Portrait o f
the Week
Mrs Thatcher took steps to ensure that the Cabinet presented a united front — by sacking or demoting ministers who had disagreed with her. Lord Soames, Sir Ian Gilmour and Mark Carlisle were sacked, Sir Keith Joseph was moved from Industry to the safer pastures of Education. James Prior had threatened to resign if he was moved from Employment to Northern Ireland, but stayed 'for the good of the country'. Union leaders were dismayed at the prospect of dealing with the new Employment Secretary, hardliner Norman Tebbit.
At the same time as she 'dried out' her Cabinet, Mrs Thatcher took similar action to dry out the floating pound, which has lost 14 per cent of its value against foreign currencies this year. Moves to raise interest rates will mean dearer mortgages and overdrafts. While still Employment Secretary, Mr Prior warned against over-optimism about the economy.
Buckingham Palace denied a story in one of Rupert Murdoch's Australian newspapers that the marriage of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips was in trouble, because of Captain Phillips's friendship with the television 'personality', Angela Rippon. A 17-year-old unemployed youth, Marcus Sarjeant, was jailed for five years for firing an imitation pistol at the Queen at the Trooping the Colour ceremony.
The new French President, M.Mitterrand, visited Britain for a meeting with the Prime Minister, where it was agreed to open talks on a Channel tunnel, and to take joint action within the EEC against the flood of Japanese imports. Plans for a North Sea pipeline which would collect gas now being wastefully burned off to the cost of £1 million a day were dropped because of Treasury opposition.
Mr Benn, Mr Healey and Mr Silkin took part in a much-publicised debate at Blackpool, outlining their respective claims to be the ideal deputy leader of the Labour Party. Observers estimated that Mr Benn won on a decibel count. The precarious alliance between the SDP and the Liberals was put under strain when David Steel said that Liberals should vote for a SDP candidate rather than a 'rebel' Liberal.
Liberal MP Clement Freud figured in the objections raised by the Gaming Board to renewals for gaming licences at the London casinos owned by the Playboy organisation. A licensing court heard allegations that Mr Freud gambled at the Playboy Club while he was a director, in breach of the Gaming Act. The court also heard of Arabian princes who were allowed to run up £200,000 of debts.
England's expensive footballers were unable to beat a Norwegian team which included a telephone engineer and five other amateurs. The 2-1 defeat means that England is once more out of the World Cup final, barring a mathematical fluke. Angry fans went on the rampage in Oslo — as they also did at Coventry, in a stadium specially designed to prevent such an occurrence. The World Bridge Federation said that a leading British player, Terence Reese, was 'unacceptable' because of cheating allegations 16 years ago. Bjorn Borg ceased to be the world's best tennis player, when John McEnroe again beat him, this time in the US Open final in New York. Nottinghamshire won the county cricket championship for the first time since 1929, and Geoffrey Boycott was suspended by Yorkshire. An old age pensioner won £750,000 on the football pools. Western journalists found themselves expelled from Cairo — and Egyptian ones found themselves arrested — as President Sadat continued his purge of any opposition, despite having the 'support' of 99.45 per cent of the electorate. The Russians accused Solidarity of betrayal, after the Polish trade union called for the setting up of similar organisations in other Eastern bloc countries. The Springbok rugby players finished their tour of New Zealand and landed in America, casting a cloud on the 1984 Olympic Games, due to be held in Los Angeles, because Russia is expected to take revenge for the American boycott of the Moscow games last year. Americans were hopping mad because kangaroo and horse meat were found in a consignment of hamburger meat sent from Australia where there are accusations of govern ment cover-ups in the affair, known as `Slaughtergate'. P.H.
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