Original subtitles

And

this is the second sentence.

And this is the second sentence.

And

with the time just coming up to 12, it's

over to Bob Preston in the midnight newsroom.

BBC News at 12 o'clock.

The jury in the Albion bank fraud trial is spending its fourth night in a London

hotel tonight after failing yet again to reach a verdict.

The trial continues tomorrow.

The first major opinion poll since the election indicates growing popularity for

Prime Minister Harry Perkins and his radical policies.

Foreign Secretary Tom Newsom's successful negotiations with the Moscow State Bank

appear to have been welcomed by the public.

Or we don't mind.

I can't stand praise.

It's your news, Governor.

Manipulate it as you wish.

To think Gladstone and Asquith and Ramsay Mac and Neville

Chamberlain must have played darts in this very room.

Give you a fine sense of history, wouldn't you say?

With destiny dripping from every orifice.

Does the Ministry of Defence supply this dartboard?

Oh, you've got to provide your own.

At least I know now it's not booked.

Here's to stuff and establishment.

Excuse me.

Yes.

Not my dad.

Hope I'm not keeping you from woman you love.

No, she's dining out with the family.

They don't approve of me, and I do not approve of Ben.

I lay bread, are they?

Deadly stuff that I bring.

My grandfather taught me to play darts.

They were a steel worker.

They were killed at work.

They were splashed with molten steel.

Makes it sound like fun and games at seaside.

Splashed.

Question.

If you're splashed by molten steel, is it death by burning or by scalding?

Here the road.

Management said it were his own negligence.

No compensation.

Yet.

Double top for game.

Ah, how's that?

I don't know.

Did you win?

I'm a good sport, but a very bad loser.

Whichever way you look at it, it remains, if you'll pardon

the validarism, a bit on the side with a security risk.

Are you sure?

Almost.

I'm always marginally unhappy with almost.

This is your best offer?

It's conclusive evidence.

Of what?

A relationship.

Maybe, maybe not.

Where's the security risk?

We thought you might supply that.

A little color and texture?

Exactly.

I'd rather not make any rash promises.

I understand it was the White House that requested a

little shedding of blood within the Perkins administration.

OK.

You just negotiated yourself a rash promise.

It may be a good story, but these are the lousiest

photographs I've seen since my holiday snaps.

We do have standards, you know.

Well, OK, but if we are playing, spot the Judas.

I know who my money's on.

Can't stand that man.

Little shit.

What do you think?

Oh, we'll be accused of playing dirty tricks.

Again?

Oh, I have nothing against dirty tricks,

providing they are deeply felt and really sincere.

And finally, advance notice that we will be meeting TUC leaders in the very near

future to finalize our plans for revitalizing

industry and getting Britain back to work.

Real work, as opposed to schemes.

Any questions?

Do you anticipate any problems with the trade unions?

No.

Many of my best friends are trade union leaders.

I wonder if the power workers know that.

Are you planning any more secret errands for the foreign secretary?

Certainly not.

The foreign secretary is entirely responsible for his own secret errands.

Time for you to resume normal living.

Oh, thank Christ.

Don't tell me you're bored.

Has he come out yet?

No.

He's been in sight enough.

I've seen a milkman, a postman.

I even saw a priest.

Wow.

A cat and several dogs.

Several dogs?

Yeah.

Amazing.

So is this.

First of all, we've got a bit of clothes.

Come on, come on, come on.

Come on, come on.

Come on, come on.

That's nice.

Come on, come on.

You're a beauty.

Come on, touch it.

How long has it been going on?

A couple of years.

I met Maureen.

I'm not interested.

When did it stop?

Yesterday.

That's why.

That's why you were crying.

Yes.

And the orchestra were playing arts and flowers.

I didn't think anyone knew.

We'd always been very careful for obvious reasons.

Tell me about the IRA.

A lot of crap.

Explain to me why it's a lot of crap.

The flat above Maureen's was once occupied by an Irishman with IRA connections.

Did you ever meet him?

No.

Did Maureen Jackson ever meet him?

Yes, I think so.

