Portrait of the week
An Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council was set up after the Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher, and the Taoiseach, Dr Garret FitzGerald, met at Downing Street. A joint communiqué referring to the need to reconcile 'the two major traditions that exist in the two parts of Ireland' was interpreted by Ulster unionists as an irrevocable step towards a united Ireland. But the Republic's opposition leader, Mr Charles Haughey, criticised Dr FitzGerald for taking a step in the other direction by supporting the British government's commitment to Northern Ireland.
The American Secretary of State, Alexander Haig, gave his interpretation of aspects of his country's foreign policy. He said that NATO had contingency plans to fire a nuclear weapon 'for demonstrative purposes', a statement denied by the Defence Secretary, Mr Caspar Weinberger. While senior White House advisers described Mr Haig as untrustworthy and irrational, he appeared to be obsessed by what he saw as a campaign to discredit him. Having supported the Saudi Arabian peace plan for the Middle East, Mr Haig said that America remained committed to the Camp David formula. He criticised 'Mr' Carrington for his 'adjectival pronouncements' on the Middle East, which also apparently led Israel to threaten to veto the participation of Britain, France, Holland and Italy in the Sinai peacekeeping force after Israel's withdrawal next April. Major Saed Haddad, leader of the Israeli-backed Christian militia forces in south Lebanon, announced his resignation on the Voice of Hope radio station and then returned to his post.
One hundred and fourteen years after independence, Canada decided to assume control of its own constitution. The Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, 'reached agreement with all the provinces except Quebec on changes which will require approval from the Canadian people and the British Parliament. The right made substantial gains in the general election in Belgium, at the expense of the centre parties. A meeting in Poland took place between the Prime Minister, the leader of the Solidarity trade union and the Roman Catholic primate. Nothing was agreed, but a gradual move towards limited power-sharing was envisaged. At the Moscow parade to mark the 64th anniversary of the Russian revolution, General Jaruzelski was the only leader from the Warsaw Pact countries whose picture was not displayed. General San Yu was elected president of Burma, by unanimous vote of parliament, on the retirement of General Ne Win.
British Leyland's car workers, having been persuaded to call off their strike, were upset to learn that parts of the company would be sold to the private sector when they became profitable. To help them towards this end the BL board asked the Government to hand over a further agreed £540 million. A strike for more 'relaxation time' stopped production at the Longbridge plant. The threat remained of a national strike of oil tanker drivers. Ford workers refused to accept a 4.5 per cent increase, and pay demands from miners, merchant seamen and agricultural workers were awaited.
The Police Federation dropped its longstanding opposition to the independent investigation of complaints against the police, in advance of two reports, from Lord Belstead and Lord Scarman, expected to recommend such a change. A 19-year-old youth was sent to prison for six years for arson and burglary during the riots in Moss Side, Manchester, last summer. A couple living in Kidderminster were given a rates reduction because of the activities of vandals near their home. The Court of Appeal decided that the Greater London Council had acted illegally in imposing a supplementary rate to pay for reduced transport fares.
For the seventh time the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a mental patient in Britain had been wrongly denied a proper right of appeal against his detention under the 1959 Mental Health Act. Dr Leonard Arthur, a consultant paediatrician, was acquitted of attempted murder of a handicapped baby suffering from Down's syndrome; a charge of murder had been withdrawn during the trial. The DPP's office said that no further cases of this sort were contemplated, and all restrictions on Dr Arthur's practice were lifted.
Almost eleven years after the start of decimal coinage, a Bill was introduced to drop the 'new' from new pence on all coins minted in future. Land's End, comprising 105 acres, was offered for sale at £1.75 million. The announcement that the Princess of Wales was expecting a baby in June was received with general satisfaction. Sir Lionel Heald, a former AttorneyGeneral in the Churchill government of the Fifties, died. SPC
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