Neither the crippling costs of our industrial troubles nor the setback suffered by the collapse of Rolls-Royce are remotely as threatening to the future of the British economy (as well as that of other European countries) as the oil crisis now being played out in Tehran. There, the oil-producing countries (OPEC) are for the first time facing the oil companies unitedly. As things stand, Britain may be lucky to get an agreement that would add only a further £175 million a year to the cost of fuel imports. The nub of the present argument in Tehran is no longer just how much more must be paid for oil, but whether it is possible to get some kind of guarantee that would reduce the risks of “leapfrogging”, whereby an agreement with one oil-producing country simply triggers demands for higher prices from the rest. So far, the Shah of Iran, as spokesman for OPEC, is resolutely opposed to any such guarantee.
For decades the oil countries have had to settle for whatever terms each of them, acting alone, was able to get from the oil companies. Now they have learnt the old trade union principle of collective bargaining.
Talking point
On Tuesday, Mr Jack Ashley, Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, will lead a number of fellow MPs to see the Secretary for Social Services, Sir Keith Joseph, and demand that Section 1 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Act is carried out immediately. This Section calls on local authorities to find out how many handicapped people live in their area, and to inform them of the benefits they are entitled to. Des Wilson’s Observer column
Key quote
“It is not just misery for 27,000 families, but the dreadful acknowledgement that an Englishman’s word and the intertwining of the two Rs is perhaps no longer a bond.”
Lord George-Brown on the collapse of Rolls-Royce
