Coping with the weather, p16

Lowry without matchsticks, p35

Interior thoughts, p33

THE WEEK

3 Leading article 7 Portrait of the Week 9 Diary P. J. O’Rourke 10 Politics James Forsyth 11 The Spectator’s Notes 14 Barometer 16 Mind your language 19 Rod Liddle 21 Ancient and modern 22 Matthew Parris 25 Letters 27 Any other business Martin Vander Weyer

12 Hacking the world China is already engaged in online warfare. How can we fight back? Fraser Nelson 14 To catch an oligarch

New laws in America and elsewhere could ruffle the cool of Russia’s elite Owen Matthews 16 Boris’s winter of discontent How London’s Mayor can defeat his great enemies: snow and tube strikes Andrew Gimson 20 Maternity ward sadists Women should not endure needless pain in the cause of ‘natural’ birth Carol Sarler

BOOKS & ARTS

Boks 30 Sam Leith Working the Room,

by Geoff Dyer 32 Robert Cooper The Sounds of Crime,

edited by Maxim Jakubowski 33 Elfreda Pownall on interior design 35 Andrew Lambirth L.S. Lowry, by T.G. Rosenthal 37 Ian Birrell 22 Days in May, by David Laws;

5 Days to Power, by Rob Wilson Bookends Lewis Jones 38 Juliet Townsend on children’s books

Cover by Kyle T. Webster. Drawings by Michael Heath, Castro, Kipper Williams, Holland, Nick Newman, Geoff Thompson, Bernie, Adam Singleton, Nick Downes, Mike Williams, Paul Wood and K.J. Lamb. www.spectator.co.uk To subscribe to The Spectator for £104 a year, turn to page 48 Editorial and advertising The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7961 0250, Email: editor@spectator.co.uk (editorial); letters@spectator.co.uk (for publication); advertising@spectator.co.uk (advertising); Advertising enquiries: 020 7961 0219 Advertising fax: 020 7961 0020 Subscription and delivery queries Spectator Subscriptions Dept., 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne ME9 8GU; Tel: 01795 592886 Fax: 0870 220 0290; Email: spectator@servicehelpline.co.uk Spectator Scoff If you are an overseas reader and would like a copy of Spectator Scoff, please email spectator@servicehelpline.co.uk with your name and address and subscriber reference if appropriate. Newsagent queries Spectator Circulation Dept, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7961 0057, Email: dstam@spectator.co.uk Distributor COMAG Specialist, Tavistock Works, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QX Vol 314; no 9510 © The Spectator (1828) Ltd. ISSN 0038-6952 The Spectator is published weekly by The Spectator (1828) Ltd at 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP Editor: Fraser Nelson

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the spectator | 4 December 2010 | www.spectator.co.uk The pleasures of Colin Self, p42

Sugar, spice and swearing, p45

Take a seat, become an artwork, p40

s 40 All join in The heyday of participatory art

Niru Ratnam 42 Exhibitions The Glasgow Boys; Colin Self

Andrew Lambirth 44 Cinema Monsters

Deborah Ross 45 Theatre Kin; The Rivals

Lloyd Evans Music Damian Thompson 47 Opera Glyndebourne on Tour

Michael Tanner 48 Dance Fela!; 7734

Giannandrea Poesio Olden but golden Charles Spencer 49 Radio Kate Chisholm 51 Television Simon Hoggart Culture notes George Hull

LIFE

Life 55 High life Taki Low life Jeremy Clarke 56 Real life Melissa Kite 57 Motoring Alan Judd 57 Bridge Janet de Botton

And finaly . . . 60 Chess Raymond Keene 61 Competition; Crossword 62Status anxiety Toby Young 63 The Wiki Man Rory Sutherland Your problems solved Mary Killen

It will only take one bad snowy day to confirm the comforting stereotype that Boris cannot cope Andrew Gimson, p16

Eating a Thai curry cooked by an artist might well be participatory, and even tasty, but it adds little to our understanding of democracy Niru Ratnam, p40

As a general rule, the bigger the VIP, the more interested in tittle-tattle they are Toby Young, p62

Contributors

P.J. O’Rourke (Diary, p9) is the author, most recently, of Don’t Vote — It Just Encourages the Bastards.

Andrew Gimson (‘White mischief’, p16) is the Daily Telegraph’s parliamentary sketchwriter, and Boris Johnson’s biographer.

the spectator | 4 December 2010 | www.spectator.co.uk

Niru Ratnam (Arts, p40) is director of Aicon Gallery, London.

Ian Birrell (Books, p37) is a former deputy editor of the Independent, and worked as a speechwriter for David Cameron during the general election campaign.

Elfreda Pownall (Books, p33) is food and interiors editor of Stella, the Sunday Telegraph magazine.

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