Portrait of the Week— 'AT LkST WE HAVE a Premier
who looks like one,' commented the Tailor and Cutter on Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the Lord Home that was until last Thiirsday. Hordes of pressmen trampled over Scottish moors to see a Prime Minister ,account- able to neither House of Parliament sturdily de- fending the third safest Tory seat in the UK. The Luton by-election seemed half-forgotten amid the sensations of Sir Alec grazing his shin on haycart steps and listening to a sermon on de- clining moral standards: as a reminder of times Past,. the Daily Express was reduced to apoplexy by the Tory candidate at Luton commenting that Britain would inevitably join the Common Market some day. Mr. Maudling, treading • the straight and narrow Treasury line, gave a warn- ing that the economy would take no more expan- sion, which seemed to many a warning to Mr. Heath, now responsible for development areas, and Lord Hailsham, who believes he will be responsible for implementing Robbins, not to bite the hand that feeds them. The Trend Committee advised the granting of more power to the Minister of Science, and another report sug- gested ways of keeping scientists at home.
* A WEEK DOMINATED by foreign events: Mr. Butler valiantly tried to blow life into the Western European Union, Britain's waiting-room to the Common Market, while the conference designed to agree on lower Atlantic air fares temporarily disintegrated. The US Army flew one division from Texas to Germany, though fog meant that many planes had to be diverted; but Mr. Rusk Promptly denied that the exercise was the pre- lude to a withdrawal from Europe. Mr. Khrushchev announced that Russia was with- drawing from the man-on-the-moon race, leaving Mr. Kennedy alone at the starting post. Australia decided to buy American jets instead of the British TSR2, on which some £400 million has already been spent, even though the Ameri- can design is hardly beyond the drawing-board stage. Russian tanks were • discovered in the Algerian Army, and the , Algerian-Moroccan squabble looked like ending. A pirate version of the Denning Report was seized in Paris, a search began for Nazi treasure at Lake Toplitz in Austria, the US is suffering from drought, but as a consolation was presented with a Senate sex scandal.
FAREWELL TO the passenger service between Harrogate and Cross Gates (via Wetherby), the first of Dr. Beeching's rail cuts to receive the Marples imprimatur. Summer time came to an end: others putting the clock back included 100 Tristan da Cunhans who returned to their island, Londbn busmen who banned overtime, and a British consortium that is to restore a 5(10-mile railway .track in the Middle East destroyed by Lawrence of Arabia in 1918. Unemployment fell, but road deaths rose by 10 per cent. Otherwise a quiet week at home: Miss Keeler and others were sent for trial on a motley of perjury and conspiracy charges, more supermarkets joined the trading stamp chase, a minor earthquake was felt on the south coast, there was another mail robbery arrest, and•a Gallup Poll in the Sunday Telegraph revealed that Cokervative supporters were more in favour of the retention of public schools than Labour supporters.
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BRIGITTE BARDOT came to Britain in a blaze of publicity and left to similar publicity next day, with not a single shot taken for her next film. There were semi-riots among queues for the Beatles in Newcastle, Manchester, Hull, Bourne- mouth and Carlisle. No fatalities were reported.
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