The Week
Mao Tse-tung's death had world wide repercussions. At the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London a play on Mao was cancelled after death threats. President Tito of Yugoslavia took to his bed with a liver complaint. His visitors, including the Queen of Denmark, were put off. Five Yugoslav air traffic controllers were arrested on charges connected with the Zagreb air collision in which 176 people were killed and which looked like costing £11.3 million in insurance. Croatian terrorists flew a hijacked aircraft across the Atlantic and showered London with pamPhlets. The International Civil Aviation Organisation decided to halve the distance between air lanes over the Atlantic.
Mr Callaghan's first Cabinet reshuffle went off with a whimper. Mr Merlyn Rees Moved from Ulster to the Home Office, Mrs Williams became Education Secretary and Mr Stanley Orme entered the Government. He was reproached by Miss Maureen Colquhoun: No left-winger worth his or her salt would serve in this Government.' The late Vic Feather's will was proved: he left £61,000.
Several hundred thousand black workers Went on strike in South Africa. Mr Vorster hinted that there might be some softening of apartheid. Dr Kissinger departed on another African odyssey, taking him to Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa. The odds against success, he said, were long. Mr James Callaghan passed the week in Canada, Mrs Thatcher in Australia.
The Department of Industry report on Slater Walker pointed out that its trading losses had reached an annual £42 million and that it would have collapsed without Sank of England support. The company Was accused of various dark practices, including unusual share deals and the loan cf £500,000 to one director. Two men were convicted in the case of Sir Harold Wilson's Missing papers. Sir Harold's friend Lord Srayley was remanded on bail of £2500 on a charge of conspiracy to defraud.
Minimum Lending Rate rose to 13% taking overdraft interest rates up I The trade gap for August was announced: a .291 million deficit, an improvement at any rate on July's £527 million. A Bank of England exchange control officer, Mr Wales, was suspended. He said his conscience was Clear.
As a Ministry of Transport came into be„ mg again Mr Peter Parker took over untish Rail wearing strange cuff-links. He announced that his first task would be to raise fares. The railway union ASLEF came t° an agreement of a kind with BR about the running of the new High Speed Train. bockworkers golden handshakes were in
creased to £5500. SOGAT, the warehouse union, prevented publication of the Sunday Telegraph on the first day of its colour magazine.
Mr Roy Mason, the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, was greeted by violent Protestant demonstrations. Noel Murray, a terrorist under the death sentence in Ireland, withdrew his appeal and asked to be executed. Mr Heath called for a referendum in Scotland on devolution.
Crow won the St Leger at 6-1 and Niki Lauda came fourth in the Italian Grand Prix, with his face still badly burned. The drought broke, and a North Riding village, Stokesely, was flooded. A Bedfordshire village, Westoning, was devastated when a petrol tanker exploded. Charing Cross Underground station was renamed Embankment. There was a power failure which halted the whole London Underground.
Marlon Brando left hospital where he had lost 20 lbs. Three million francs were stolen from Deauville Casino. The 'Liberal Party conference' opened with Mr Cyril Smith saying, 'We must not become a party of cranks'. He added that he supported homosexual law reform. Major Denis Rakes, MC, Croix de Guerre, a wartime resistance leader, died leaving his estate to the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. And at a sexological conference in Nice a Professor declared that the French had far less sexual activity than forty years ago.
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