Harry, this is like a cross-examination.

Yes, it is.

This is what the security people have told me about the situation.

I've got to check if you're both telling the truth.

Of course I'm telling the truth.

I know.

There was never any threat to anyone's security.

Except mine.

Under net.

Below the belt, comrade.

More your territory, I would have thought.

Well, I brought you a letter of resignation.

If you wanted.

I accept your resignation.

I see.

Well, it looks like I snatched disaster from the jaws of victory.

Clear your desk, Tom.

Buy a net some flowers on the way home.

I have to tell Lars that the foreign secretary has, this

morning, tendered his resignation, and that I have accepted it.

Does the outgoing minister therefore accept

that there was a threat to national security?

There was no threat to national security.

But Tom Newsome behaved like a damn fool, and

I don't want any damn fools in my cabinet.

Professor, soon after I was elected, I asked to see

the security files of the members of my cabinet.

Your department's files.

There was nothing in Tom Newsome's file to indicate a security risk.

I'm aware of that, Prime Minister.

Yet within weeks, you had discovered the possibility of an IRA connection.

I understand the information came from a source outside our security.

Does that mean an enthusiastic amateur, or somebody else's security services?

There was a leak to the press.

So far, I've been unable to identify the source.

You might start with Sir George Fison.

His newspapers were first out of the traps.

When you speak to Sir George, ask him if he's informed on an American accent.

I don't quite see the point of that, Prime Minister.

All of you says no will have eliminated 200 million suspects.

Good spy catching technique.

Rule number one, make the buggers shuffle on easily in their shiny shoes.

Sorry, we'll give fast in the story.

I'll find out, there's a good lad.

I'm a journalist, not a private investigator.

You're an investigative journalist, investigate, there's one.

Taxi!

It's very simple, they're out to get Harry, they're out to get everybody.

It started with me.

What?

I was moved to a different department this morning.

I no longer have access to classified information.

What's happening?

Do they know?

They know about Tom, didn't they?

I thought you were the masters now, I thought

this sort of thing couldn't happen anymore.

Well, we are, but the trouble is, the message hasn't

got through to the real masters, daddy's friends.

Well, if you need to know anything about military catering, I'm your woman.

Here he comes.

Mr. Youssir!

How does this affect your political career?

Will you be staying in politics?

Come on, just stand back, man.

Come on, just stand back.

I'm just watching him, I'm roaring.

Come on, just stand back.

Annette.

Do you have any chance of a statement?

There's just one statement.

Annette, did you just come out for a few seconds?

Just a few seconds.

One minute.

Is your wife in, sir?

Do you have a few words?

Mrs. Walsock?

Will you be making a statement later on?

Mrs. Walsock!

One of them

probably has a telephoto lens, looking for evidence of a homosexual relationship.

I don't know if this is the right moment, but I wanted to talk to you about that.

Darling, I never knew you cared.

Now, what I mean is, if Wapping or Fleet Street come looking for more dirt,

is there any more?

Well, I can't speak for my colleagues, but my track record is pretty simple.

Married at 20, divorced at 31, no kids, no bitterness.

Wife cited the labour movement as correspondent.

And she were right.

Then, once upon a time, a brief encounter with a woman called Helen.

Met her at a conference on economics.

Beat that for a romantic setting.

Then she married someone else.

But she sent me a flower.

To Downing Street after the election, I remember.

So do I.

Now I sublimate my sexual urges into change in society.

I may have signed a letter from Dr. Freud in Vienna to prove it.

Last time I was talking to her, Nat Newsom.

She said, we'll get it right this time.

Won't we, Harry?

We ought to be moving as question time in 40 minutes.

It's always bloody question time.

The dead, they ask the best questions.

And we are answerable.

My mother was actually disappointed that you couldn't come for the weekend.

Mother was disappointed, so was I.

I mean, do you explain to her that it's our class differences

that make any meaningful relationship quite impossible?

No, I said you were far too busy.

Busy with what, the revolution?

I just said you were busy.

I might have enjoyed it.

Branding cigars in the drawing room.

Puking in the pantry.

