Monday, 5 January 1998
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Letter: Welfare reformTuesday, 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...
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Letter: Unjust cannabis lawTuesday, 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...
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Letter: Unjust cannabis lawTuesday, 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...
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Letter: Britain in EuropeTuesday, 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...
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Letter: Britain in EuropeTuesday, 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, ...
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Letter: Britain in EuropeTuesday, 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...
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Letter: Library feverTuesday, 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...
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Letter: Unjust cannabis lawTuesday, 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 ...
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Letter: Paying for the PillTuesday, 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...
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Dodi, Daniel Arap, Greg 'n' Tim, Elton: a boys' own guide to the news in '97Tuesday, 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...
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Leading Article: Sitting tight does not win elections, Mr Hague. It is time to be radicalTuesday, 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...
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Governing by focus groups is just playing at democracyTuesday, 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...
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Why Ulster's Protestants are unhappy with Mo MowlamTuesday, 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...
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The letter that rocked the Tory lifeboatTuesday, 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...
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Letter: Paying for the PillMonday, 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
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Letter: Cannabis hypocrisyMonday, 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...
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Letter: Cannabis hypocrisyMonday, 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...
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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...
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Letter: Hydrogen carsMonday, 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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A worrying new face of the terror threat to the UK
Kim Sengupta -
Grace Dent: I’m not sure how these people can avoid being called ‘bigots’. And the more ‘civilised’, the worse they are
Grace Dent -
After woman sells virginity for $780,000, here are the results of our prostitution survey
Laura Davis -
The Daily Cartoon
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Woolwich attack: The EDL might have a sinister plan as a soldier is murdered in suspected Islamic terrorist attack
Jamie Lewis
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