THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

The old familiar cry of “Votes for women” was raised in the House of Commons last night. It is a pity that Lady Astor was the only representative of her sex on the benches when the Bill to extend women’s rights was introduced. Otherwise the proceedings might have been livelier than they were even when Mr J. Leng Sturrock, who opposed the measure, characterised the Plymouth bye-election as a circus, and Lady Astor then retorted that the lady elected was not the clown.

50 years ago

Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, might soon be taken from hospital back to Spandau Prison, in Berlin, to continue his life sentence, informed sources said yesterday. The Soviet Union – one of the four Second World War victors responsible for Spandau – is demanding Hess’s return to the grim red-brick jail following his recovery from a stomach ulcer. The sources said that 75-year-old Hess’s condition has improved considerably in the past few weeks. He had been taken to the British Military Hospital in Berlin.

25 years ago

Roseanna Cunningham last night sensationally withdrew from the race to represent the SNP in the Perth and Kinross by-election, caused by the death of Tory MP Sir Nicholas Fairbairn. Miss Cunningham’s decision to quit comes after she failed to make a three-name short-list, it is believed as a result of the intervention of party president Winnie Ewing. It is understood that long-standing personal differences may have contributed to Miss Cunningham losing out.

One year ago

The condition of crumbling Angus roads is heading in the wrong direction at an accelerating rate. New data has shown the area has slipped out of Scotland’s top 10 authorities for road condition, with almost a third of routes needing repaired or closely looked at. The resurfacing of 23.4 kilometres last year is around half of what experts recommend as good practice. The surface dressing figure of 52km was less than a third of the suggested 180kms which would be covered if roads were being re-done every decade as recommended.