VISITS TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
Thursday, May 25. The ten members of Lower VI Politics Set and Mr. Rigby caught the 8 o'clock to King's Cross, for a visit to the House of Commons. It is not easy to get eleven tickets for the Public Gallery on the same afternoon, and we are very grateful to Sir Robin Turton, Member for Thirsk and Malton, who arranged it. As everyone knows, the important part of an M.P.'s life—working as a plumber's mate, pleading a case, etc.—must be got over before lunch, leaving the afternoon free for his hobby as a legislator. We therefore had some time to spare; for some it was an opportunity to tog themselves out in new gear, while others went along for the laughs. As for the Parliamentary Business, we had amazing luck. The Prime Minister was answering Questions—no rigging! Willie Whitelaw was reporting on Northern Ireland, and Michael Heseltine on Concorde. Everyone important was present to hear the reports except the Foreign Sec., who was abroad; and the House was alive, electric. Perhaps it was not typical, but it was great to be there. We saw everyone who had recently been in the news, mostly because of Northern Ireland: Harold Wilson, and Enoch, and Bernadette. Ian Paisley spoke, surprisingly level-headed—what a man, like him or not! Returning to York, we seemed to have chosen British Rail's grubbiest and most crowded train; but it had been a very good day. J.P.R.
TO RUSSIA
On Thursday July 20th after more than a year's planning, the Russian party finally gathered at Victoria Station to begin the first leg of the trip. The flight out was in a Russian TU 104, admittedly rather drab but it seemed to work all right. The customs at Kiev airport, our first port of call, were quite casual, but here we got our first taste of Russian bureaucracy as we were asked for our numerous pieces of paper every five yards. In Kiev itself we got our first experience too of the Russian black market as we strolled down the Kreshchatik, the main street, on the first night. In fact, all through the trip we found that we were constantly approached by groups of teenagers who wanted to exchange foreign currency for several times the official rate or to buy clothes, magazines, biros, records, and, incredibly enough, chewing gum. Everywhere impressions of a very different way of life flooded in on us. Basic essentials seemed to be very cheap, but other items were expensive and often virtually unobtainable. Furthermore, the shop assistants, due to a lack of financial incentive, were invariably unhelpful and sometimes rude, and they operate a cumbersome chit system which doubles the time for buying anything. Another thing which struck us was that there is little for the Russians to do in the evenings. There are of course theatres, cinemas, and restaurants, but there are no snack-bars 56
