14 SEPTEMBER 1991, Page 25

Space salesmen

MR YELTSIN'S men read City and Sub- urban. I was arguing last week that Tom King has gone to the wrong shop. Instead of buying a bespoke tank from Vickers, he should go for the proven model from Russia, which could offer a clearance sale. Now the Russians have gone further, and are selling a whole space station — as new, one careful owner, never used, a snip at $700 million. When the Tsars held a sale, the United States bought Alaska.