No, thanks.

I don't think it's a good idea at the moment.

Your mommy and daddy might film this now.

Oh, good.

Do you really like watching that stuff?

As it happens, yeah.

Cricket symbolizes the class war.

And to aid identification, both sides dress in white.

Quite frankly, I give Perkins two years at the most.

Really?

Oh, he strikes me as a very capable fellow.

Well, no question about it, that's the danger.

Quite.

But we have allies within.

Within?

Within what?

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm no politician.

You'll have to explain.

The cabinet.

The unions.

Good God, that's rather clever.

I suppose you can rely on the military.

We'd rather take that for granted.

Elizabeth?

Hello.

Oh, you remember your Uncle Percy?

He's going to look at me and say, haven't you grown?

You have, rather.

Better keep an eye on Elizabeth, she's knocking around with a red.

Really?

Anyone I know?

Fred Thompson, the Prime Minister's Press Secretary.

We almost certainly have a file on him.

You'll be very disappointed if you don't.

And his exact words were, we have allies within the cabinet and the unions.

Oh, I'm sure they do.

There are no plans for a drop in the court on Japanese imports.

And we must reply to that, that's a lie.

And couldn't we do something about it?

Well, make them print a correction.

No, about enemies within.

Look, I came to power by exposing crooks in the city.

I did that because I had enemies within.

It's all part of the game.

Sometimes the enemies within have enemies within.

I mean, look at that.

I wouldn't trust Guardian to guard my uncle Sid's greenhouse.

Don't they read out press releases?

Apparently over dinner they were discussing a military

takeover if you go too far with your policies.

I shall fight them on the beaches.

What do you want me to do?

Ban all meetings of two or more people in case they're plotting against state?

I mean, it isn't South Africa.

These people are the opposition, is there?

Duty to plot against me, then I've plotted against them.

So what do I do, forget it?

Certainly not.

I asked you to keep an eye on the bastards.

You're doing fine.

Good morning, Mr. Tweed.

Are you well?

Elizabeth Fane.

She's working as a computer programmer at the Ministry of Defense.

I was at school with her father and now she's shacked up with a radical.

She's Thompson's girlfriend, Mr. Fiends.

It would have been nice to know that before I spent the weekend with them.

But she is no longer working in classified areas.

She was his mole in the MOD?

Yes.

We organized a sideways move.

Let her take her martyrdom quietly.

And of course we'll keep her under gentle surveillance.

With your permission, sir.

Do bear in mind that they are keeping an eye on us.

Let us emphasize the gentle.

One day, Mr. Fiends, you will have the entire

population under permanent 24-hour surveillance.

Will you be happy then?

Happy?

Satisfied?

And we have to protect the freedoms our ancestors bequeathed to us.

Do I have your authority?

Of course you do.

Considering our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement.

This is why I prefer public transport.

I never had this trouble to know them like.

Bring the tea, you see.

Tell them we'll be late.

Don't trust those things.

Never know who's listening.

Do you have Sir Percy's word?

I don't think his concept of freedom matches mine.

Sir Percy's people don't listen to our phone calls.

The Americans listen.

And they tell Sir Percy what they hear.

Evidence?

Common sense.

It's what I would do in their position.

But I'm a low-down scheming bastard.

Takes one to know one.

The Prime Minister arrived at the TUC.

The question remains.

Can the pledges agreed between the unions and the Labour

Party in opposition be turned into a practical plan of...

I'll do it again.

Keep running.

What problems do you anticipate in your five-year plans in the trade union?

I'm not selling it to them.

We wrote it together when I was in opposition.

Well, what about the miners?

Miners are my best friends.

Well, they weren't very pleased about your play.

What about the power workers?

Power workers are also my best friends.

Any other best friends?

National union of journalists.

What message will you be giving the unions without unemployment?

I'm against it.

Power workers.

Look, it's in your setting.

Thank you.

Now, for the newcomers here, the document in front of you embraces prices,

pensions, public ownership, workers' control and participation.

Now, we propose to take control of pension and industrial funds and make industrial

capital available at low rates of interest to kick some life back into the economy.

