The organs of public opinion, like the elected and other representatives thereof, have been in a state of some confusion, honest and dishonest alike, over the crucial matter of...

From the Revd Arthur H. Bird Sir: The night is cold, there are flurries of snow in the wind. Some children are singing carols, and they bring back a flood of memories to the old...

From Dr R. K. Edwards Sir: The terrible IRA bomb attack in Birmingham with its horrible carnage, perhaps, at long last, has brought home to this nation just what the word...

letter of mine and captioned it 'Easier murder'. Since then, murder seems to have become easier indeed. In my letter I opined that the abolition of capital punishment might...

British people that the troubles in Ulster are not, as popularly depicted, merely an affair between 'the two sides' there with a neutral army caught in the cross-fire....

crimes. What makes the anger at the present one so righteous is the fact that the bombhappy Irish fanatics who perpetrated it lacked any solid motivation. These indiscriminate...

Sir: Mr Hugh Leggatt (Art and the wealth tax, November 16) is clearly much concerned at the lack of understanding over the enormous practical difficulties likely to ensure from...

perpetrated by your Columnist, Will Waspe, when conveying n totally inaccurate and misleading nnnression of NATTKE stage-staff at the London Coliseum (November 30). c It is i...

Politicians out of step Patrick Cosgrave Last Thursday's all-night House of Commons debate, on measures against not all terrorism, but the most recent manifestations of IRA...

platform efeated on the Common Market resolution Sheffield. Some of the phrases in that rbesolution could, and indeed should, be uttered eo y_everyone of whatever party who...

Wednesday being the Day appointed for the Start of the annual Assembly of the Movement of Artisans, the Town was astonished when its Proceedings actually began on that morning....

seat'S not something to inherit; 2hOUld be earned by one's own merit. as he could do so, he w fl ounced his father's viscounty. N I hen next a by-election came, /1 ° . 1 ti ri,...

Whose oil, whose gas? Leslie T. Minchin It i s de hard to realise that, ten years ago, the rich NI Posits of oil and gas below the bed of the :rrh Sea were nothing but a...

Misgivings about the poll C. M. Woodhouse The fall of the military dictatorship in Greece was by common consent one of the few, cheering events of 1974. Although the people of...

posing the land plans Geoffrey Wilson In the flurry of comment on Labour's nationalisation intentions for industry what has so far. gone dangerously unrecognised in...

Closed shops and closed minds Bill Grundy P e r omantic novels of Miss Ethel Dell were once described as rcises in the technique of Pended rape, the climax being e°ntinually...

, N -. I . its s World has resigned. vid she think she would find Private affairs Could be kept below stairs? With beauty that's famed, ;> fl eo. you're TV acclaimed, toll...

Watch these spaces Philip Kleinman The advertising trade press doesn't always raise issues of national importance, but one subject which was given an airing in a recent issue...

Fashion and faith .Martin Sullivan Once more the Church of England has refused to face up to the question of the marriage in church of those divorced from partners now living....

An undistinguished male writer said to me: "i've never read your books because I never read anything written by women." I asked him why and he had the grace to sound apologetic:...

N eville Cardus A Musica/ Season Andrew Porter (Gollancz 1 4.00) Tiv le a Years ago Andrew Porter was invited to v e e, ' London music criticism to go to New j a n tk, there...

Fairy gold A. L. Rowse The Classic Fairy Tales Iona and Peter Opie (Oxford University Press £4.95) Cap O'Rushes and other Folk Tales Winifred Finlay (Kaye and Ward £1.60) In a...

Bedtime tales Sandra Paul Harlequin and the Gift of Many Colours Remy Charlip and Burton Supree (Kestrel £1.75) Cinderella John Fowles (Jonathan Cape £1.25) Skimpy William...

The ghastly grin Peter Ackroyd Cold Christmas Nina Beachcroft (Heinemann £2.10) The Cricket Term Antonia Forest (Faber £2.50) Young Winter's Tales 5edited by M. R. Hodgkin...

Night-lights of the old school Reny Green W ho was the true begetter of Bill Sikes or the pMeek Turtle? You have only to glance at ‘', r atckshank's illustrations for Oliver...

Bookend There wa s an a ir of expectation among the forty journalists at the Booker Prize dinner last Wednesday night. No so much over the prizewinner — most had already...

Career woman Kenneth Hurren What Every Woman Knows by J. M. Barrie (Albery Theatre) Clever Soldiers by Poliakoff (Hampstead Theatre Club) Kennedy's Children by Robert...

All shook up Duncan Fallowell Earthquake Director: Mark Robson. Stars: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy. 'A' Empire, Leicester Square (123 minutes). Cataclysm and...

Rambert breasts Robin Young It is many years since Ballet Rarn bert turned into the blind and puzzling alleyways of contemporary dance, and no use regretting it now. They have...

Almost fashionable John Bridcut It is almost true that Elgar is once again in fashion, yet only a small fraction of his musical output is at all well-known. Even so, the...

Waspe (;') The Spectator probably saved you (as a taxpayer) a little money last week with that 'Notebook' item designed to discourage the Reviewing Committee on the Export of...

How to afford wine Pamela Vandyke Price The excuse, "I can't afford to drink wine," is so often made to me across the brim of the speaker's double gin and tonic that I rate it...

Nicholas Davenport "Put Britain first," said Mr Callaghan to the Labour Party Conference, repeating the words of the Tory manifesto. The City rightly did not jump to the...

Money in 'smiling death' forecasts Bernard Hollowoo d It confirms everything the man in the street thinks about economists and economics. I mean, how can you divide the Nobel...