Spectator articles from November 2005

Spectator archives from November 2005

Labour sleaze.(Labor Party)
November 5, 2005... Edward Gibbon would recognise it: the air of decadence, the smell of death which hangs over the New Labour empire this week. The impotence of Emperor Blair is a pitiful sight. His protestations of the innocence of Senator Blunkett--which once...

Portrait of the week.(David Blunkett)
November 5, 2005... Mr David Blunkett resigned as the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions after it was revealed that he had taken a directorship in a DNA-testing company called DNA Bioscience, after resigning from his previous Cabinet post, without consulting...

Diary.(Baghdad bombings, journalists targeted)(Column)
November 5, 2005... Baghdad Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you, and someone's definitely out to get us. Last week the Palestine hotel, home to many journalists here, was almost demolished by a particularly telegenic truck...

How greed and hubris led to Blunkett's downfall.(David Blunkett, DNA Bioscience)
November 5, 2005... At least this time we were spared the self-pitying squealing about only doing what he had for the 'little lad'. But even though David Blunkett walked the plank he still refuses to accept that he's done anything wrong. Maybe the Viagra has gone...

The Spectator's notes.(Florence, Italy)(Column)
November 5, 2005... After a week in Florence, astonished all over again by the unsurpassed beauty of its painting and architecture from 1350-1550, I wonder about the odd mixture of features which characterises a high civilisation. This includes: 1. A respect...

A dying breed: by mid-century, the world's population will be 50 per cent higher than it is now, says Richard Ehrman, but the boom will come from developing countries, not Europe, and that's very bad news indeed.(Cover Story)
November 5, 2005... If demography is destiny, then, on the face of it, Britain should be feeling pretty smug. In late May the number of people in the UK finally passed the 60 million mark. By 2031, according to official projections released last month, there will...

The Blairs.(Cartoon)
November 5, 2005... TELL HIM I DON'T WANT TO BUY ANY SHARES [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Let them have nukes: Paul Mervis says we cannot stop the Iranians acquiring the Bomb, but they would be mad to use it.
November 5, 2005... It is the habit of the Iranians to use hyperbole in everyday speech, a courtly exaggeration that they call ta'aruf. For instance, the well-brought-up Iranian does not welcome a guest into his house with anything as mundane as 'Do come in.' He...

Don't do it, Hewitt: John Dodd on the ignorance, humbug and dodgy statistics behind the drive to ban smoking in pubs.(Patricia Hewitt)
November 5, 2005... If this increasingly intolerant government resembles anything from history, it is the American administration of 1920 which ushered in Prohibition at the behest and the pounding of the teetotal zealots. How else could such a ludicrous proposal...

A gangster comes to town: Jonathan Mirsky says that the state visit to Britain of China's President is no cause for celebration.
November 5, 2005... When China's President Hu Jintao sits next to the Queen at her state banquet for him on 8 November he will be a contented man. In the words of the Royal Academy of Arts, 'China Turns London Red'. Somerset House, the London Eye and other...

Muslims are an ethnic group: Alasdair Palmer says the religious hatred law is unnecessary because Muslims and others are already protected.(Religious Hatred Bill )
November 5, 2005... The Lords did their best to amend the Religious Hatred Bill last week. Their best, however, is unlikely to make much difference. The government is determined to press ahead with the new legislation despite its defeat by 149 votes in the Lords....

Mind your language.(panjandrum, history and usage)(Column)
November 5, 2005... The word panjandrum has been popping up recently. I have noticed it from the pens of Andreas Whittam Smith, Andrew Graham-Dixon, Brian Sewell, Simon Hoggart and funny old Roy Greenslade. It sounds like a proper word, one with an ancient...

Fairtrade fat cats: Philip Oppenheim on guilt-stricken consumers who boost the profits of supermarkets and middlemen.
November 5, 2005... Fairtrade is the new cricket. It's official. Fairtrade has been declared a 'Superbrand' with sales growth up a whopping 51 per cent to 140 million [pounds sterling]. The funky little green and blue Fairtrade logo is the latest must-have retail...

