Portrait of the week
The Jaguar flotation was eight times over-subscribed. The company soon afterwards reported its best July sales ever. The number of unemployed rose in July by 71,000 to 3,100,529. The Court of Appeal ruled that the Government's ban on unions at GCHQ was lawful: the unions said they would appeal to the House of Lords. The European Court ruled that telephone tap- ping authorised by the Home Secretary was a violation of human rights. Sequestra- tors acting for the High Court began to seize the funds of the South Wales NUM. The NCB left open its final offer to the NUM, but gave Mr Ian MacGregor authority to withdraw it. Mr Kinnock was pressed by left-wing union leaders to sup- port an autumn industrial offensive against the Government, but was thought to be unenthusiastic about this Big Bang approach. The rail unions said they would propose to the TUC Congress a blockade of energy supplies, and of raw materials for steel, and threatened to throw all rail services into chaos from 10 September on the grounds that British Rail and London Regional Transport intend to cut jobs. The electricity industry said that the miners' strike was adding £20 million to its costs. Mr Christopher Butcher, a working Not- tinghamshire miner, revealed that he was the 'Silver Birch' who has been encourag- ing striking miners to go back to work, so far with little success. Of those trying to intimidate him he said: 'They are just animals, not people.' The Soviet news- paper Izvestia hailed Mr Arthur Scargill as a working class hero. Some Yorkshire miners applied to the High Court to prevent their union adopting new disciplin- ary procedures, and two issued a writ demanding that the union hold a national strike ballot. Mrs Thatcher said that though Mr Cecil Parkinson would not return to high office in the impending Cabinet reshuffle, he might before the next general election. Mr Kenneth Livingstone and three others resigned from the GLC to fight by-elections. Abomb exploded at Madras airport, killing 20 people. Another in Paris caused slight injuries to seven people. The Americans continued, despite Soviet re- buffs, to ask for talks on controlling weapons in space. Mr Walter Mondale, the Democratic Party's candidate for the Pres- idency, took personal responsibility for having selected the controversial Mr Bert Lance as his campaign chairman, then three weeks later accepting his resignation. In Poland, the Church and the banned trade union Solidarity together called for a vodka boycott during August, which would deprive the government of enormous re- venues. Mr Shimon Peres, leader of Israel's Labour Party, was invited by the president to try during the next 42 days to form a government. The French navy was reported ready to help Egyptian vessels sweep mines, which have already damaged a dozen ships, from the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez. Queen Ntombi's officials indig- nantly rejected Andy Warhol's plan to paint a portrait of the Swazi monarch, known to her subjects as the great She-Elephant.
An air hostess was dismissed by Air New Zealand for sexually molesting male passengers, climbing on top of one man as he slept, and being found with another man in an aircraft lavatory when he accidentally (?) pushed the 'assistance required' button. Her union began investi- gating whether she could have been affected by some medicine she had taken. In Sussex Mr Toogood, a bank manager with 'a more than usual appetite for women', was found guilty of giving over- drafts in return for sex. Lord Denning said that every religious organisation should be required to obtain a licence to operate: bogus religions would then become illegal, protecting the young. The Queen Mother celebrated her 84th birthday, and was reported by her doctors to be in excellent health. Richard Burton died in Geneva from a cerebral haemorrhage, aged 58. A tornado struck Gotham in Nottingham- shire. In Inverness, a surrogate mother gave birth and instructed nurses to hand over the baby to its father's wife. A Frenchman windsurfed from Japan to the Soviet Union. A House of Lords commit- tee recommended that the House's pro- ceedings be televised from January. In the Olympics, the British found themselves tenth in the medals table, and the Amer- icans swanked because they were top.
AJSG 'I've got this really crazy miner who likes me to beat him with a silver birch.'
Previous page