Now, there'll be quotas on the import of manufactured goods and we will put the

blocks on city gents who want to take their millions, which is to say,

our millions, out of the country to feed slave labour economies throughout the world.

I work to rule.

Explain that.

I'm not familiar with rules.

It means the members of a union do precisely what

is laid down in their contracts and nothing else.

Punctilious observation of safety codes.

No overtime.

No maintenance work.

No covering for workers off sick.

Sounds delightful.

I get myself some rules and work to them once in a while.

Here.

Thank you.

Like this.

Pretend it's cricket.

Bread and circuses.

Well, may I have a show of hands for your approval and principle?

Thank you, Comerys.

That looks like unanimous.

Red Smith, United Power Workers Union.

And I did not raise my hand in support of your document.

Well, I'm sure you'll do the meat and the courtesy of explaining why.

Because my members look at your plans and they see we lose jobs.

We lose money.

My union loses members.

It's not much of a deal from a Labour government.

It's an expansion program, Comerys.

An expansion program that closes power stations.

An expansion program that closes nuclear power stations.

That builds new conventional power stations.

That explores alternative sources of energy.

My unions see job losses ahead and they won't

be bought off with promises of windmills.

Have copies of this document been circulated to your members?

We have consulted our membership and I am giving you notice that we will not be

bound by this document in any way whatsoever, now

that we've had a chance to read the small print.

It's Red Smith playing at.

Getting it named after a period from the next Tory, couldn't it?

No, we sent moderate to invisible.

Well, there was always a pen on the arsenal.

Looks like it had been bought off as well.

Good God!

They win by line.

Much too smart for Red Smith.

Somebody's pulling the strings.

Look, let us be absolutely precise about the situation.

One major industrial trade union has refused to sign the agreement.

One only.

The Energy Secretary is having a series of meetings with that union, and we very much

hope that our differences will be resolved.

The exact content of our meetings today has to remain

confidential, as I am sure the honorable gentleman will understand.

A split in the unions is one thing.

Giving support to industrial action, that's something else.

All that solidarity in Poland.

What did we do then?

Wasn't it the gallant workers making their heroic

protest against a rigid totalitarian state?

Something along those lines, yes.

Oh, I think we could run with that.

If the industrial action takes place.

My guess is... You can rely on it.

This is a government that claims to be in

touch with the working people of this country.

A claim which I and my party disputed during the election.

If you recall, Alan.

And your union, Mr. Smith, seems incapable of reaching any

kind of agreement about the future of your own industry.

I never expected to find myself in a television studio agreeing with you.

And with a former Tory Prime Minister.

Somebody novelled Reg Smith.

Has somebody novelled Reg Smith?

You told me you couldn't use a pencil without a book of instructions.

I'm old enough to remember 1964, and even old enough to remember 1945.

CIA.

CIA?

Good smith.

Two years ago, we went to the States.

We did a lecture talk with some weird outfit

called the South Carolina Sons of Freedom.

CIA, I bet you.

Quick drink before you leave Reg.

Ah, thank you.

It's very civil.

You will join us, Mr. Andrews.

That would be very nice.

Jolly little trips to the States, giving lectures nobody wants to hear.

That's how they buy you off.

That's how they recruit you to the cause.

It's all very discreet.

Funko here.

Little drinky there.

Quiet word in the club.

How many quills has the average porcupine?

Five.

Comrade sample.

I have to formally report to you that the

talks with the power workers are broken down.

Smith won't budge an inch in the nuclear power station.

We've improved the allowances, the training, we've guaranteed no

redundancies, we're throwing them in the kitchen sink, in the kitchen as well.

Well, it does occur to me that Smith has kept the talk going

right through the summer until the dark nights are upon us.

It's been a deliberate tactic, more or less a filibuster.

And the work to rule?

Begins at midnight tonight.

Discussion?

Comment?

Question?

Well, if Smith wants a show of force, let's give him one.

Declare a state of emergency, immediately.

I'm not trying to get the king's signature on a piece of paper allowing a labor

government to use troops against power workers.

