union Moscow ONE of the best-loved stories of the late Soviet writer Alexei Tolstoy is called 'The Russian...

Nigel Lewis on how Poland holds Germany to ransom TWELVE years ago I was in Poland to look into the mysterious disappearance of a vast hoard of original and immensely valuable...

Emergency emergency YES, the heading does refer to admis- sion to hospitals, but in this case not in our country but in the United States. American hospitals are in trouble: in...

Michael Heath

Ian IJuruma reports on the conflicting historical fears of East and West Germany Berlin ABOUT a month before the East Ger- mans effectively voted for a united Ger- many, the...

Harold James reports from a country that should now become a 'satisfied power' Berlin WHEN the German Democratic Republic started after 40 years to experiment with democracy,...

Rick Jones traces the history of what remains of the Lord Protector IF, in the great winds of early 1990, ordinary people were in danger of 'collision with sheets of...

John Ware questions the credibility of Colin Wallace COLIN Wallace, the former army in- formation officer who the Government now admits was engaged in disinformation in...

There are claims of 'mounting evidence' of Satanist abuse of children. Sandra Barwick searches for the facts IN WITCHCRAFT or witch hunt — where does the greater danger lie?...

Sousa Jamba finds that Mrs Thatcher is not universally loved in her home town I WENT to Grantham, Mrs Thatcher's home town, to see how the locals adulate their most famous...

This is the fourth in our Lent series on English spiritual writers. CHARLES WESLEY (1707-88), both for quality and quantity, must rank as the greatest hymn-writer in our, and...

The media: Paul Johnson thinks the Iraq regime will regret hanging Bazoft IN AN ideal world, everyone should think 12 moves ahead, like a good chess-player. The thought struck...

people live in the house they can afford. You find few millionaires in three- bedroom semis and few paupers in castles. Most people in our society are reason- ably prosperous...

Sir: Noel Malcolm (Politics, 24 February) argues that a Labour majority at the next election is near to being statistically im- possible. He is quite wrong. He states at one...

Sir: Rodney Milnes's notice (Arts, 10 February) of Prince Igor at the Royal Opera House made reference to the Polovtsian Choral Society standing motionless — albeit in more...

campaign against this so-called 'Pole tax'. I think it's jolly unfair. Michael Moszynski 14 Linhope Street, London NW1

Sir: Chinese cartographers (Letters, 10 February) may have fallen into unwitting self-parody by changing 'es to Ts and conveniently forgetting Tibetan place- names, but Adrian...

Forget the poll tax Sir: In your Leading article of 17 March, on the vexed matter of the poll tax, you argue that the Tories should not run scared as it is considerably fairer...

`Three Graces' who, accord- ing to Robin Simon (Arts, 3 March) `writhe against each other in white marble'. My Shorter Oxford volunteers the observation that steatopygia tends...

Sir: It may or may not have been 'stupid, idiotic and provocative' of Timothy Eggar to march a six-year-old girl into his living room to reprimand her for pilfering his flowers...

Sir: Paul Foot (Books, 17 March) describes Mrs Thatcher's remark, 'Trial by television is the day that freedom dies', as ungram- matical. It is not. It is, however, strictly...

Sir: In his letter (17 March) Norman Stone writes from the History Faculty Library (of all places) that he started chain-smoking `just one week before the first cancer- scares'...

Sir: Paul Johnson chides Thames Televi- sion for choosing Scotland rather than the West Country to film Lorna Doone (The media, 24 February). Without bothering to check its...

Sir: Here's one for Martyn Harris's collec- tion of modern Welsh nonsense (Diary, 10 March). A garage in Llanelli invites motor- ists to choose from a comprehensive range of...

Marxist citadel Sir: What's this Roy Kerridge is writing? `At one time, a district was represented in Parliament, not a collection of anonymous individuals. The member for...

MINDED. A word fashionable amongst political bureaucrats who wish to pro- ject an antique gravitas and unassailable authority to camera, eg. 'I am minded to restrict the freedom...

A tour of Malgudi James Buchan THE WORLD OF NAGARAJ by R.K. Narayan Heinemann, 12.95, pp.186 R . K. Narayan is a prolific and long- lived Indian novelist, whose reputation...