How the French riot: Theodore Dalrymple reports on the disturbances in Clichy-sous-Bois, following the death of two young thieves.
November 5, 2005... Les Vans, Ardeche For a patriot like me, it is a great consolation to know that other societies are undergoing precisely the kind of decomposition, if a little more slowly and with slightly more resistance to it, in which we so clearly...

Dalai Alan and Helicopter Ben may propose, but the markets dispose.(Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke)
November 5, 2005... I have long thought that Alan Greenspan would have made a passable Dalai Lama. Those gnomic utterances, that air of inner calm, that instant access to a deep well of understanding.... The faithful have come to accept that the chairman of the...

Science can be just as corrupt as any other activity.(AND ANOTHER THING)
November 5, 2005... My old tutor, A.J.P. Taylor, used to say, 'The only lesson of history is that there are no lessons of history.' Not true. History does not exactly repeat itself, but there are recurrent patterns. And the historian learns to look for certain...

Nuclear hedge fund.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
November 5, 2005... From Dr Jeremy Stocker Sir: Andrew Gilligan ('A terrifying plan for nuclear strikes', 29 October) is being unduly alarmist about the future of Britain's small nuclear deterrent. The development of so-called 'usable' nukes does not imply a...

Same old schools policy.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
November 5, 2005... From David Woodhead Sir: Your leading article (29 October) is scornful of Labour's vocabulary of school reform, in particular its use of the term 'independent state schools'. But Labour is simply shamelessly resurrecting not only the...

Dying with dignity.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
November 5, 2005... From Dr D. W. Wheeler Sir: Alasdair Palmer is right ('Killing old people', 29 October); sometimes we treat the elderly very badly and sometimes, but not always, geriatric wards can be depressing places. However, he is wrong on two matters....

Too nice to like.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
November 5, 2005... From Sir Peregrine Worsthorne Sir: In my memoir, Tricks of Memory, published as far back as 1992, after expressing regrets for that unfortunate Sunday Telegraph profile on John Julius Norwich, I tried to explain my reasons for having...

On the defensive.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
November 5, 2005... From Nick Prest Sir: Writing as someone who has been in a senior position in the UK defence industry, I do not recognise the picture painted by Richard North ('Europe is costing us a bomb', 15 October) of a UK government policy of 'Europe...

Mussolini and the Jews.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
November 5, 2005... From Nicholas Farrell Sir: Ian Thomson states (Books, 22 October) that 'these days' it is 'fashionable' to portray Benito Mussolini as a 'decent fellow', and cites my biography of Mussolini as his evidence. I am not aware that I am...

How to fund Oxford.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
November 5, 2005... From Dr Bill Macmillan Sir: It is not the case, as Simon Jenkins asserts ('Independence for Oxford', 29 October), that the vice-chancellor, John Hood, believes in principle that the university should go 'independent'. His clear view is...

Lost Cameron vote.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
November 5, 2005... From Harry Bott Sir: Bruce Anderson, in the closing paragraph of his article promoting David Cameron (Politics, 29 October), suggests that David Davis is 'chippy, nasty, resentful and dim'. That paragraph has probably cost David Cameron my...

Will compassionate tax cuts win Tory hearts and minds?(SHARED OPINION)
November 5, 2005... I reported here in the summer on the bid by the upmarket retailer Cameron and Osborne to take over the ailing Conservative party in competition with Davis's, which prides itself on being the People's Tory Store, especially in the North. ...

Full Marx for George Bush: the President of the United States is not a communist, says John Laughland, but his belief in a global democratic revolution is inspired by Marxist thinking.(George W. Bush, Karl Marx)
November 5, 2005... Ever since the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, there has been a seemingly endless flow of self-congratulatory comment in the West about how former communist countries--and even some which have remained communist--are gradually westernising and...

Christmas podding: Benet Simon can resist the latest wonder from Apple--but only just.(Apple iPod)(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 5, 2005... The spirit of Christmas this year belongs to Apple. The new iPod has just hit UK shops and every teenager in the country who doesn't find one under the tree on 25 December is going to be inconsolable; understandably so, because the new iPod...

