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12. Unemployment of those proportions, were it general, would be a national catastrophe. 13. Had the election campaign been still in progress the wage squeeze might have become an issue. 14. February's trade figures showed a £62 million deficit. There would have been an even worse result for 1968 had it not been for the £ 559 million that foreign businessmen invested in Britain. 15. The British Foreign Secretary will now be entering what are officially termed "the pre-negotiations" with an ardent will to succeed. But the Prime Minister would hardly have taken the unprecedented step of deciding to go along, too, had he been sure they would fail. 16. But for import restrictions, quotas and American-imposed embargoes, Anglo-Soviet trade would be larger than it is today. 17. The Prime Minister refused to be drawn yesterday into saying what he would do if his attempt to "renegotiate" the Nassau agreement were to fail. 18. The new draft constitution of Rhodesia is to be voted on in a referendum in May. The constitution would establish complete racial segregation of the electorate. There would be one roll for the whites... The other roll would be for those Africans who can pass the high income and educational voting qualifications, raised again last week. 19. Should the Tories succeed in finding a candidate we may yet see the spectacle of the three brands of Tories fighting each other for the votes. 20. Today's talks, therefore, will certainly lay down guide-lines for a Tory Manifesto should an early election materialize. 21. Even should it be decided to extend the session, only ten days can be gained; so — the argument runs — it is better to wait for the new session, especially as the Lords may impose its veto and delay the Bill 12 months. 89
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