Portrait of the Week
IT WAS JUST LIKE OLD TIMES in the Labour party, as the steel vote toppled the Government off its 'tightrope and there followed all the tradi- tional ritual of left versus right recriminations, heated private meetings, general confusion, and faint appeals for 'dignity' and 'restraint.' The up- shot, predictably, was a promise by the Prime Minister that somehow the steel nationalisation time-table would not be delayed, and much mirth on the Opposition side of the House. Meanwhile the Finance Bill scraped through with a majority of three, the Government's lowest yet in this Parliament, as the Liberals decided to vote against it and the new Tory from Hall Green arrived to take his place. One Government speaker hailed the 226-page Bill as a contribution towards simplification of the tax system; Mr. Heath described it as the longest and most complicated Bill for over fifty years; and doubts about some aspects were voiced by MPs of all parties, but the Chancellor was making no concessions.
TWO MEN WERE SENTENCED 011 secrets charges, and the Security Commission was asked to investi- gate the circumstances. Mr. Wilson told the NATO Foreign Ministers in London that Britain was carrying an unfair share of the cost of Western defence, and hinted at `whatever action is necessary, however unpalatable.' Titre was further heavy fighting in South Vietnam, and the subject was presumed to be on the agenda when Mr. Shastri arrived for his first official visit to Moscow. Mr. Dean Rusk arrived in London. and a group of left-wing Labour MPs demanded that Britain should not support American action in the Dominican Republic. The Foreign Secretary was interrupted by shouts of 'rubbish' from his own party. An American Negro diplomat was ordered out of Russia, and Tom Stacey, Tory candidate and Sunday Times correspondent, was arrested in India, whereupon the Labour MP for his constituency sent a telegram demanding his release; Stacey was later ordered to be deported.
A VETERAN SIGNAL BOX Al' Clapham Junction began to collapse, and Waterloo station was closed down. Eire's budget put up tobacco and drinks, the cost of parking a car at London Airport for twenty-four hours is to be £2.8s., and dearer car insurance was promised. Traffic wardens may be used for some police duties, and' there was a proposal to use military police as 'traffic vigil- antes"at holiday periods. Meanwhile, London Transport forecast that London's peak-hour traffic would seize up entirely if private cars were not restricted. Prince Philip said that life in Britain was in danger of being reduced to the level of animals on a factory farm, and the National Farmers' Union talked of planning to reduce output. Lancashire beat the New Zea- landers by an innings and six runs, and the West Indies made certain of winning their Test series against Australia.
Previous page
