1973 Newsreel

No self-respecting Oxbridge general paper in the early 1980s could decently omit the question: "Which, in your opinion, is the most significant year in 20th-century British history?" Conventionally-minded candidates tended to go for 1914 (start of the First World War) or 1945 (arrival of the reforming Attlee government.) The politically astute sometimes chose 1956 (Suez Crisis) and the sophisticated 1963, the year when, according to Philip Larkin, sexual intercourse began. It was far too early in the Thatcherite dawn to plump for 1979, but even then, barely a decade on, a great deal of the smart money was placed on the winter of 1973-4 – the era of the State of Emergency, the Three-Day Week and the power-cut, a time when the faces of the country's leading trades unionists appeared on The Six O'Clock News as regularly as politicians, and an executive meeting of the National Union of Railwaymen could rate as many column inches as a Cabinet reshuffle.

The sheer turmoil of life in Edward Heath's Britain 40 years ago this week, was brought vividly back to mind by last night's splendid Radio 4 documentary, helmed by Michael White. Not the least of its attractions was the number of elderly politicians who came affably forward to reminisce.

(Source www.independent.co.uk 2013)

Видео 1973 Newsreel канала Roy Gardnerra