May 2010 Issue 22

Manchester Square 3

Counterpoints The unkindness of strangers; Polish tragedy; Rubbish tips; The ugly game; Homer schooling; Flight wrath; Taking the biscuit; Olympic horseplay 8

Columns The Outsider Douglas Murray says it is politicians, not voters, who have been disloyal 16 On the Contrary Lionel Shriver reaches gratefully for her toolbox 17 Living History Michael Burleigh explains how Chechen jihadists use the internet to spread their message 18 Points East & West Emanuele Ottolenghi waits in vain for sanctions against Iran to bite 19 European Eye Mara Delius sees at first hand how America assimilates its immigrants 20 Marketplace Tim Congdon adds up the cost of Britain’s massive debt burden 22 Jurisprudence Joshua Rozenberg celebrates a vital victory in the law of libel 23 The Mole Our insider outlines the dangers of new sex industry legislation 24

Web Sightings Frances Weaver tries to follow the election battle in the new media 25 Letters The Nazi legacy; Keynes is key; University challenges; An outsider’s view 26

COVER ILLUSTRATION byandrécariliho

Coverlines How the West took leave of its senses Melanie Phillips says fashionable ideologies display the same intolerance they claim to detect in Judaism and Christianity 42 Dialogue Life, death and the meaning of cancer Lionel Shriver and Karol Sikora discuss the cost of healthcare in both fact and fiction 32

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The election They still won’t tell us the dire truth about the economy Nick Cohen despairs at the party leaders’ refusal to face reality 38 Party lines Daisy Waugh tries to find out how a girl’s to vote 77 Dispatches Ben Judah in Bishkek is an eyewitness to a dictator’s downfall 28

Islam and the West Gays abandoned by the Left’s appeasement Peter Whittle is angered by the failure to confront Muslim homophobia 44 Why do Western women convert? Julie Bindel talks to those who embrace Islam 46 Dreaming of an Islamist Ireland Ruth Dudley Edwards sees a sudden surge in fundamentalism 48

Civilisation Critique David Womersley assesses the influence of Gibbon on Hugh Trevor-Roper 52 Books Edward Norman on Newman’s Unquiet Grave: Portrait of a Reluctant Saint by John Cornwell; Frances Weaver on On Evil by Terry Eagleton; Jeremy Jennings on A King’s Ransom: The Life of Charles Théveneau de Morande, Blackmailer, Scandalmonger & Master Spy by Simon Burrows; J. M. W. Thompson on The Oxford Book of Parodies edited by John Gross; Robert Low on Final Demands by Frederic Raphael 58 Cosmos John Martin asks why humans differ from the rest of creation 63

Music Jessica Duchen sticks up for Schumann 64 Art Michael Prodger admires the Renaissance’s greatest draughtsmen 65 Film Peter Whittle thinks Islamism is no laughing matter 66 Radio Nick Cohen deplores the BBC’s reverent tributes to Corin Redgrave 67 Theatre Minette Marrin enjoys new stagings of old plays 68 Text I Anthony Brenton Russia and Europe: The Dance Goes On 70 Text II Fiona Pitt-Kethley New Poems: Voices from Auschwitz 74 Imagination Whatever by Peter Blegvad: The Saga of Smit & Smule continues 77 Drawing Board Election Cartoons 1955-2010 78

Overrated/Underrated Carol Ann Duffy/Geoffrey Hill by David Womersley and Eric Ormsby 80 Chess Dominic Lawson hails Mikhail Tal, the Magician from Riga 82

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