Portrait of the Week
AFTER SIX MONTHS of preparation, the Govern.. ment's White Paper on steel (not the Nationalisation Bill, which has not yet been begun) was brought to the Commons for approval. Politicians wondered whether Labour rebels of the left— with Mr. Mikardo attacking the compensation terms as 'excessively generous'—or of the right —with Messrs. Wyatt and Donnelly continuing their death-defying tightrope act—would commit political suicide by bringing down the Govern- ment. Only the Stock Exchange was happy with the White Paper itself, and after this most socialist measure was outlined the share index rose by over twelve points. The Tory chairman, Mr. du Cann, accused Mr. Wilson of giving Lady Churchill a life peerage to distract attention from the steel proposals: an interesting idea, but not as fanciful as the Rabat daily L'Opinion, which claimed that belly-dancers were being sent to Italy to try to overcome opposition to Morocco joining the Common Market.
MEANWHILE MR. BROWN ploughed on with his Prices and incomes policy. The first cases—soaps, bread, and road haulage rates—were sent to Mr. Jones's board. By a majority of three to one (with Britain's biggest union voting against) the TUC voted to support the policy, after its general secretary, Mr. Woodcock, speaking 'just as an ordinary straightforward genius,' urged that Mr. Brown's proposals should be given a chance. A further squeeze on mortgages seemed likely as the Government called in £90 million of special deposits from the banks, the shortage of home loans continued to embarrass the Government (though hints that legislation was almost ready were freely dropped), and the race relations Bill may have to be re-written to take account of objections noted at its second reading. The Minister of Housing, Mr. Crossman, introduced the latest plans for the redevelopment of Piccadilly Circus.
ink MARIA BIRD communications satellite began its work with an inter-continental programme. Scotland Yard took the opportunity (only twenty- One months after the event) to ask the FBI to look out for Great Train Robbery suspects, who 'will go anywhere in search of pleasure.' British viewers learnt of the US intervention in the Dominican Republic, which President Johnson Insisted would not be another Cuba. Meanwhile India and Pakistan continued their skirmishes in the Rann of Kutch, Cambodia broke off re- lations with the US, Russian leaders kept quiet about last year's good harvest (because they
criticised Mr. Khrushchev's 'half-baked agricultural ideas'), and the US threatened to ask France to repay £2,500 million from the 1914 war unless she became more conciliatory.
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