In one of the most dramatic episodes ever to take place during a British Cabinet meeting, Defense Minister Michael Heseltine stormed out of 10 Downing Street last week and resigned. Heseltine was angry over Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's refusal to ensure that the country's only helicopter manufacturer, troubled Westland (1985 losses: $137 million), would remain entirely in European hands. Connecticut-based United Technologies Corp., which owns the helicopter maker Sikorsky, has together with Italy's Fiat offered $105 million for a 29.9% share in Westland.
Arguing that "Britain's future as a technologically advanced country" was at stake, Heseltine supported a bailout by a rival consortium of British, French, Italian and German firms that came up with a nearly identical offer. Thatcher, who is ideologically opposed to state intervention in private enterprise, insisted that the matter be left to Westland's board and shareholders. Now that he is out of the Cabinet, the dynamic, thick-maned Heseltine, 52, will probably remain a strident Thatcher critic, and, some Tories believe, could eventually challenge her for party leadership.
SOUTH AFRICA A Blow for Black UnionsThe 30,000 blacks working at the Impala mines in Bophuthatswana, which produce about 25% of the world's platinum, seemed a natural constituency for the National Union of Mineworkers. But last week 23,000 of those miners found themselves more in need of a job than a union. The General Mining Union Corp. had fired them in the largest mass dismissal in South Africa's history.
The miners had walked off the job Jan. 1, demanding higher pay, better working conditions and union representation. Wages for black miners average only $100 a month plus room and board in single-sex dormitories. The company refused to bargain and ordered the strikers to return to work. When they failed to do so, management issued them their final paychecks, bused them home and vowed not to rehire any of them.
The union said it hoped to persuade the company to change its mind. But unemployment in Bophuthatswana, a nominally independent homeland, is high. The South African Chamber of Mines, which recruits workers throughout the region, already has 400,000 job applications on file.
NORTHERN IRELAND Protestants Vent Their RageThe march began as a peaceful protest against the two-month-old agreement between Britain and Ireland, which grants Dublin a say in Northern Ireland's affairs. But after 2,500 Protestants arrived at the gates of Maryfield House, the headquarters of the Anglo-Irish secretariat outside Belfast, the march became a melee. Toughs hurled paving stones at Royal Ulster constabulary, injuring 26 officers. Unionist leaders denounced the violence but warned of a "complete collapse of government here" if Britain did not end the accord.