I wouldn't rely on the military carrying out your orders either.

Well, the question doesn't arise.

What does arise?

I assume we have some sort of emergency planned.

Naturally.

Generators for hospitals and other essential services.

Limitations in power for advertising... And these plans exist on the ground.

Not just on paper.

And if it's done to a third week, it will be a short time working in the factory.

A three-day week?

Come back, Edward Heath.

All this forgiveness.

We know what happened to Edward Heath.

In 1974, Joe Gormley and the Miners had a case.

They were fighting for... I think Reg Smith has a case in his term.

Reg Smith hasn't got a case.

He's got a grudge.

Well, that's hardly fair.

Wouldn't be of anybody for being a socialist.

One word.

Blackout.

That's it.

Like gotcha.

And make it white on black.

Strictly speaking, it should be black on black.

The power unions work to rule has had an immediate

and dramatic effect all over the country.

There have been electricity cuts of up to four

hours in London and in many other major cities.

Among the worst affected have been commuters in the southeast.

Rush hour rail services were badly disrupted this year.

Many tens of thousands were stranded between stations and the power to large

sections of the network was abruptly cut off between six and eight o'clock.

The government is appealing to industry and to householders to be economical in

the use of electricity, especially during periods of peak

demand and to turn off all non-essential lights and machinery.

Those intending to travel during peak hours tomorrow are warned that they may

face further delays and disruptions and they're urged to

confine their journeys to those which are strictly necessary.

Spokesman for the main regional health authorities has expressed concern about

the burden which we have faced all the time.

Centre page, double spread, headline.

The long dark night of Harry Perkins.

Perkins darkest hour of that shorter.

And write whatever you like, you're the editor.

It's a free press, we say so all the time.

What's the weather like?

Good.

Prime Minister, it's been called Harry Perkins darkest hour.

Well it's certainly a very difficult time for the government.

When will you declare a state of emergency?

There are no plans to declare a state of emergency.

Even though people may soon be dying at hospitals because of power failures.

Well I am not aware of any cases of that kind.

We're looking for one, yes.

Obviously an old lady for preference.

Why are we trying, God knows.

You must have seen all this before Inspector.

Yes sir.

Nurses, miners, teachers.

I can even remember Dockers.

Me too.

Dockers all come to the ransom, those were the days.

Well what do you

think of it all?

Professionally speaking sir, I have no political views.

But you cast your vote at election time.

Yes.

Not from me I bet.

It's a secret ballot sir.

Forgive me, it was an improper remark.

I apologize.

And they're down to one television channel, transmitting three hours each evening.

Does that mean no soap outfits?

They targeted the soaps in the game shows, took them out first.

Well Harry Perkins himself was blacked out on a prime ministerial interview.

Two giant steps for mankind.

No, no there are no plans for declaring a state of emergency.

No further statements today.

No truth in that rumor at all.

No that's not true.

Yes we have issued a denial.

Well there'll be a statement on it.

Mr Palmer explained that the chickens had died when

the power was cut off at his farm early yesterday.

Questioned about a possible... Did you film the elephant?

...at Downing Street.

The senior high court judge warned the government that it may be exceeding its

legal powers if it tries to... You're never alone with an emergency power generator.

...on a power worker's union.

And that it could face the threat of injunction if it does so.

Now do you think you can manage it out?

In a closely worded article published today in the magazine Justice...

It looked like it runs on batteries sir.

...the government has a clear statutory obligation to...

The leader of the opposition has bitterly attacked the government's handling of the

power crisis and has blamed the personal style of the prime minister for what he

called a... ...a series of intransitive blunders... ...the disruption of the past...

...to accept personal responsibility...

...to bring the country to a virtual standstill...

...fuses the prime minister of betraying the hopes and aspirations of the working

class... ...what he calls an outdated policy of the futile...

...falling on the government for firm action...

...he criticized its past lack of decisiveness...

...and

that it was not the right thing to do.

He's working on his boxes.

It's business as usual.

There's really nothing more I can tell you.

I can confirm that he's not flying to... ...but repeat, not flying to bow moral.

