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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JUNE 25, 1982
PAGE 12
the shadow of the Suez fiasco in 1956 when we tried to act boldy
in defence of our interests and failed. That single disaster
cast a terrible blight on our view of ourselves and of what we
were capable of doing. Forget pretentions to any power in the
world we were told, we are a tiny nation now, just as well to
settle for the second rate•.••Perhaps the greatest thing the
Falkland invasion has done has been to lay the ghost of Suez. Our
years of psychological retreat are at an end.
But just how unified is the British public? Are the effects of a (finally)
successful military operation already beginning to wear thin?
The LOS
ANGELES TIMES of June 24 reports this account of British life:
Strikes in Britain forced state-run hospitals to refuse all but
emergency cases and crippled London subway service for a third
day. The strike by about 400,000 hospital workers over pay was
the fifth 24-hour stoppage against the National Health Service in
recent weeks. About 250,000 coal miners, seamen, longshoremen,
steel workers and municipal, gas and water workers also walked
out. Coal production was halted in Scotland and several areas of
England.
Nevertheless, newspapers are full of hopeful articles that Britain's long
steady decline is over. One such article appeared in the June 18, 1982
edition of the DAILY MAIL. Journalist Robin Oakley first paid tribute to
the fighting men, then singled out the resolute spirit of Prime Minister
Thatcher.
That first disastrous weekend in April it all looked so differ
ent••••When on the Monday, the Prime Minister faced the nation on
TV, she was herself nervous, agitated and emotional. But the
words she chose were those of Queen Victoria:
"Failure?
The
possibilities do not exist."
And throughout the diplomacy and
the politics, the military planning and the public propaganda
since, she has been magnificent in her resolve, her constancy and
her simple, straightforward guts.
This is more than a military victory. It is one of those moments
which can lift a nation's mood and alter its history. It is the
restoration of Britain's pride and self-confidence.
� � �-
Imperceptibly, step by step, we had been bumping down the inter
national league tables.•••Somehow we had come to accept second
best as our national status. And there was nothing that arch
bishops or teachers could do about it. We had lost our respect
for ourselves....
Every back in Britain is a little bit straighter today. In the
process we have shown the world that we are not just rather good
at Trooping the Colour and the occasional Royal Wedding, but we
can also send a hundred ships to the South Atlantic without a
breakdown..•.
Will is character. But it often needs a visible means of sup
port, particularly in the lonely hours. Mrs. Thatcher gave or
ders to the appropriate officials in the Department of Environ-