Soul providers.(Cistercians, monastry makes good chocolats, wine)
November 5, 2005... The Benedictines are named after St Benedict, the Bridgettines are named after St Bridget, and the Chocolatines are named--by me, anyway--after an exquisite confection shaped like a champagne cork. The French use the word to describe a pain au...

Sweet smell of excess.(perfumes)
November 5, 2005... The nose apologises: he has a cold. 'And for me, losing my smell is like...'--his arms hover in front of him--'... being blind. Blind!' We are gathered in the first-floor salon of the Lalique shop on Sloane Street in London, 20 'spray and...

Leather fetish.(Hunting boots)
November 5, 2005... Everyone should have a talisman--personal, meaningful or useful, a symbol by which we measure our worth to ourselves. In Graham Greene's The Comedians the ultimately courageous 'Major' Brown carried around Haiti a leather-bound silver...

Foil in the bag.(Fencing equipment)
November 5, 2005... As someone who hates sport even I have to admit that not all sports are the same. There are some which are elegant, like cricket, and some which are highly ritualised and stylised, like sumo wrestling. In some cases, such as the Palio horse...

Do it yourself.(self-publishing)
November 5, 2005... A mature friend claims that the greatest favour anyone can do for his or her friends and family is to die without publishing a single book--no novel, no memoirs, nada. There's no legacy like it. I know what she means. There has been an...

Baking hot.(Cupcakes)
November 5, 2005... A couple of years ago I was in New York with my arm candy, plus friends and offspring, checking out the Chelsea area and SoHo with its hip residents, rats and meat-packing outlets now converted into eating establishments for people who live in...

Flushed with success.(Colonic irrigation)
November 5, 2005... During 30 years as a practising herbalist I've cured myself of three terminal illnesses and I've done more colon cleanses than I can count,' writes Martha Volchok, Master Herbalist, on her website 'Colon Cleanse for Radiant Health'. This...

The perils of peace.(Postwar)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... POSTWAR by Tony Judt Heinemann, 25 [pounds sterling], pp. 878, ISBN 0434007498 [telephone] 20 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 In 1945, Europe lay prostrate after the greatest and most terrible war in...

Ten men went to mow.(The Virtuoso Conductors: The Central European Tradition from Wagner to Karajan)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... THE VIRTUOSO CONDUCTORS: THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN TRADITION FROM WAGNER TO KARAJAN by Raymond Holden Yale, 22.50 [pounds sterling], pp. 370, ISBN 0300093268 [telephone] 18 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 ...

Looking for trouble and finding it.(Catch Me When I Fall)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... CATCH ME WHEN I FALL by Nicci French Penguin/Michael Joseph, 12.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 304, ISBN 0718145216 [telephone] 10.39 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Thrillers now come heavily disguised, and but...

The man in the iron mask.(Michael Caine: A Class Act)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... MICHAEL CAINE: A CLASS ACT by Christopher Bray Faber, 20 [pounds sterling], pp. 358, ISBN 057121682X [telephone] 16 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Isn't it peculiar when people change their name? John...

Raking through the embers.(Gunpowder: The Players Behind the Plot)(Gunpowder)(Gunpowder Plots)(Remember, Remember the Fifth of November)(The Firemaster's Mistress)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... It is difficult to put a finger on the reason, but there has always seemed something particularly dismal about the Gunpowder Plot. There is obviously a lot to be said for any conspiracy that can erase the Stuart line from English history at a...

Ego trip with excess baggage.(Strangeland)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... STRANGELAND by Tracey Emin Sceptre, 14.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 288, 1SBN 0340769440 [telephone] 11.99 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Readers may sympathise with Tracey Emin. Her big mouth and huge...

Nobody has been left out.(City of Cities)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... CITY OF CITIES by Stephen Inwood Macmillan, 25 [pounds sterling], pp. 537, ISBN 0333782879 [telephone] 20 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Histories of Victorian London now come two a penny. They are the...

Instant post-mortem verdicts.(Great Lives: A Century of Obituaries)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... GREAT LIVES: A CENTURY OF OBITUARIES edited by Ian Brunskill HarperCollins, 20 [pounds sterling], pp. 465, ISBN 0007201680 [telephone] 16 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Let us now praise famous men, and...

