PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK In a week when Russian penetration
of Algeria began to cause serious alarm in Paris, Russian military equipment continued to pour into Nigeria, accompanied by technicians and cultural advisers. Construction of a £50 million iron and steel plant was announced as part of a technical cooperation agreement. Meanwhile, the Biafrans continued to hold their own, in- flicting heavy casualties on the invaders, who were reported to have taken up defensive positions. Mr Wilson received an apology from the BBC for a programme which criticised his handling of the affair.
The Soviet ambassador was asked to limit the size of his embassy in London. Nearly 200 miPs from both sides of the House signed a motion condemning the Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Leslie O'Brien, for 'continued public criticism' of Government economic policy: Westminster wags suggested that the coal explanation was that be had supported it. As the hard winter began to set in, the Tory lead jumped ten points to 18+ per. cent in Gallup. The same organisation produced a re- port suggesting that Mr Crosland's post-Basset- law measures, restricting hire purchase, were unlikely to produce the desired effect. Mr Green- wood, Minister of Housing, refused to appear on the Frost programme to discuss the Ronan Point flats collapse, and became the week's most unpopular member of the Government.
Vietnam peace talks male no progress, but Mr Smith was said to be weakening in Rhodesia as Mr Thomson prepared to fly out to him again. An alleged plot to kill Mr Nixon was exposed in New York; the plotters were said to be pro- testing about the Middle East. In Prague, pro- Russian ex-servicemen and others were assaulted and abused by a crov'd of Dubcek supporters at a meeting to celebrate the anniversary of the Russian revolution. The Gaming Board announced that it would reduce gaming clubs from 1,200 to two or three hundred. Police were given an 81 per cent pay rise, while builders, supported by their employers, squabbled over an extra penny an hour. The Tories held New Forest, pushing Labour to third place, on a 14 per cent swing, conventionally calculated. BOAC's half-year profit fell by more than £5 million. British Eagle pilots cut their salaries in an effort to save their airline from collapse.
Bruce Reynolds, the last man wanted for questioning in connection with the Great Train Robbery, was arrested in Torquay. Students broke up a meeting addressed by Mr Patrick Wall in York, walked out of one addressed by Mr Enoch Powell in Cardiff, and elected Mr Kenneth Allsop, the writer and television per- former, Rector of Edinburgh University. A particularly disagreeable type of influenza was reported to be on its way to us from Hong Kong The October trade figures showed a disastrous f66 million deficit, double that for September.
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