PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
The Labour Party published its new policy review, but said it would not spend more than the country could afford. The Prime Minister called for a giant interna- tional effort to curb the use of fossil fuels and slow down the Greenhouse Effect, after 300 scientists reported that the temperature and sea levels were rising. The Department of Environment said it would vigorously defend any European court action over dirty British beaches, 104 of which still do not meet basic EEC standards, mainly due to sewage. On the east coast all shellfish were pronounced dangerous to eat, due to algal poisoning. The SDP gained fewer than half the votes won by the Monster Raving Loony party at the Bootle by-election, which Labour won by 23,517 votes. Police searched land in Gretna, Scotland, and in Shropshire, after the arrest of an agricultural student charged with possessing firearms. Ulster Unionists conceded that the Irish govern- ment has a role to play in a settlement in Northern Ireland. A commemorative cere- mony was held at Dunkirk in memory of the rescue of British and Allied soldiers in
Operation Dynamo 50 years ago. The Government's refusal to take legal action against the Fayed brothers of the House of Fraser takeover was criticised by a Com- mons backbench committee. A survey revealed that nearly one million young people in Britain cannot read properly. Bobby Robson, the England soccer mana- ger, announced that he is to leave his job after the World Cup. Two men died after unwittingly eating peanuts, to which they were allergic. Shirley Philpott of Yorkshire revealed she has taken out a £6,000 mort- gage to accommodate 27 tortoises.
PRESIDENT Gorbachev announced a re- ferendum of radical economic reforms which will double the price of basic food- stuffs, allow bankruptcy, produce unem- ployment, but gradually introduce a free market. He then left for Canada en route to Washington. Russians responded by panic buying, and Boris Yeltsin, a more radical reformer, became president of the Russian Federation. The Czechoslovak government announced that food prices will rise by a quarter from July. The Poles
held their first full democratic ballot since the second world war, but only 42 per cent voted. Polish railway workers called off a strike after Mr Lech Walesa appealed for a return to work. The Princess Royal made an official visit to the Soviet Union, the first of its kind since 1917. Lithuania offered to suspend all laws linked to its independence declaration if Moscow agreed to open talks on sovereignty, but Mr Gorbachev refused to move. Armenian militant groups were reported to be build- ing up their arsenals, and soldiers opened fire on nationalists in the Armenian capital Yerevan, killing six. The Pentagon was urged to remove short-range missiles from strategic bombers because of worries about the safety of nuclear warheads. The demo- cratic opposition triumphed in elections in Burma. An IRA team gunned down two Australian men on holiday in Holland, apparently taking them for soldiers. Win- nie Mandela was found by a judge to have been present when beatings were inflicted on four abducted youths, one of whom was later murdered. She may be charged with
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