Portrait of the week
Eight soldiers were killed and 51 civilians were injured by two bombs placed by the Provisional IRA in central London. One nail bomb exploded in Hyde Park as a detachment of the Blues and Royals was making its way to the changing of the guard. A total of seven horses were killed or had to be destroyed. The second bomb ex- ploded beneath a bandstand in Regent's Park as the band of the Royal Greenjackets were giving a lunchtime concert. The car- nage and chaos were widely publicised. Outside Beirut, Israeli forces tightened their blockade of the western part of the city. A request from the International Red Cross to allow hospital supplies and food through the lines was refused by Army headquarters in Tel Aviv. Mr Begin, the Israeli prime minister, said that he was not prepared to wait for ever for the Palestinians to leave the city, and that the temporary ceasefire would end soon. Despite living conditions in Beirut a representative of the World Zionist Federation was unable to persuade the Jewish community of the Lebanon to pack up and move to Israel. A retired shoemaker named Yacov was quoted as saying, 'Why should 1 want to go and live anywhere else?' Battle was rejoined bet- ween 200,000 Iraqui and Iranian troops after a short ceasefire in a conflict which has lasted for 22 months. The new battle was described by U.S. observers as 'the big- gest single battle since the Second World War'. No decisive progress by either side was reported.
The ASLEF rail strike collapsed after the intervention of the TUC's 'inner cabinet'. The unsuccessful strike was said to have cost the rail drivers an average of £300 each. There were angry scenes as they returned to work, and Mr Sid Weighell, the general sectary of the NUR, was the target of spirited criticism. On the same day, Na- tional Health Service workers started a three-day strike for larger pay increases. The government had offered them from 6.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent, against the union's demand for 12 per cent. The strike followed a work to rule during which standards of health care declined all over the country. Many operations, including cancer oppera- tions, had to be cancelled. The strike leaders appealed for support from miners, dockers and seamen. Responsive crew members of two North Sea ferries then stranded 700 holidaymakers in Felixstowe and Zeebrugge. Ambulance men in Lin- colnshire outdid their colleagues elsewhere and went on total strike, refusing to answer 999 calls. InHereford Mr Geoffrey Prime, unemployed, was charged with offences supposedly committed over 14 years under section one of the Official Secrets Act. This led to speculation about a serious spy scan- dal at the government's communications centre in Cheltenham. The government was further embarassed by the revelation that the Queen's police bodyguard, Commander Michael Trestrail, had confessed to having a relationship with a male prostitute after the man in question had attempted to sell his story to the Sun newspaper. Mr Michael Fagan, also unemployed, who spent 10 minutes sitting on the end of the Queen's bed and chatting to her about his problems was told that he would face no criminal charges for this intrusion. He was commit- ted for trial at the Old Bailey for other of- fences, including stealing half-a-bottle of wine on an earlier visit to Buckingham Palace. At the committal hearing he shouted out that his true father was Rudolf Hess. Despite growing pressure the Com- missioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir David McNee, showed no signs of offering his resignation. Mr Fagan's wife, Mrs Christine Fagan, a mother of six, was plac- ed on probation for taking a car without the owner's consent. Her solicitor said that she had been 'squatting' in the vehicle. The unemployment figures rose to a total of
"He was lucky to find the right queen's bedroom."
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