— Portrait of the Week —
THE HIGHEST-POWERED political symposium of the year took place at Chequers, where every Govern- ment Minister gathered to discuss 'Britain in the Seventies.' All the pundits took this as an election warning shot, though there was doubt if the aim was to prepare for the election in 1964 or that in 1968. Meanwhile, back in the Sixties, Mr. Marples coolly succeeded in wrecking his six months of admirable gimmick-free restraint: a new auto- matic driving ban is to be introduced for per- sistent offenders by a 'totting-up' procedure, and in a debate on Beeching Mr. Marples reduced the Commons to tears with promises that 'no lines will be closed before there has been consul- tation.' The threat of a rail strike remained : and the threat of a massive strike at Ford's of Dagen- ham showed no signs of receding. It became clear that neither side is wilting over the seventeen sacked men, and that the special inquiry had done nothing. More changes at Ford's: Sir Patrick Hennessy is retiring, and the brass band Is being retired. Mr. Macmillan was full of praise for Mr. Galbraith (now that he has been exoner- ated by the Radcliffe Report) and almost hinted that he wished he had never accepted Mr. Galbraith's resignation.
CHIEF ENAHORO'S PLEA to stay in this country was rejected, and Queen Frederika of Greece, in this country for a royal wedding, was chased through the streets of London. The Archbishop of Canter- bury attacked the Bishop of Woolwich in print, Sir William Carron attacked incomes policies in Public, and the executive of the LCS attacked each other in the courts.. Up went car production, fishing limits (potentially), road haulage charges and nurses' pay. Down went government majorities in debates on Beeching and teachers' pay, and stu- dent nurses' pay. Sir Edward Boyle reported that over 30 per cent of State schools were over- crowded, with no prospect of things getting better. Lord Taylor revealed that one in three people were neurotic, there was another secrets arrest, an Anglo-Russian plastics deal, and a move to build houses in defunct shipyards.
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TILE FRENCH GOVERNMENT claimed that they would have an H-submarine by 1969. Other rumours doing the rounds this week included the follow- ing: that the Queen is to visit Germany (denied), that Franco is ill and retiring (denied), that Mr. Khrushchev is out of favour and also retiring (denied), that Governor Rockefeller is marrying again (denied), that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is falling down (here there were no informed sources to do any denying). Mr. Khrushchev did hint that he would not live for ever, which some people took as a hint that he would soon abandon some of his responsibility. Instead Mr. K was all smiles and backslapping to greet Dr. Castro who turned up on a surprise month's holiday in Russia. Mr. K took time off to promise Russian women the frilliest panties in the world, and Dr. Adenauer seemed to promise the German People that they would soon have Dr. Erhard. Signor Fanfani received the shock of his life in the Italian elections, when the Communists made considerable gains. China refused entry to thirteen 'friendship marchers' who wanted to Make their way to Peking, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic became involved in a stupid squabble in the Caribbean.
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KING SAUD OP SAUDI ARABIA lost a carload of his wives in Paris on their way to the airport, a series of Fascist rallies proposed for Trafalgar Square were banned by the Home Secretary, and the Wo I fenden Report (on Sports, not Sport) became a best-seller in New York. The Labour Party is to finance a series of jazz concerts and That Was The Week ended with a whimper.
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