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May 4
Britain"s first woman prime minister will soon announce her cabinet
1979: Election victory for Margaret Thatcher
England have
The Conservative Party has won the general election making Margaret
Thatcher Britain"s first ever woman prime minister.
Mrs Thatcher arrived at Downing Street to take over from James Callaghan
after her party won an overall majority of 43 seats.
"Where there is discord, may we bring harmony." Margaret Thatcher
expressed.
On the steps of Number 10, she quoted from St Francis of Assisi: "Where
there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring
truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may
we bring hope."
The Tories have won 339 seats, Labour 269, the Liberals 11, Ulster parties
12 and Nationalists four.
Former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe, currently awaiting trial at the Old
Bailey for conspiracy and incitement to murder, has lost his North Devon seat in
a crushing defeat.
Reacting to Mrs Thatcher"s victory he said: "I am horrified. She makes [her
predecessor] Ted Heath look like a moderate."
During the election campaign, Mrs Thatcher said the Conservatives would cut
income tax, reduce public expenditure, make it easier for people to buy their
own homes and curb the power of the unions.
She will soon announce members of her new cabinet. William Whitelaw is
likely to become Home Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe Chancellor and Sir Keith
Joseph Secretary of State for Industry.
Other prominent politicians rejected by the electorate included: Liberal
deputy leader John Pardoe (Cornwall North); Shirley Williams (Hertford and
Stevenage), formerly education secretary; shadow Scottish Secretary Sir Teddy
Taylor (Glasgow Cathcart) and former arts minister Hugh Jenkins (Putney).
Labour can gain some consolation from its success in the local elections,
winning several important councils from the Tories, namely Leicester, Coventry,
Tameside and Sandwell.
HMS Sheffield caught fire after it was hit by an Exocet missile
1982: Argentines destroy HMS Sheffield
Artificially 1969:
The
The British ship HMS Sheffield has been hit by an Argentine missile fired
from a fighter bomber. It"s not clear how many of the 268 crew have
perished.
The sinking has shocked the British nation and foiled any possible
diplomatic solution to the current dispute over the Falkland Islands between
Britain and Argentina.
The ship caught fire when a French-made Exocet missile penetrated deep into
HMS Sheffield"s control room. The blaze caused a poisonous smoke and most of the
crew abandoned ship.
A major rescue operation has been launched in the tempestuous seas of the
South Atlantic as relatives thousands of miles back in the UK wait for news of
their loved ones.
The 4,100-ton destroyer was struck as it carried out a scouting mission off
the Falkland Islands, although its exact position is a secret.
Announcing the news on television, the spokesman for the Ministry of
Defence Secretary, Ian McDonald, said the ship was "in the course of its duty
within the total exclusion zone around the Falkland Isles".
Two missiles were fired by a Super-Etendard fighter bomber. One missed but
the other scored a direct hit and ignited a fire.
The Exocet missile is designed to skim the sea to avoid radar detection. It
has its own radar that guides it to its intended target.
The attack follows yesterday"s sinking of the Argentine cruiser General
Belgrano. An Argentine diplomat in the United States said the destruction of HMS
Sheffield was "justified after the massacre that the English have done shelling
our men and our ships".
Vocabulary:
electorate: a body of qualified voters(全体选民)
tempestuous: of, relating to, or resembling a tempest(有暴风雨的，暴乱的)
cruiser: 巡洋舰 |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:21:04