Not bloody likely.(Charles and Camilla)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... CHARLES & CAMILLA by Gyles Brandreth Century, 20 [pounds sterling], pp. 368, ISBN 1844138453 [telephone] 16 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Delicate confections, these biographies of contemporary English...

The rich harvest of the random.(The Brooklyn Follies)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... THE BROOKLYN FOLLIES by Paul Auster Faber, 16.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 304, ISBN 0571224970 [telephone] 13.59 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 There is a delightful moment in this novel when Nathan, the...

The holy terror himself.(Osama: The Making of a Terrorist)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... OSAMA: THE MAKING OF A TERRORIST by Jonathan Randal 1. B. Tauris, 15 [pounds sterling], pp. 346, ISBN 03 75708235 [telephone] 12 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Osama: The Making of a Terrorist is not so...

Too French by half.(Anthology of Apparitions)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... ANTHOLOGY OF APPARITIONS by Simon Liberati Pushkin Press, 12 [pounds sterling], pp. 139, ISBN 1901285588 [telephone] 9.60 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Take Harold Pinter: dismissed at the outset for...

The Secret Garden.(Poem)
November 5, 2005... The Secret Garden Why did we go there after dark To carve our initials in the bark, Why was daylight not for us But bittersweet and dangerous? Why did the innocence of trees Bring my conscience to its knees, ...

The wonderful edge of the sea.(The Highest Tide)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... THE HIGHEST TIDE by Jim Lynch Bloomsbury, 10.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 256, ISBN 0747578443 [telephone] 8.79 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 There are some classic novels about a boy growing up--Great...

Earning brownie points.(Thinking Aloud: The Best Prospect, 1995-2005)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... THINKING ALOUD: THE BEST PROSPECT, 1995-2005 edited by David Goodhart Atlantic, 19.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 320, ISBN 1843544814 [telephone] 15.99 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Prospect is a monthly...

Pursuit in the desert.(No Country for Old Men)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN by Cormac McCarthy Picador, 16.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 309, ISBN 0330440101 [telephone] 13.59 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Seven years after the groundbreaking Border trilogy,...

The case of the curious Christian.(C.S. Lewis)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... C. S. LEWIS by Michael White Abacus, 10.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 268, ISBN 0349116253 [telephone] 8.79 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 THE NARNIAN by Alan Jacobs SPCK, 12.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 332,...

Surprising literary ventures.(Alternative reading)(Lecherous Limericks)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... LECHEROUS LIMERICKS (1975) by Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov's ambition was to have a book in every one of the major Dewey Decimal categories. This one fits in the category labelled 'dirty poems'. It's a collection of 100 original limericks...

Colossally bad taste.(Dictators' Homes)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... DICTATORS' HOMES by Peter York Atlantic Books, 14.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 119, ISBN 184354430X [telephone] 11.99 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Everyone loves a good dictator, at least at a distance....

Antipodean wit and wisdom.(The Meaning of Recognition: New Essays, 2001-2005)(Book Review)
November 5, 2005... THE MEANING OF RECOGNITION: NEW ESSAYS, 2001-2005 by Clive James Picador, 14.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 367, ISBN 033044025X [telephone] 11.99 [pounds sterling] (plus 2.45 [pounds sterling] p&p) 0870 429 6655 Shocking, I know, but I hadn't...

Leave us alone: Tiffany Jenkins believes that 'placemaking' advocates are in danger of social engineering.(ARTS)
November 5, 2005... 'Placemaking' is the big new idea that will transform communities. Architects, quangos and the government are all interested in this method of improving public space. Town and city planners are embracing it enthusiastically. But, despite all...

Full-blooded drama.(Rubens: A Master in the Making, art exhibition)
November 5, 2005... Rubens: A Master in the Making National Gallery, until 15 January 2006 Sponsored by Shell The National Gallery really is a remarkable place. In addition to displaying its diverse and beautiful permanent collection in increasingly...