I don't bleed nowhere is, do I?

Mr. Perkins!

Mr. Pabtow!

It's very good to see you again.

Is it?

Is it really?

Oh, yes.

I am very proud.

I say to people... I say to people... ...my neighbour, Mr. Perkins...

...the prime minister.

Proud?

What about all these things you say about me?

I know they are lies.

I sell cigarettes, too.

But I never smoke.

Did you want to buy something, Mr. Perkins?

Well, I'm trying to give up newspapers...

...but, um... ...I suppose I could take boxes of matches.

Hello.

On the house.

I could be accused of taking bribes.

Don't be so bloody daft.

And I'll tell you something else.

You are not red scum.

Still here?

Oh, yeah, I'm utterly dedicated.

To the pursuit of truth.

And you a journalist?

Yeah, and I'm letting the side down, but... ...you know how it is when you're...

You find any?

Oh, yes.

Give me darts?

You know I don't play darts.

I'll play for you.

Tell us about the truth, Mr. Thompson.

Let's start with what we already know.

The power workers strike as an attempt to stitch you up personally...

...prove you're out of touch with the people, the usual kind of crap.

Well, I think I knew that.

No, personally.

They're not out to force a general election.

You've been in power for one year, you've got an overall majority...

...they ask for an election, you're just going to turn around and say bollocks.

So the political objective is to weaken my position... ...even force my resignation.

Replace me with somebody more docile.

Like the head prefect.

I mean, it makes sense.

He ran against you for the party leadership, he didn't get it.

Everybody knows he hates your guts.

Well, I mean, Lawrence hates anybody who hasn't got a platinum credit card.

Look, do you mind if we stop this?

Public houses in Sheffield have been burned down...

...because people didn't think like that.

Lawrence Wainwright has been on paid lecture tours to the US.

Reg Smith has been on paid lecture tours to the US.

So, let's be real shifty...

...and assume that they're in the pockets of the CIA.

What else have you got to offer me?

Wainwright and Smith have both written articles for George Fison's newspapers...

...over the last two or three years.

Now, as far as I know, all Smith's stuff has been ghosted...

...because he hasn't actually mastered joined up writing.

But, if we add...

...Alford...

...Alford as in BBC?

Yes.

Wainwright and Fison were both on the General Advisory Council... ...for the BBC.

Now, Elizabeth has told me that all three of these...

...are members of her father's club.

I imagine Sir Percy Brown's a member of that club, too.

Right.

Sir Percy Brown is probably a member of every club in London...

...apart from Ronnie Scott's.

But can we really tie these people to the Americans?

Oh, yes.

There's a woman called Chambers.

She works at the American Embassy, a cultural attaché of some sort.

Now, it's a very, very tenuous link... ...but she's a Californian-style health freak.

She and Wainwright are both members of the same squash club...

...but there is absolutely no evidence that either of them have ever met.

Yeah, but there's no evidence that they haven't.

Exactly.

So, a deliberate conspiracy involving all these people?

Yes.

But no real evidence?

Of course not.

That's the whole point.

These people don't sit in committee and plan the downfall of an elected government.

They don't keep any minutes.

You can't actually prove it.

You just have to know how it's done.

Hmm.

Well, thanks for lining up.

I'm sorry.

I did my best.

Oh, don't worry, sir.

The boy Thompson need on grid.

The recommendations of every department...

...are a state of emergency, Prime Minister.

The system really is a breaking point.

I know what you're saying, sir James.

If that telephone call should come through... ...call me out of the meeting.

There is no alternative.

That's a good line.

Where did you steal it?

We have to stand up to the power workers.

We have to demonstrate our strength.

I can't get the trains running on time.

We hardly have any trains running at all.

It's chaos.

Please, comrades.

We're a ten minute adjournment for tea...

...and restoration of objectivity while I take a telephone call.

Any news?

How much longer is he going to be?

A couple of minutes, Dave.

Come along and give me a break.

Do we get a press conference today or not?

I don't know if you actually read the newspapers, Ken...

...but we are in the middle of a power crisis.

