PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
Peter Tatchell speaks. The National Executive of the Labour Party gave approval to plans by Mr Tony Blair, the Labour leader, to rewrite Clause Four of the party's constitution. Instead of the familiar talk of 'common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange', the new clause speaks of 'a dynamic economy serving the public inter- est, in which the enterprise of the market and the rigour of competition are joined with the forces of partnership and co-oper- ation to produce the wealth the nation needs and the opportunity for all to work and prosper, with a thriving private sector and high-quality public services, where those undertakings essential to the com- mon good are either owned by the public or accountable to them'. Dr David Hope, the Bishop of London, was hounded by a group of homosexual extremists into making a public statement about his sexual nature; he said that for some people this was a `grey area', but for himself he was 'not a sexually active person . . . I am talking about being more ambiguous about my sex- uality'. His statement followed the announcement by a retired Anglican bish- op, Dr Derek Rawcliffe, that he was homo- sexual. Mr John Major, the Prime Minister, refused to take a telephone call from Presi- dent Bill Clinton of the United States, fol- lowing differences over Sinn Fein. Part of the old Spitalfields market was burnt down. Bruce Grobelaar, a goalkeeper, Hans Segers, another goalkeeper, John Fashanu, a striker, Miss Melissa Kassa-Mapsi, his girlfriend and a Malaysian man called Heng Suan Lim were arrested by police in Hamp- shire who were investigating allegations of fixed games of football.
AMBASSADORS of European Communi- ty countries made threatening noises at Canada after it arrested a Spanish vessel, the Estai, for fishing on the Grand Banks; the Canadians said they had found that 80 per cent of the Estai's catch of Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) was illegally small. Mr Brian Tobin, the Canadi- an fisheries minister, claimed that the skip- per had kept two log-books, one for the fishing authorities and one for his own use. Mr Major visited Mr Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, in Gaza and gave him the unusual present of 50 police vehicles. He had earlier criticised the United States for granting Mr Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Fein, a visa for a fund-raising trip; Mr Adams was also invited to a St Patrick's day party at the White House by President Clinton. The American oil company Cono- co withdrew from a £1,000 million project in Iran after a blocking move from Presi- dent Clinton. Bosnian Serbs closed the only road into Sarajevo after two girls were shot. Croatia said that it would now be able to turn its attention to attacking Croatian Serbs, after the United Nations announced it would be retaining some forces on its border. In Copenhagen the UN held a talk- ing shop about poverty. Government troops in Afghanistan drove back the student Islamic army Taliban from the gates of Kabul and attacked its base 20 miles to the south. More than 20 were killed during clashes with Alevi Muslims in Istanbul. The Speaker of the South Korean assembly was freed from his house where he had been held captive by opposition MPs. The Congress Party did badly in state elections in India. President Nursultan Nasarbayev of Kazakhstan dissolved parliament and took direct control. Mr Carlos Salinas, the former President of Mexico, denied having gone into exile in the United States. Mr Bernard Tapie, the French businessman and politician, was accused in court of attempting to bribe a football team to lose
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