The Sunday Times November 12 Our news present to Charles Prince Charles, speaking at a Press Awards lunch, once asked why newspapers only printed the bad news. 'Why don't they, for a change, tell us how many jumbo jets landed safely at Heathrow Airport?' Later the same year a leading British newspaper published a column of 'good news' as a birthday present for Prince Charles. Here are some of the news items.
· Last week 330 jumbo jets landed or took off without incident at Heathrow, the world's leading international airport, with 20 million international passengers, which is double the number at New York's Kennedy Airport, the world's second busiest international terminal.
· Approximately 12,200 happy, gurgling babies were delivered to British moth- ers last week.
· 92 per cent of the first class mail was also delivered on time.
· The government received its first chunk of petroleum revenue tax last week – £176 million from BP's successful "Forties' oil-field. The first oil from the Ninian group of oil-fields was moving through the pipeline towards its terminal in the Shetland Islands, part of the riches undreamed of a decade ago of 1,100,000 barrels a day from North Sea oil.
· The battle to clean up the River Thames is being won. Species of fish, which even ten years ago could not have survived in the polluted water, are being caught in increasing numbers.
· About 6,500 couples emerged happily from churches and registry offices.
· Last week was ‘National Tree Planting Week’. Thousands of seedlings were planted.
· British Rail carried two million passengers each working day with 88 per cent of express trains arriving within ten minutes of schedule.
· Canrefbury Cathedral was conducting services in its 798th year.
· At the Houses of Parliament, where Big Ben was telling the right time, the House of Commons resumed its 306th Parliament since 1213.
· Britain's ladies won the Wightman Cup tennis tournament.
· Two women clerks won equal pay for 14,000 young women at Lloyds Bank.
· Despite the example of the Church of England, which is still refusing to ordain women priests, Liz Beal, aged 13, won permission to play Rugby League Football.
· Five children at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children were suc- cessfully operated on for congenital heart defects – some of the 2,000 babies now benefiting from the treatment each year.
· Britain's gold and currency reserves amounted to £15,977 million, and this year we have repaid foreign loans to the value of £3,500 million.
· Sotheby's, the auctioneers, auctioned a cello for a record £144,000.
· By the end of this year, 30,000 home students will have been awarded degrees by the Open University, which operates through post, television, radio, and short summer courses to enable people to get a university degree at home.
· Bovis, the construction company, won a £15 million contract to build three schools in Saudi Arabia. 47 British companies were exhibiting at a trade fair in Peking, and over 200 at a trade fair in Mexico City.
· Even farmers were smiling last week. At the beginning of the good weather they were able to bring in a record cereal harvest with the minimum effort. Since then, there has been no rain and autumn ploughing and sowing is going wonderfully well. PS: The death rate from suicide is going down.
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