Windows ® . Life without Walls ™ . Dell recommends Windows 7.

Moving at the speed of business. FastTrack for Business. Buy today. Ships tomorrow.

Vostro 3500

Mobility made simple with a 15.6” (40cm) screen

INCLUDES £40 SAVINGS & FREE 48 HOUR DELIVERY 1

£ 449

£489

Excl. VAT

E-value code: NPUK08-N0835S10 Offer valid until 24/08/10

Lease it: 36 months’ lease only £16.85 PM*

• Intel ® Core ™ i3 - 350M Processor

(2.26GHz, 3MB Cache) • Genuine Windows ® 7 Professional • 3GB Memory • 320GB Hard Drive • 15.6” (40cm) HDF WLED Screen • Integrated Intel ® GMA X4500HD Graphics Card • 1 Year Limited Warranty - Collect & Return

Recommended upgrades: Buy a Vostro 3500 with Genuine Windows ® 7 Professional preinstalled for £454 Excl. VAT Microsoft Office ® Home & Business 2010 £165.00 3 Years Basic Support from only £2.22PM

FastTrack for Business! Buy today, ships tomorrow with free next business day shipping.

Benefits of the FastTrack system include • Despatches next business day 1 to help keep your business productive • Available with popular upgrades to ensure you have just what you need • Available for a variety of models so you can choose the right solution for your business • Customisable service options – choose the service & response time you need

FastTrack for Business systems are great for businesses that require high performance and essential productivity, quickly.

Click Dell.co.uk/business

Call 0844 444 3163

1) Limited quantities. Only available for orders placed by 5:59 pm GMT Monday - Thursday. Systems despatch out the next business day after an order is placed. Subject to order approval.

OFFERS EXPIRE 24/08/2010

Featuring the 2010 Intel ® Core ™ processor family - delivering smart processors for extra performance.

Dell Corporation Limited, Dell House, The Boulevard, Cain Road, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 1LF. Call lines open - Monday to Friday 8AM-8PM. Subject to availability. UK Business Customers Only. Terms and Conditions of Sales, Service and Finance apply and are available on www.dell.co.uk. Third party products are covered by third party manufacturer’s warranty. Prices exclude VAT and delivery unless otherwise stated. Prices and specifications are correct at date of publication and may change without notice. Delivery charge is £20/£25 for laptop/desktop excl. VAT per system unless otherwise stated. Delivery charge for enterprise products is £49 excl. VAT per system ordered unless otherwise stated. Delivery charges range from £3 Excl. VAT to £13 Excl. VAT for items purchased without a system unless otherwise stated.Selected products were advertised at the “was” price specification (excluding promoted items) listed on www.dell.co.uk for a minimum of 28 days ending on 22nd of June 2010. Since then they may have been subjected to other price and/or specification altering promotions. Saving is the difference between total package price compared to current online sales price if the promotional components were upgraded individually. Promotional offers limited to maximum 5 systems per customer. Offer due to end 24th of August 2010. The FastTrack program offers selected systems that are available for delivery within 48 hours (excludes Saturday & Sunday) following the date of order confirmation. FastTrack systems are subject to availability based on monthly demand forecasts. The selected systems available for FastTrack are limited to certain systems and upgrades but customization options are limited. The delivery date of your FastTrack order is dependent on the shipping method you choose. Any delivery dates specified are estimates, and delivery within 48 hours of order confirmation is NOT guaranteed. Delivery times of Dell products are subject to availability of systems and components and delay in delivery of goods is sometimes outside Dell’s control. Dell shall not be liable for any losses, costs, damages, charges, or expenses caused by any delay in delivery of the goods. Software and accessories ship separately and may arrive after your system. Lease available from Dell Capital Services (provided by GE Capital SolutionsLimited) - 2630 The Quadrant, Aztec West, Bristol BS32 4GQ Registered in England and Wales No. 06299476. VAT No : GB 545 723044. Registered office: Meridian, Trinity Square, 23/59 Staines Road, Hounslow, Middlesex. TW3 3HF. Lease for UK customers who intend to use the equipment for business purposes only. Prices exclude VAT. Min.order value £300. Max. order value £75,000. All applications are subject to status and acceptance by Dell Capital Services. Credit scoring is used when assessing an application. An automatic credit scoring system may be used. The prices shown are not binding on Dell Capital Services and may vary without notice. Documentation fee applies. The Terms and Conditions of Hire and a written quotation are available upon request. Desktops and laptops listed include Microsoft Office 2010 Starter as standard. Discs burned with DVD+/-RW, DVD+RW and DVD+RW/+R drives may not be compatible with existing drives and players; using DVD+/-RW media provides maximum compatibility. Special media and/or third-party software may be required. Actual hard drive capacity will be less due to material and operating system which are preloaded. Lamp life estimated. Actual results will vary. Dell Services do not affect customer’s statutory rights. They are subject to Terms and Conditions which can be found at www.dell.co.uk/servicedescriptions/smallandmediumbusiness. Dell ProSupport™ is only available in certain countries and/or regions. Service may be provided by third party. Response times may vary according to the remoteness or accessibility of Product location. Technician will be dispatched if necessary following phone-based trouble shooting. Service may be provided via telephone or internet where appropriate. Certain restrictions apply. Basic Hardware Support is only available in certain countries and/or regions. Service availability is not guaranteed and is subject to scheduled downtime for maintenance and events outsider of the control of Dell. Microsoft®, Windows®, Microsoft® Office 2010 and Windows® 7 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Celeron, Celeron Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel Viiv, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, Viiv Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Contents Contents Contents Contents the week Leading article

