PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
Mr Cecil Parkinson, the Secretary of State for energy, announced his plans for privatising the £27 billion electricity supply industry. His proposal to split up the central grid in the interest of competition was regarded as a defeat for Lord Mar- shall, head of the Central Electricity Generating Board, who had argued that it should remain in government hands to ensure that supplies were secure. Lord Young, the Trade and Industry Secretary, revealed that British Aerospace was nego- tiating to buy the Rover car group. The Government announced that prescription charges are to rise by 20 pence to £2.60 in April. Britain's visible trade deficit rose to a record £1.5 billion in January with a current account deficit of £905 million. In what was regarded as a blow to Mr Neil Kinnock's attempts to 'modernise' the Labour Party, the leadership of the TGWU endorsed the result of elections to its governing body where the hard Left is said to have taken over. The body of Mr Aidan McAnespie, shot from an Army guard post in Northern Ireland, was ex- humed so that the Irish state pathologist could conduct a second post-mortem ex- amination. Mr John Smith, a British businessman freed from prison in Iraq, thanked the Prime Minister for her efforts to secure his release. Mr Jonathan Aitken MP left the board of TV-am and his cousin, Mr Timothy Aitken, resigned as its chair- man following the controversy surrounding the build-up of a Saudi Arabian stake in the company. Money magazine published a list of what it says are Britain's 200 richest people, including seven billionaires — the Queen, Sir John Moores, Gary Weston, the Duke of Westminster, Sir James Gold- smith and the Sainsbury and Vestey fami- lies. Remains of what is believed to be Londinium's Roman amphitheatre have been found under Guildhall yard.
MR George Shultz, the American Secret- ary of State, began his shuttle mission to the Middle East by visiting Israel (where his arrival initiated a new wave of violence in which four Arabs were shot dead), Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Senator Bob Dole won the Presidential primaries in both South Dakota and Minnesota. Vice- President George Bush, who is concentrat- ing his efforts on the much more important battle soon to be waged in the South, said, `You can't win them all.' Archbishop Tutu and other South African religious leaders were arrested in Cape Town during a protest against the government's recent crackdown on anti-apartheid organisa- tions. Reports from the Soviet Union indicated that the Azerbaijan Republic along with the Armenian Republic were being shaken by nationalist protests and clashes. Unrest was also reported in Esto- nia. The Italian financier Carlo de Be- nedetti moved closer to victory in his fight to acquire the Societe Generale de Belgi- que, Belgium's largest company. Marks and Spencer bid for the prestigious Amer- ican menswear stores, Brooks Brothers. The Winter Olympics closed in Calgary with the Soviet Union winning the greatest number of medals. Roh Tae Woo was sworn in as President of South Korea. He announced a political amnesty although several dissidents will remain in jail. The elected president of Panama, Mr Eric Arturo Delvalle, was dismissed by the legislature for trying to remove the military leader, General Manuel Antonio Noriega; he was also later deserted by his own Republican Party. Memphis Slim, vocalist and pianist, author of 'Every Day I have the blues', died in Paris. MstJT
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