Portrait of the week

Spectator, The, Oct 19, 1996

Miss Betty Boothroyd, the Speaker of the House of Commons, told MPs on their first day back after the summer recess that `very serious' allegations affecting the reputation of the whole House (the so-called `cash for questions' affair) should be dealt with urgently, if necessary through augmented powers for investigators. The crossparty Standards and Privileges Committee said a few hours later that it would hold hearings in public once the parliamentary ombudsman, Sir Gordon Downey, had published his own report. Miss Boothroyd also allowed an emergency debate on the alleged intervention of a junior Whip in the matter. Mr Peter Thurnham, the MP for Bolton North-East, joined the Liberal Democrats, on the grounds of the Government's failure to counteract 'sleaze', that is to say, financial corruption; this did not affect the Government's majority in the Commons, since he had not taken the Conservative Whip for some time. Mr John Major, the Prime Minister, taunted Mr Tony Blair, the leader of the Opposition, for having been to a public school. Mr Michael Heseltine, the millionaire First Secretary of State, taunted Mr James Goldsmith, the multi-millionaire leader of the Referendum Party, for having a house in Venice, which he doesn't. The Government is to make illegal the possession of many kinds of handguns. The Ulster Unionists and the Social Democratic and Labour Party agreed that multi-party talks in Northern Ireland need only consider `decommissioning' of terrorist arms as the second item on its agenda. General Sir Charles Guthrie was named as the next Chief of the Defence Staff; some in the Navy were annoyed that the Army had been given another turn at filling the post. Water prices are to be reviewed by Ofwat in 1999, five years earlier than originally planned. Unemployment fell by 35,600 to 2,073,100. London Underground is to raise fares by 4 per cent, twice the race of inflation. Hillingdon Hospital in London told family doctors it can take no more GP referrals of patients aged over 75, lest they occupy beds needed for emergencies. Beryl Reid, the actress, died, aged 76.

THE right-wing Freedom Party won 28 per cent of the vote in Austria's first elections to the European Parliament since it joined the European Union two years ago. In northern Iraq, troops controlled by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan recaptured the city of Sulaymaniyah from the Kurdistan Democratic Party. In Afghanistan, a triple alliance of armed factions, led by the former defence minister, General Ahmad Shah Massoud, was formed to combat the Taliban Islamic army, which has taken control of Kabul. The Nobel peace prize went to Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of Dili and Mr Jose Ramos Horta, both of whom have opposed atrocities in east Timor since its annexation by Indonesia. Crowds of Muslims burnt down a church and killed five people in Java. A South African Court found General Magnus Malan, the former defence minister, not guilty of the murder of 13 members of the African National Congress in Durban in 1987. The International Labour Organisation of the UN said that unemployment in South Africa was nearer 20 per cent than the 33 per cent claimed. The Pope had his appendix out. Yellow fever was said to be spreading out of control in West Africa and Latin America. Dengue fever infected thousands in Delhi. The Ukraine wheat harvest totalled little over half of the 1990 yield. Rene Lacoste, who won Wimbledon in 1925 and 1928, died, aged 92. An American judge curbed the import of shrimps to save turtles that get caught up in the shrimpers' nets. Organisers of the Miss World contest moved the event to the Seychelles from India after protesters threatened to commit suicide during its staging.