PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
it all started with him saying bastards.'
Lord Rees-Mogg began a High Court action to declare the Maastricht Act uncon- stitutional. The Government promised not to attempt to ratify the treaty until the case is resolved: with appeals, this means cer- tainly not before September. It had won a Commons motion of confidence referring to the Act one day after losing a vote on its Maastricht policy. There were extraordi- nary scenes in the House of Commons, with Whips excitedly trying to hustle members through the lobby. Tory managers pretend- ed to be indifferent to the Conservative defeat at the Christchurch by-election. Some newspapers purported to be shocked that Mr John Major, the Prime Minister, referred to three unnamed anti-Maastricht ministers in the Cabinet as 'bastards': an off-the-record tape of Mr Major talking to Mr Michael Brunson had him saying, 'We don't want another three more of the bas- tards out there. What's Lyndon Johnson's maxim?' The 'bastards' were believed to be Mr John Redwood, the Welsh Secretary, Mr Michael Portillo, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Mr Peter Lilley, the Social Security Secretary. President Mitter- rand met Mr Major in London and publicly criticised British reluctance over monetary union. Mr Kenneth Baker was found guilty of contempt of court for sending a Zairean
back when he was Home Secretary. A report attacked the Church Commissioners for wild property speculation which lost them £800 million in their care. Thieves broke into the British Museum and stole ancient gemstones. Australia beat England by an innings and 148 runs in the fourth Test, winning the series and retaining the Ashes; Graham Gooch resigned as captain, to be replaced by Michael Atherton. The England women's team beat Australia in their World Cup match. John Murray the publisher died, aged 85. Margaret Duchess of Argyll died, aged 80, and T. Dan Smith, the corrupt property developer, died, aged 78.
ISRAEL launched bomb and rocket attacks on what it claimed were Pal, inian and
Hezbollah bases in Lebanor •e than 50 people were killed in the I ' four days; Israel said it would not sto[ .he offensive until rocket attacks on the north of Israel ceased. More than 250,000 people fled southern Lebanon. Car bombs in Milan and Rome killed five and scarred the fagades of the basilica of St John Lateran and the 12th-century church of St George in Velabro. A gunfire and grenade attack on a church in Cape Town left 11 dead and 50 injured. Both the (mainly Zulu) Inkatha
Party and the Conservative Party rejected drafts for a new constitution for South Africa. Heavy fighting continued in Bosnia despite a truce which was intended to enable President Alia Izetbegovic to attend talks in Geneva with his Serb and Croat counterparts on the partition of his country. Russian troops are to be deployed in Geor- gia as part of a peace accord with Abk- hazian separatists. Russian troops also fired into Afghanistan in a border dispute with Tajikistan. Chaos followed a sudden announcement by the Russian Central Bank that bank-notes issued before this year would no longer be valid. President Castro legalised the use of American dol- lars in Cuba in an effort to alleviate Cuba's disastrous economic plight, which followed the collapse of trade with the former Soviet Union and bad harvests at home. France put up interest rates to 10 per cent as the franc slumped close to its bottom in the ERM. Floods covered half or Bangladesh and damaged 400,000 houses in central China. Seven street children were shot dead with bullets from police guns as they slept in Rio de Janeiro. A man in Pennsyl- vania was trapped by a tree when it fell on his leg, so he amputated it with a pocket knife and crawled 60 yards to his car to
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