Portrait of the week
oland continued to dominate the inter- national news over Christmas, with lit- tle solid information available about condi- tions within General Jaruzelski's military dictatorship. Official Polish sources con- firmed that seven coal miners had been shot by troops in Silesia, and that over 1,000 miners had occupied a coal mine near Katowice. Coal supplies were short and there were rumours that striking coal miners at Katowice had been shot, gassed or drowned. Deaths were put in hundreds, figures for those detained in the tens of thousands. It was said that Polish troops were being given poisoned sweets and fur- ther rumoured that there was discontent in the Polish army. The Polish ambassador in Washington defected. America declared that a Russian invasion was imminent and asked her European allies to impose sanc- tions against the Soviet Union as if such an invasion had occurred. West Germany was in the forefront of those declining to in- tervene. Georges Marchais's French Com- munist party was the only one which refus- ed to condemn General Jaruzelski's action.
In Italy, Brigadier General James Dozier, of the US army attached to NATO, was kidnapped by the Red Brigades and was said to be facing 'proletarian justice' as a preliminary to execution. On the second an- niversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, further Russian troops were said to be arriving in Kabul for a new offen- sive against nationalist guerrillas. President Reagan urged the Russians to withdraw.
In Israel, Mr Begin attacked the United States bitterly for its criticism of Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights and withdrew from a mutual defence treaty. He was supported by a comfortable majority in the Knesset. Egypt hinted at plans to col- onise the Sinai desert. The prime minister of Albania committed suicide, unmourned, and Sir Edward Youed was appointed Governor of Hong Kong after Sir Murray Maclehose.
At home, the Mousehole lifeboat sank off the Cornish coast with all eight hands. Public subscriptions exceeded £1 million. Sir Freddy Laker was granted a reprieve when a consortium led by the Midland Bank agreed to 'reschedule' his debts into the new year.
Among the nation's criminals, Mr Ed- ward Blundell was sentenced to four years for conspiracy to blackmail, ending what was described as a reign of terror among London's ice-cream sellers. Sir John Junor was fined £1,000, Express Newspapers £10,000, on the Attorney General's applica- tion for contempt of court. Mr David English, editor of the Daily Mail, awaited sentence over the Christmas recess after be- ing found guilty of the same offence. In the civil courts Lady Havers, wife of the At- torney General, issued a libel writ against Private Eye over alleged imputations of sex- ual impropriety.
The Solicitor General for Scotland, Mr Nicholas Fairbairn MP, refused to resign after it was revealed that a House of Com- mons secretary, the daughter of a major general, was said to have tried to hang herself outside his London home. Jeremy Thorpe denied that he intended to stand as Liberal candidate for Taunton.
T abour's National Executive narrowly
upheld Mr Foot's rejection of Peter Tatchell as Labour candidate for Bermond- sey. Mr Benn announced that he was the deputy leader of the Labour party, follow- ing Healeyite defections to SODPAL. Mr Joe Haines resigned from the chairmanship of his local Labour party, and the Cooperative party threatened to withdraw support from Labour. Mr Ian Paisley had his US visa withdrawn, and an Irish televi- sion programme was withdrawn in the US on the grounds that it projected a wrong image of the Republic.
November's figures showed a trade surplus of £26 million, with a £195 million surplus on current account, but inflation had risen to 12 per cent. Mr Jack Gill retired as Managing Director of Lord Grade's Associated Communications Cor- poration with a golden handshake of £800,000; Mr Kenneth Kendall retired as BBC TV newsreader with a broken arm; miners' leaders voted 109 to three for a strike in the new year, and it was conceded by the DHSS that British workers could sign their own sickness notes for absence of up to a week.
Mr Mark Phillips denied that he had en- joyed a sexual relationship with Angela Rippon, and anxiety was expressed for the Sandringham stock of pheasants over a Christmas in which Brussels sprouts were more expensive, by weight, than turkeys.
A.A. W.
Previous page