Who can explain why fish and chips Taste better in the street, While morning toast and marmalade Taste better in bare feet? David Cram

James LeMoyne HURRICANE IN NICARAGUA by Richard West MichaeLloseph, f14.95, pp. 288 A mong the other misfortunes they endure, countries going through the trauma of revolution...

Anthony Storr RECOLLECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS by Bruno Bettelheim Thames & Hudson, £14.95, pp.285 runo Bettelheim, who died last week in his 87th year, was the best-known child...

Paul Webb WHAT'S WRONG WITH CIVILIZASHUN by Richmal Crompton Macmillan, f7.95, pp.112 THE WILLIAM COMPANION by Mary Cadogan Macmillan, f14.95, pp.242 f the 38 William books...

Andro Linklater L ike elvers they come, a dark carpet of fantasies writhing from mind to page, through the shallows of indifference to publisher, up the falls of delay to book-...

James Teacher T he recent publishing of Can You Forgive Her?, Phineas Finn, Ayala's Angel and Dr Wortle's School marks the first steps of the Trollope Society's heroic ven-...

From his dead father's wardrobe nothing would fit him, The pantaloon trousers, the Brobdingnag jackets, The unopened shirts in their cellophane wrappers, The neatly-boxed shoes...

Andrew Waterman NEW SELECTED POEMS 1966-1987 by Seamus Heaney Faber, £11.99, £4.99, pp.245. S corning the praise awaiting the first publisher to price a poetry book at a round...

membership stands at 3,000 in the UK and 1,000 in the USA. There are various forms available. My accountants, Smith and Williamson, tell me that the best bet is f10 p.a....

Exhibitions 1 Showing their slips Roderick Conway Morris Fake? The Art of Deception (British Museum, till 2 September) 0 n entering the gallery one is con- fronted with a...

The War of the Roses ('15', Odeon, Leicester Square) Wedded biffs Hilary Mantel hen a man who makes $450 an hour wants to tell you something for free, you should listen.' In...

Admirable sentiments Giles Auty rainy Manchester may not top too many polls as the perfect venue for a Friday evening. However, two weeks ago I was delighted to be the guest...

Rambert Dance Company (Sadlers Wells, till 24 March) Virtuoso jumpers Deirdre McMahon M erce Cunningham once told a stu- dent that dancing consists of changing the weight...

On a higher plane Taki INew York if giving dinners at home is a sign of middle age, staying put after dinner is a sure indication that old age is upon one. Take, for example,...

Seurat's art, Sondheim fails to obey some of the ground rules of musical theatre. The score is thin to the point of malnutrition. Staccato may be a way of suggesting the...

"Smatter? Whatcha blubbering for?' `They beat me up at dinner time again. They [sniff] tore my coat and took my dinner money.' The mother, a formidable woman built along the...

Still functioning Jeffrey Bernard I wanted very much to accompany Anna Haycraft to Rosamond Lehmann's funeral but I was trapped in a sickbed. What a delightful woman Rosamond...

only because I saw all my old friends from National Review, the magazine that gave me my start, although as what I ain't exactly sure. I was co-host with Christopher Buckley, my...

the core, and probably the most viscous wine I have ever tasted. As you tilted the glass, it left a golden coating like oil. Rich and soft on the nose, it tasted remarkably...

but not cold winters. Dramatic mountains sweep down to a sea as blue as the Mediterranean. Between the moun- tains and the sea the vines grow, in perfect conditions. The grapes...

pickling them. And, yes, even the Frogs are not totally immune. A good rouille will have some chilli. I gave, here, some while ago, a Setois recipe for raw baby squid marinaded...

58 Re3 Rf6 59 Bh3 Kd8 60 f5 Rh6 61 Bg2 Rh8 62 Ke5 Ke7 63 f6+ Kd7 64 c6+ Kc7 65 Bd5 Re8+ 66 Kf5 Kd6 67 Bxf7 Riff 68 c7 Nc6 69 Ba2 Black resigns If 69 . . . Kxe7 70 Bd5 is...

16 20 One who labours without a pass- word (6) 21 Not wholly complete with a faintly indented margin (9) 29 Source of alarm, this bone (5) 22 5 20 23 • 30 1...

beyond all human discontent. Chances, beauty and youth sapped day by Nor youth, nor sage, I find my head is grey. Where are the songs of Summer? —With the sun. In a...

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