Word: heaths
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...British government last week invoked additional emergency measures to deal with what Prime Minister Edward Heath called the "gravest crisis since World War II." Burdened by fuel shortages, widespread labor strife and an unprecedented trade deficit expected to reach $3.5 billion this year, Chancellor of the Exchequer Anthony Barber announced a $3 billion slash in government spending. It was the largest budget slash in British history and signaled the end of Heath's go-go plan for economic prosperity...
...biggest deduction will come from the capital spending of nationalized industries ($600 million). The other major cuts include roads and transport ($490 million), defense ($395 million), health services ($277 million) and education ($240 million). The new budget clearly spelled the end of Heath's hoped for 3.5% economic growth next year; at best there will be no growth. Beyond that, Barber unveiled restrictions on installment buying of everything from refrigerators to automobiles. Consumers now will be required to pay one-third down and the rest within 24 months. Barber also imposed additional taxes on rental properties and ordered Britons...
Critics complained that the measures hardly met the dimensions of the crisis as sketched by Heath only the week before. At that time he decreed a three-day work week throughout the country, starting the first of the year; the measure could lead to massive unemployment. He also ordered power cuts of up to 40%, including measures like halting television shows after 10:30 p.m. After Barber announced the budget cuts, the London Times advised him to find another job. "What nobody wanted was a budget which did only half the job," said the Times. "That unfortunately is the budget...
Increasingly, Britons began to question whether there really was a severe crisis-or if Heath might be playing some kind of brinkmanship with recalcitrant unions. In his budget message, Barber followed Heath's lead and heaped blame for most of the country's woes on the miners who are demanding a 33% increase in minimum wages. Astonishingly, he barely mentioned any of Britain's other problems or ways to deal with them, like the country's monumental trade deficit or its out-of-control inflation rate (10% this year...
Even some conservative members of Heath's own party were critical. Declared Geoffrey Stewart-Smith, a Tory M.P.: "This bonehead government has driven the union moderates into the militant camp. It now will cost much more to get the miners back to work." Understated David Crouch, also a Conservative M.P.: "I don't believe that this confrontation [with the miners] is desirable...