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Portrait of the Week

Diary Bel Mooney

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Politics Tim Montgomerie 10 Dave Michael Heath 13 Letters 23 You know it makes sense James Delingpole 24 Shared opinion Hugo Rifkind 27 Any other business Martin Vander Weyer 28 Ancient & modern 54

The age of the megacity Doug Saunders In 100 years we will be an entirely urban species

Crisis in Kashmir Jonathan Foreman The vicious conflict is too dangerous to be ignored

What is Zardari playing at? Isabel Villiers Pakistan’s President should have cancelled his trip

The boss class stays put Rod Liddle BBC fat cats will not be part of the move to Salford

Suburban hymns Christopher Howse Pop music puts the lyricism into everyday life

Train à Grande Vexation Ross Clark France’s famous TGV trains are in fact rubbish

Letter from the Far East David Tang

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Books Sam Leith: What to Look for in Winter, by Candia McWilliam 29 James Buchan: Crossing Mandelbaum Gate, by Kai Bird 30 Charles Cumming: The Burning Wire, by Jeffery Deaver 30 Inigo Thomas: Driving Home, by Jonathan Raban 31 Christian House on first novels 32 Lucy Hughes-Hallett: Antony and Cleopatra, by Adrian Goldsworthy 33 Diana Hendry: The House with Blue Shutters, by Lisa Hilton 34 Blair Worden on Hugh TrevorRoper 35

‘My wife thinks I’m trying out one of Boris’s bikes.’

Cover by Christian Adams. Drawings by Michael Heath, Castro, Nick Hobart, Lucid, Len, Mico, Dredge, Bernie, Holland, RGJ, Adam Singleton and Nick Newman.

Charles Moore and Deborah Ross are away.

Subscribe today from £123 a year in the UK (turn to page 23)

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Distributor COMAG Specialist Tavistock Works Tavistock Road West Drayton Middlesex UB7 7QX

Vol 313; no 9493 © 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

Arts

William Cook celebrates the enduring appeal of Cannon & Ball 36 Exhibitions: Sargent and the Sea Andrew Lambirth 37 Opera: Die Walküre Michael Tanner 38 Theatre: The Prince of Homburg; Danton’s Death Lloyd Evans 40 Olden but golden Charles Spencer 42 Dance: Bolshoi Ballet Giannandrea Poesio 42 Radio Kate Chisholm 43

Life

Motoring

Alan Judd

The turf

Robin Oakley

High life

Taki

Low life Jeremy Clarke

Real life Melissa Kite

Bridge Susanna Gross

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And finALLy . . .

Chess Raymond Keene

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Competition; Crossword 50, 51 Status anxiety Toby Young 54 Sport Roger Alton 55 Your problems solved Mary Killen 55

www.spectator.co.uk

THE SPECTATOR 7 August 2010 5