18 MARCH 1966, Page 3

THE TIMES newspaper was meanwhile running a campaign, perhaps even

a competition, of its own on why the pound is weak. The letters of congratulation flowed in and here again the trade unions were widely held to be the villains, though there was much contempt too for 'dishonest' politicians. The Tories con- tinued their demand for negotiations with the Smith regime in Rhodesia while the Common- wealth Relations Office quietly slipped a man off to Salisbury `to check on the administrative arrangements for the residual British mission.' The annual farm price review raised govern- ment guarantees to farmers by £23 million and the price of milk by a halfpenny a pint.