Word: heaths
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...slings and arrows of outrageous fortune all seemed directed at Britain's Prime Minister Edward Heath and his beleaguered country last week. Beset by a six-week national coal miners' strike, Britons were subjected to rotating power blackouts that caused chaos in industry, forced the layoff of 1.5 million workers, and at times made it seem as if the nation were lit only by candlepower. The political heat was directed at Heath, who found himself widely criticized for obduracy in the face of the miners' demands, and then compelled to give in to them...
...odds Heath's worst week in 20 months in office. Besides the miners' strike-and the continuing troubles of Ulster, Rhodesia and combined unemployment and inflation at home-Heath came perilously close to seeing his government defeated in Parliament. There the subject was Britain's entry into the European Common Market, which the House of Commons had approved in principle by a handsome margin last October...
...Humbugs. Faced with a second and closer vote last week on some of the legislation necessary to put that decision into effect, Heath announced that he would resign and dissolve Parliament if the bill were defeated. The Prime Minister very nearly had to make good on that promise. As antiMarket Tory M.P.s defected to the opposition lobby, his government was saved by only eight votes, five of them from the tiny Liberal Party. Labor M.P.s danced up and down shouting "Resign!" and "Out! Out!" Opposition Leader Harold Wilson, who as Prime Minister had sought Common Market membership for Britain...
With Ulster on the verge of flames, what can Heath do? He is not yet ready to anger the Protestants by disbanding the Stormont government and imposing direct rule from London-but perhaps he may be pushed into taking over Stormont's police powers. He certainly cannot remove British troops without risking the possibility of civil war between Catholics and Protestants. Some Britons are advocating, however, that he set a date for withdrawing the army, thereby giving both sides a deadline for working out a settlement...
...Heath, "or their aspirations for a united Ireland. We are simply asking them to meet with other legitimate representatives of the people of Northern Ireland to discuss how conditions of peace can be restored." In addition, the British Prime Minister is said to be considering an easing of the internment policy, an offer of economic aid to reduce unemployment (now 8% in Ulster v. 4.3% in Britain as a whole), a bill of rights, and a guarantee that Catholics will henceforth have a proportionate role in the provincial government...