Tensions high in Northern Ireland

Beginning of end for British motors

The lead story on a Glasgow speech by the late Reverend Ian Paisley shows the bloody tensions of Troubles-era Northern Ireland.

Rev Paisley, speaking after the IRA murder of MP Robert Bradford and amid a backdrop of tit-for-tat killings, said Loyalists were locked in a “war to the death” with Republican terrorists.

The speech, at Glasgow Green, was attended by up to 3,000 Scottish Loyalists, the paper reports.

The article quotes Rev Paisley as stating: “The Third Force will go where the police do not go in defence of our people.” He added: “The battle is on. The crisis day has dawned.”

The gathered crowd roared “No Surrender” at the proclamations. A small but in hindsight significant report on the situation at British Leyland (BL), the automotive giant that once made Jaguar, Mini, Rover and Land Rover motor vehicles.

The story updates on the three-week strike that had forced the firm to close its Longbridge site in Birmingham.

The article states: “BL guaranteed last night any strikers who turn up for work tomorrow will not be sacked.”

The industrial action was over the attempt to cut workers’ lunch break from 51 to 40 minutes per day.

BL was eventually sold off to a number of firms, including MG Rover Group, whose closure in 2005 brought an end to mass car production by British-owned manufacturers.