Perfect teamwork.(Osud)(Le Villi)(Opera Review)
November 5, 2005... Osud; Le Villi Vienna State Opera Don Carlos Welsh National Opera, Oxford I don't usually associate the Vienna State Opera with adventurous programming, but staying in the city for a few days last week I was able, by chance, to catch the...

Down memory lane.(Solitaire)(Checkmate)(Lady and the Fool)(Theater Review)
November 5, 2005... Birmingham Royal Ballet Sadler's Wells Theatre The preservation of national choreographic heritages has long been a concern of those who fear globalisation in the performing arts. Dance practitioners, dance administrators and dance...

Lost innocence.(Olden but golden)(music)
November 5, 2005... It comes as something of a shock to realise that I have known Liz Anderson, this magazine's admirable arts editor, for almost 20 years. We first met in 1987, as junior sub-editors on the Telegraph's arts pages, and sat trembling in shock and...

Global village.(Jazz)(London Jazz Festival)
November 5, 2005... Almost without anybody noticing, the London Jazz Festival, which opens on 11 November and continues full pelt until 20 November, has grown in stature and significance. It's now over a decade since the first festival, and it's a fair bet that...

Give us a break.(And Then There Were None)(Flanders Mare)(The Brothers)(Theater Review)
November 5, 2005... And Then There Were None Gielgud Flanders Mare Sound Theatre The Brothers Bullion Rooms Ten strangers having a black-tie dinner in an airport lounge. That's the opening tableau of And Then There Were None. The airport lounge turns...

Beyond the baton.(musicians)
November 5, 2005... When I am asked what I do, I say I am a musician. The response is invariably, 'Which instrument do you play?' When I say I conduct, I am aware that I have passed beyond the easy into the more difficult, but I know at the same moment that I have...

Brace of Johnsons.(Private Passions)(Desert Island Discs)(Radio Program Review)
November 5, 2005... Two of the journalistic Johnsons graced the airwaves last month--Frank, the former editor of this magazine, and Boris, the present incumbent: Frank on Radio Three's Private Passions three weeks ago (Sunday), followed this week by Boris on...

Rome, sweet Rome.(Television)(Television Program Review)
November 5, 2005... For some time now I have been aware that there was something badly wrong with my life without ever being quite able to put my finger on exactly what. Now, having watched Rome (BBC2, Wednesday), I know: I was born in the wrong place, 1,953 years...

The right woman.(High life)(Column)
November 5, 2005... Unlike Peregrine Worsthorne, I thought the Duff Cooper diaries were interesting and terrific, and also made me envious as hell. Oh, to have lived back then. People sure had fun. I particularly liked the part where Duff puts down a certain party...

Off night.(Low life)(volcano Stromboli)(Column)
November 5, 2005... The active volcano Stromboli, one of the Aeolian islands, rises out of the sea off the north-east coast of Sicily. It is forbidden to make the three-hour trek to the top without a guide, so I signed on with a chaperoned party of 30 tourists for...

Short fuse.(Bridge)(Brief Article)
November 5, 2005... When writing about bridge, most experts preach the virtues of patience, tolerance and understanding at the table. In practice, few of them manage to control their tempers or conceal their disdain. This is something I've often seen myself, and I...

Hot property.(King's Cross, London)
November 5, 2005... These days the most conspicuous presence on the gritty streets of King's Cross is not call girls and crack dealers but buttercup-yellow huddles of hard hats. Through the clouds of cement dust you can just about make out signs explaining that...

Nadir.(CHESS)(Dr. Jonathan Penrose, International Master)(Biography)
November 5, 2005... Consider the condition of British chess in the mid-1960s. We suffered from the curious paradox that our strongest player--by far--was also the greatest obstacle towards national progress. Dr. Jonathan Penrose, the only player in living memory...

1739: crime and punishment.(CROSSWORD)
November 5, 2005... X, the 39's 40, 2 (hyphened) one of a 6, 28 and 16 it, and so was 27 and went 9 down the 1. X is a clued light and must be shaded. ACROSS 10 Clerk clipped acacia (4) 12 Not seeing blue paint, I love art that's sculptured (10) ...

