—Portrait of the Week— ONLY THREE MORE WEEKS TO GO,
and the opinion polls showed the 'Don't Know' revival continuing apace. The Prime Minister was challenged to a TV debate by Mr. Wilson, who was challenged by Mr. Grimond, who was challenged by his OPponents. Every newspaper seemed to carry ex- clusive articles by the respective party leaders, Mr. Hogg queried Mr. Wilson's war service, and the Communists distributed 500,000 pamphlets entitled 'Parliament with a Difference.' The Welsh Nationalists were reported to have considered advertising on Radio Caroline, Westmorland chose its third Liberal canClidate in one week, and Political programmes were swept off the TV screens—replacing Gallery by Who Cares?
ONE ELECTION ISSUE that failed to ignite was a claim that Mr. "Hogg had deliberately withheld publication of a report criticising school buildings. One that may still ignite is the threatened dock strike—where tempers were roused by the employers' leader, Sir Andrew Crichton, using ill-chosen comments about the cloth-capped pro- letariat 'on the Costa Brava with bikinis, English beer and doubtless E-type Jaguars.' Postmen hinted at another overtime ban, and the trade gap Yawned even wider. Next January British Rail- ways may lose its way, as Dr. Beeching was reported to be changing the name to 'British Rail.'
GENERAL DE GAULLE began his whistle-stop tour of South America, setting out on the wrong foot by walking on at Caracas airport while the band struggled through the Venezuelan national anthem. However, the General could take comfort from the balancing of the French Budget—for the first time in thirty-six years. US ships were in- volved in incidents in the Gulf of Tongking, but a cloud of secrecy descended on Washington while officials tried to discover whether a diplo- matic gaffe had occurred. Mr. Khrushchev suffered his own embarrassments—complaining that remarks about 'terrible weaponry' had been misquoted into 'a terrible weapon.'
* .
MALTA took its independence. Bolivia endured another coup, and Greece claimed a £300,000 Profit on the. wedding of its King last week. The Warren Commission that investigated the death of President Kennedy presented its conclusions, which should be published any day. Sweden, Algeria and Denmark all went to the polls, but no changes of government resulted. A London firm offered for sale a replica of the £3,000 gold- plated bed that lost the Ghanaian Minister of Industries his job, the US satellite Echo I showed that Bermuda is 220 feet farther north than on lbe map, and migrating birds were reported to be taking a short cdt through the new Great Saint Bernard tunnel.
*
I IIE MIDLAND DAHLIA SOCIETY landed BOAC in a mess by making nonsense of charter flight regu- lations, while 7,500 sackings from BOAC as part of its efficiency drive were forecast. Sean O'Casey died, the BeatleS returned to London (after a five- week tour that„ brought in £350,000), and one of Prince Charles's essay books disappeared from Gordonstoun.
*
AFTER THREE YEARS' PREPARATION Sovereign was a wash-out, losing all of its four races by between live and twenty minutes. At home there were more charges of soccer bribery: perhaps English soccer Players should follow Vernon Wentzel, centre- forward for a South African team, who sent his hoots to a witch doctor when his shooting let him down. After a potion based on frogs' legs was poured over the boots, Wentzel scored six goals in his next game.
Previous page