Last orders.

Two minutes, please.

Lawrence.

Five minutes.

In the garden.

Now, Lawrence... ...evil things have been reported to me about you...

...and I think you should know about them.

Well, you'll have to explain.

And so I shall.

Full and frank explanation.

Item.

You are paid one thousand pounds a year...

...by the power workers union to act as their... ...parliamentary advisor.

You are paid one thousand pounds a year... Public knowledge.

It's listed in the members register.

Yet you recommend a show of force...

...against the union whose interest you represent.

I mean, that doesn't add up.

Unless...

Unless... ...it relates to your relationship with... ...Sir George Fison.

I've written for Fison's newspapers.

I was paid the proper rate for the job.

There's also something vague here... ...about your friendship with a Miss Chambers...

...of the U.S.

Embassy.

Members of the same squash club.

Gather you get a joint book in there last week.

Lecture tours to the States.

It's all circumstantial, you know.

Probably doesn't mean a damn thing.

Any more than belonging to the same gentleman's club...

...on the West End as Mr. Alford from the BBC.

And our very own Sir Percy Brown... ...from the security service.

None of it means a thing.

It's all highly circumstantial.

Yeah, my feeling exactly.

In which case?

In which case, you see, I have to make a choice.

When these matters haven't been reported to me...

...do I insist on an immediate inquiry?

Private or public?

Public inquiry?

I prefer public, since I hate and despise secrecy... ...or a well-timed leak...

...to a sympathetic newspaper.

I suppose there is another way.

Which is?

You get on the phone to your friend Reg Smith...

...and you tell him that unless he's back...

...at the negotiating table by this afternoon...

...that heads will roll in the sawdust.

Like his.

Like yours.

I have you by the short and curlies, Comrade.

You always were a dirty fighter.

Your friends would do well to remember that.

Right.

Ambitious, but fundamentally spineless.

Well, as you know... ...talks resumed yesterday with the Power Workers Union...

...and I am very hopeful that normal transmission...

...will be resumed within 24 hours.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, as you've heard...

...there have been a couple of team changes.

John Cook is to become Chancellor of the Exchequer...

...to allow my good friend Lawrence Wainwright...

...to take over at the Northern Ireland office.

Are these two events connected, Prime Minister?

I'm sorry, what's your event?

The settling of the Power Workers dispute... ...and Mr Wainwright's change of job.

Well, it would take a very devious mind...

...to work out any sort of a connection there.

I mean, as you know, I'm just a simple-minded Northern lad.

Yes.

Where is Mr Wainwright?

Northern Ireland.

I love you.

Well, civilisation's been restored.

Price is right, I'm dancing...

...ice skating from Nottingham...

...and a second chance to see the repeat series of fortunes of war.

How's Harry?

Not good.

Very big slump in the opinion polls.

Apparently the voters are allergic to shivering in the dark.

Let's be quite clear, that weren't a victory.

We only just nicked a draw before final whistle.

You really think the Americans were involved?

Slowing their muscles, as usual.

Maybe we should show the Americans' arms.

Put them in the right frame of mind for main event.

I think we've shaken his confidence.

We might just have Perkins on the run.

I wouldn't say on the run.

Possibly a brisk walk.

Mr Ambassador, I would like you to convey a message to your president in Washington.

We would like an explanation and apology...

...for the American involvement in the power workers dispute.

As detailed herewith.

I'm also considering a deportation order against your Miss Chambers...

...who really will have to learn how to behave

herself when she's in a foreign country.

Also detailed herewith.

These are very serious accusations, Mr Prime Minister.

Of course, I wouldn't waste your time or mine on trivial accusations.

I would also like to finalize a date for discussion

of removal of your military bases from our country.

I suggest a weekend of checkers.

My country seat.

I understand that the president has already arranged a team for that very purpose.

The A team.

I beg your pardon.

I take none of this.

It's been a difficult few weeks.

I've also suggested possible dates for the first

meeting together with a provisional agenda.

I see.

And do you have any other message that you'd like me to convey to the president?

Have a nice day.

Thank you for watching.