May 2012 Issue 42

Manchester Square The silence of the intellectuals 3

Counterpoints French leave; Regenerate art; Bigot, moi?; Pitches for cricketers; Metro madness; A New Yorker writes 6

Letters No-brainer; Teaching George Washington; Attacking Israel; Dudamel’s genius; Twin set 12

Columns Party Lines Daisy Waugh jumps into choppy Boat Race waters 13 Free at last Katharine Birbalsingh asks why the teaching unions are so opposed to reform 14 The Outsider’s Diary Douglas Murray takes to the ice and ponders George Galloway’s love life 16 On the Contrary Lionel Shriver finds Charles Murray an antidote to European egalitarianism 20 Points East & West Emanuele Ottolenghi believes intervention in Syria would be worth the price 21 Living History Michael Burleigh honours the sacrifice of Bomber Command 23 Marketplace Tim Congdon says mass immigration and home-grown unemployment caused the Bradford by-election shock 24 Jurisprudence Joshua Rozenberg stands up for multinationals 25 Open Season Michael Mosbacher demolishes George Osborne’s arguments on tax and charity 27

COVER bymichael daley

In defence of marriage Michael Nazir-Ali says that the government should do more to support couples who wish to tie the knot 38 John Haldane takes apart the liberal critique of family values 42 David Cameron should scrap his tired old script Iain Martin urges the embattled Prime Minister to reject the Clinton-Blair legacy and find his own voice 30 How bad religion drives out good Melanie Phillips leads the charge against the blind intolerance of the new secular prophets 60 Betrayed by Günter Grass Mara Delius is disillusioned by the author she looked up to as a girl 19

Dispatches Andrew Roberts in New York reports on the battle between the Supreme Court and the White House over Obamacare 28

Features Hijacking the human rights debate Michael Pinto-Duschinsky reveals how Nick Clegg’s placemen brook no opposition to their constitutional plans 34 Obama’s Leviathan threatens liberty George Weigel says the Catholic Church is united against the President’s assault on religious freedom 44

Civilisation Critique David Womersley explores Samuel Beckett’s great linguistic dilemma 50

Books Roger Scruton on How England Made the English by Harry Mount; John Ware on Europe’s Angry Muslims by Robert S. Leiken; Tibor Fischer on Just Send Me Word by Orlando Figes; Ruth Dudley Edwards on The New Republic by Lionel Shriver, Bloody Sunday: Truths, Lies and the Saville Inquiry by Douglas Murray and Belfast and Derry in Revolt: A New History of the Start of The Troubles by Simon Prince and Geoffrey Warner; Derwent May on Nefertiti in the Flak Tower by Clive James 53

Critics Music Norman Lebrecht is disconcerted by the deficiencies of classical downloads 66

Art Michael Prodger charts change in monarchical art 67

Theatre Anne McElvoy applauds Cate Blanchett’s London return 68

Film Peter Whittle is not amused by today’s movies 70

Television Nick Cohen attacks those who poured cold water on White Heat 71

Cosmos Mark Ronan is inspired by the ingenuity of Babylonian astronomers 72

Drawing Board David Gentleman An artist’s year in London 76

Overrated/Underrated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei/Cyrus the Great by Con Coughlin and Daniel Johnson 78

Chess Dominic Lawson A brief history of time trouble 80

Wine Saintsbury finds drink at the heart of the drama in Othello 81

Culture & Anarchy Simon Heffer laments the passing of Yorkshire cricket’s real men 82

Drawing Board: David Gentleman, 76

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