Dance macabre.(rugby, haka tradition, New Zealand All Blacks)
November 5, 2005... Having cruelly blackwashed the combined British Isles Lions tourists just four months ago, New Zealand's athletic young rugby sadists are back in the old country intent on inflicting further pain with a Grand Slam against the four 'home'...

Dear Mary.(YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED)
November 5, 2005... Q. You suggest (22 October) that scrap suppers be served on site following private views in art galleries. May I suggest the very same practice might well reverse the decline in numbers of young people attending classical concerts? For...

The politics of terror.(antiterrorism measures of UK's Labour government)
November 12, 2005... When history comes to make a final judgment on the Blair government--and we can be forgiven for hoping that moment is not too much longer delayed--there is one key statistic by which to assess the Prime Minister's performance. Since 1997 the...

Portrait of the week.(Obituary)
November 12, 2005... Mr Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, insisted on pressing ahead with a Bill to allow police to hold anyone suspected of a terrorist offence for 90 days without charge. The government prepared legislation to allow terrorists who had fled Northern...

Diary.(riots in France, self publishing)(Column)
November 12, 2005... There was a surreal touch to last Sunday's newspapers. The inside sections, which tend to be prepared a little in advance, brimmed, as usual, with pieces about the delights of living in France. The news pages, by contrast, carried pictures of...

How does Tony survive? Eloquence, unction and the abuse of power.(Tony Blair)
November 12, 2005... No prime minister, with the debatable exception of Anthony Eden, has been held in such low private esteem by senior civil servants as Tony Blair. Cabinet secretaries Robin Butler and Richard Wilson have delivered withering public verdicts on...

The Spectator's notes.(riots in France)
November 12, 2005... Les evenements in France have provoked self-congratulation here. Apparently, the French model of assimilation is bad. If they had our multiculturalism, the celebration of diversity and ethnic monitoring, everything would be much better, it is...

The crescent of fear: Rod Liddle goes to Grigny, a suburb south of Paris, and witnesses at first hand the consequences of Muslim reluctance to integrate with French society.(Cover Story)
November 12, 2005... As France burned, the mullahs arrived on the scene, shook their heads sadly and immediately issued a fatwa. However, for the many Frenchmen who may have shuddered inwardly when they heard the term so invoked, this was a good fatwa, a nice...

Will London burn too? Patrick Sookhdeo on the Islamic doctrine of sacred space.
November 12, 2005... Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, has warned recently of 'sleepwalking our way to segregation'. Although he was not speaking principally about Muslims, they have become perhaps the most dominant group in British...

Profiles in courage: James Delingpole marks Remembrance Sunday with a tribute to the gentle and modest veterans of the second world war.
November 12, 2005... Have you ever escaped from captivity by removing from your boot the serrated surgical wire cunningly disguised as a shoelace and sawing through the windpipe of your hapless, squirming guard? Me neither, but I know someone who has. He's a lovely...

Bullying for charity: Guy Adams says that big charities have developed a taste for bossing us about and getting things banned.
November 12, 2005... Here are three pastimes the government has either banned, is about to ban, or talks about banning some time in the future: hunting with dogs, smoking in pubs and drinking alcohol on public transport. What have they got in common? First, each is...

Why Britain can't make it: Andrew Kenny on how boredom killed British manufacturing.
November 12, 2005... Cape Town I can see the progress of Britain better than you because I don't live there. I did for a while as a young adult, from 1972 to 1982, and have vivid memories of Britain then and of episodes such as the three-day week and the...

Young people are the business: they are not feckless booze-hounds, says Leo McKinstry. They are clean and sober, and keen on capitalism.
November 12, 2005... Lazy, ignorant, shallow and irresponsible, more interested in taking drugs than in proper study, too apathetic to make it to the polling station but not to an ecstasy-fuelled rave: those are the images often associated with young people in...

Mind your language.(sycophant - history)(Column)
November 12, 2005... The learned Peter Jones, who always surprises me by how young he is, considering his almost first-hand knowledge of the ancient world, invited or challenged me to explain how sycophant, which to the Greeks of old meant an informer and false...