Portrait of the Week— WILSON'S WEEK: the Prime Minister went
to Ger- many and put on a skilful performance, saying all the right things in all the right places. The Germans were reassured on reunification and on plans for an Atlantic Nuclear Force, while Mr. Wilson was himself reassured on Rhine Army support costs. Back in the House, he turned on left-wing critics of British support for American actions in South Vietnam and followed with the announcement of a fact-finding mission to Com- monwealth countries on immigration. The Com- monwealth Secretary, Mr. Bottomley, was also in a confident mood. He told the House that after his recent visit to Rhodesia he was not unhopeful of reaching a negotiated solution with Mr. Smith on that country's independence.
LIKE THE commuNtout issued after the meeting of Communist parties in Moscow, however, the in- tentions were more apparent than the results. That document proposed a meeting of eighty-one Communist parties preparatory to a full-scale conference, thus going firmly back to square one. Similarly, how the Germans actually will help the Rhine Army costs has yet to be arranged and Mr. Bottomley's hope for Rhodesia was said to be based on a return to the 1961 constitution. On Vietnam both Lester Pearson and U Thant came out with variants on a peace plan, but the American determination to stay was further re- vealed with the arrival of 3,500 marines in Da Nang. Two Vietcong raids were thought to have been cancelled, the Chinese were judged reluctant to intervene, but still no white flag appeared from AT HOME SIR ALEC DOUGLAS-HOME taunted that a Tory eagle had eaten a socialist duck. The eagle was less successful in its swoop on a goose four days later and the notorious Goldie was finally caught and returned to its cage with the bait of a dead rabbit. But the Opposition did defeat the Government with a motion to bring the abolition of capital punishment Bill back to the floor of the House and badly upset the Government's legislative schedule in the process. Doctors too continued troublesome, with the BMA demand- ing over £4,000 a year for GPs, overtime ex-
cluded, and the strike of 300 Austin workers at Longbridge put 30,000 men temporarily out of work.
I ORD MORRISON OF LAMBETH DIED, as did the oldest known person in Britain, Mrs. Elizabeth Alice Kernsley, at the age of 109. Gold bars worth £100,000. thought stolen from the liner Capetown Castle, turned out to be still on board, Mr. Cecil King became a director of the Bank of England and members of the Women's Institute complained that a BBC film of their activities showed only a row of very old ladies singing 'Jerusalem.'
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