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Home 1998 January

Monday, 5 January 1998

  • Letter: Welfare reform
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    Sir: It is amazing that Ken Jackson can so elaborate a condemnation of something that does not exist ("Welfare Reform? We really don't have any choice", 2 January). He argues that Tony Blair is right not to defend the status quo, and he criticises th...

  • Letter: Unjust cannabis law
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    Michael Streeter recognises (Saturday Story, 3 January) that "there are good reasons to protect juveniles facing criminal allegations". He then adds, "in cases of teenagers accused of similar offences ... and named by the media, government law office...

  • Letter: Unjust cannabis law
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    Sir: The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, says that if campaigners can show that cannabis is not a dangerous drug, then the Government may reconsider its stance on cannabis prohibition ("Straw's challenge over cannabis drugs", 5 January). The evidence has...

  • Letter: Britain in Europe
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    Sir: The fact that only six Conservative Members of Parliament joined a Euro Commissioner and a small number of former MPs in signing the letter (5 January) on Conservative Euro policy does, I believe, demonstrate that their views are those of a very...

  • Letter: Britain in Europe
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    The signatories, apart from two businessmen, are pretty firmly men of yesterday, but at least they are consistent. All were passionately in favour of the ERM experiment which just happened to cost one million (mainly working class) Brits their jobs, ...

  • Letter: Britain in Europe
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    I did. I was out on the doorstep every weekday night for three weeks. If there was one thing I learnt it was that the broader public have an intense distaste for a party which perpetually squabbles in public. The question all Conservatives have to as...

  • Letter: Library fever
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    Sir: When young lads aren't watching or playing football, they are often drawn to read about it; one valuable spin-off from the success of Fever Pitch is that there are now many well-written books about every aspect of football in print. Canny teache...

  • Letter: Unjust cannabis law
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    Now 27, I wish to study for a PGCE and teach primary children. Does the Home Secretary think I would be suitable for such a post? I find myself hoping that William Straw is also convicted. The weed will not harm his prospects as it has mine. K SELBY ...

  • Letter: Paying for the Pill
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    Sir: Madeleine Simms (letter, 3 January) carefully overlooks the fact that people may be quite happy to pay the pounds 40 charge for the Pill, provided it went towards improving medical services for the sick. Is it seriously being suggested that larg...

  • Dodi, Daniel Arap, Greg 'n' Tim, Elton: a boys' own guide to the news in '97
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    This year has been no exception. Indeed, although John Major was indubitably in the news a lot, and also indubitably our Prime Minister until May, the name John never hit the headlines. If a paper had said: "John flies out", nobody would have known w...

  • Leading Article: Sitting tight does not win elections, Mr Hague. It is time to be radical
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    The easy answer for the Leader of the Opposition is: do nothing. There are more than four years until the next election. Why rush to create policies now that are likely to be outdated by the time they are put to voters? All that is needed, say some T...

  • Governing by focus groups is just playing at democracy
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    Alas, it will probably not be yours truly but the usual suspects from middle England who will be rounded up to give their ultra-reasonable opinions on all this. In these gale force days you don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows, a...

  • Why Ulster's Protestants are unhappy with Mo Mowlam
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    The real crunch for the process will come, months and possibly years from now, if and when it is seen to lay the foundations of a lasting settlement. That will also be the crunch time for Ulster Protestants, who will face the historic choice of accep...

  • The letter that rocked the Tory lifeboat
    Tuesday, 6 January 1998

    Elegant bunkum but bunkum nonetheless. First, many of the most dramatic economic effects of EMU - including the locking of interest rates by the participating countries - will probably be apparent well before 2002. Second, if Tory policy is so pragma...

  • Letter: Paying for the Pill
    Monday, 5 January 1998

    Whatever the reasons for our unwanted pregnancy rate, it is evident that they do not include inability or unwillingness of people to pay for contraceptives. ALAN PAVELIN Chislehurst, Kent

  • Letter: Cannabis hypocrisy
    Monday, 5 January 1998

    It seems odd that our society is one where huge quantities of alcohol are regularly sold with impunity to people with many disastrous results, whilst a substance widely regarded by physicians and criminologists as responsible for virtually no harm is...

  • Letter: Cannabis hypocrisy
    Monday, 5 January 1998

    Laws are meant to protect people and society, not simply impose the will of the Government on its citizens. Recently beef on the bone, like cannabis, has been declared dangerous. Yet known poisons and dangers, not only the likes of alcohol and tobacc...

  • Will the boys who can't read still end up as the men on top?
    Monday, 5 January 1998

    I report this conversation not because it is rare but because it is so common. Every parent has had it at least a thousand times and so I hardly think it is a secret that boys behave badly and have since forever. Every mum and dad knows this. Every s...

  • Letter: Hydrogen cars
    Monday, 5 January 1998

    The problem with using hydrogen as a fuel is not in finding an engine that will run on it. A conventional internal combustion engine will do that almost as well as a fuel cell. The difficulties are in carrying the fuel, and making it in the first pla...

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Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

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Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

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A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again
Dylan Hartley: Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong

Dylan Hartley talks tough

Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong
Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

A meeting of global power brokers in a Hertfordshire hotel is exciting conspiracy theorists, but what are they really about?
'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system': Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console

'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system'

Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console
Plenty of Fish dating site founder pulls 'Intimate Encounters' option to ward off sleazy men

Plenty of sleaze

Dating website pulls intimate 'hook-up' section to curb harassment
Inferno author Dan Brown 'honoured' to be invited to join the Freemasons

The Freemasons’ Code

Dan Brown reveals the message that told him door to the lodge is open
Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Nick Buckles survived the Olympics débâcle and a £5bn bid fiasco but a profit warning finally triggered his downfall
How to say ‘I’m a sellout’: Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar

How to say ‘I’m a sellout’

Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar
Why clubs are keen to take a stand

Why clubs are keen to take a stand

There's a real desire around the grounds for safe standing. But will the authorities listen?
In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

Disillusion with a siege mentality and negative playing style made change inevitable
James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

British driver was fascinating man whose epic duel with Niki Lauda in 1976 was typical of an era of glamour and glory – but also the ever-present threat of death