Geoffrey Howe, the former Conservative chancellor, has died aged 88. Lord Howe was Margaret Thatcher’s longest serving cabinet minister and chancellor from 1979 to 1983. The following profile of him, titled ‘Sir Geoffrey Howe: An advocate who believes’ appeared in The Spectator on 20 July 1973, soon after he had reached the Cabinet. When Sir Geoffrey
'I’m ruined!'
'That's the best of an allotment: fresh food all year round!'
‘It’s his last day tomorrow, so I expect he’ll be dressing down.’
‘I see you having to make some important lifestyle choices.’
‘There’s no such thing as bad publicity — until it acquires a hashtag and starts to trend globally.’
‘These will lessen the side effects from the pills you’re taking to reduce the side effects from those pills I prescribed to ease the side effects of...’
'Do you know if the food’s any good in this place?'
‘They wouldn’t be where they are without their wealthy backers.’
‘I’m vegan, but it was the only way I could avoid paying for a plastic bag.’
The evolving London skyline
‘You can’t put a price on something like that.’
Spanish practices Sir: In your leading article last week you wrote: ‘Yes, Catalonia and Scotland were independent in the 16th century.’ True about Scotland, but not Catalonia. Since 1162, the Kingdom of Aragón and the county of Barcelona have been a single entity and, since 1475, the Catholic kings and their descendants have ruled both
The death of Diesel The Volkswagen scandal has brought into question the future of the diesel engine. A century ago its inventor, Rudolf Diesel, was himself the subject of scandal. On 29 September 1913 he disappeared from the steamship Dresden on its way from Antwerp to Harwich. He had retired to his cabin after dinner
Q. What do you do when you are so cold at a party that you cannot enjoy it? At a recent 21st in Hampshire the theme was Summer of Love so I was in a beaded catsuit and my friends were in cotton minidresses with bandanas and thin velvet coats. But the theme Arctic Explorers
