RSGOLD-RUNESCAPEGOLD

Union leaders, who are divided on what to do next - and have been strangely quiet all this week - seem to have lost all ability to direct the strike, which has taken on its own momentum.Frustration, meanwhile, is building up on all sides. This might have had something to do with the fact that official figures published yesterday showed that unemployment rose by 0.3 per cent in October, the third consecutive monthly rise.Despite Mr Lamassoure's concern to scotch rumours and stress the government's readiness to talk, there was no sign yesterday that the striking workers would be amenable to persuasion. Disturbingly for the international markets, he thus reverted to President Chirac's original priority (jobs), rather than his new "absolute priority" of cutting the budget deficit. Aside from the government's "firmness", Mr Lamassoure offered several other messages, all apparently intended to reassure unions and public sector workers about the government's plans.He said there was no intention to alter the "special pension arrangements" of individual groups of public sector employees, insisting that the government's only concern was "fairness" - that equal contributions should bring workers equal pension rights.In less conciliatory terms, however, he accused striking unions of "sabotaging" the "battle against unemployment, which is this government's first priority".

Later in the day, students held a separate demonstration, to drive home their protest against overcrowding, poor facilities and lack of money in the universities.Meanwhile, the franc was affected by the unrest for the first time, falling slightly against the German mark.In calling a press conference yesterday, at only 90 minutes' notice, Mr Lamassoure was making the first official statement of Alain Juppe's government since the beginning of the current crisis. MARY DEJEVSKY Paris As post and telecommunications staff threatened to join the week-old national transport strike, and tax and bank workers said they would come out today, the French government broke its silence yesterday to insist that it intended to stand firm, despite the growing difficulties facing private-sector employees and business.In the first of what he said would be daily briefings, spokesman Alain Lamassoure said the government was 'calm, determined and always open to dialogue' and would 'explain, explain and explain again', but would not backtrack on the social security reforms at the root of the current protests.Mr Lamassoure, who was appointed in the recent cabinet reshuffle, was speaking as gas and electricity workers marched through nearby streets to add their voice to the general protest against possible changes in their pension arrangements.The demonstrators, numbering several thousand, had originally planned to protest against deregulation requirements set by the European Union, but decided to join the two issues. "What often the press office was doing was saving politicians from themselves, from their own gaffes, and from the messes that they had created."When someone goes on television and does something which creates sort of palpable damage to the party and the message we're .. trying to get across, it has to be all hands to the pump.". they feared that I might do a lot better than I did."The following month Mr Prescott's office made three attempts to persuade the producer Denys Blakeway to edit out the references to "personalities".Mr Blakeway said yesterday: "There was some concern expressed by his office afterwards that he wasn't entirely happy with the comments he had made."They said they were under the impression that issues of personality weren't going to be included in the programme."Mr Blakeway said he had made his editing decisions purely on an editorial basis.In a passage on a television interview with Michael Meacher, then Labour's employment spokesman, Mr Mandelson delivers a doughty defence of spin- doctors "Noboby was undermining anyone," he said. well the leader feels who'll rid me of this troublesome priest and they play their part and there's no doubt we felt very strongly about that, they weren't only whispering, they were pretty well shouting, what they thought had to be a rubbishing of me ...

Neil used to deny they were going on and it wasn't his office."Well we just all knew frankly that wasn't true and whether he knew or not is another matter but certainly his office were at it and I don't think it was limited to Peter Mandelson."In the interview, conducted in August, Mr Prescott recalls Mr Kinnock's advisers as feeling "... PATRICIA WYNN DAVIES Political Correspondent John Prescott, Labour's deputy leader, tried to retract apparently critical comments about one of Tony Blair's most trusted advisers, to be shown on television this month.In part four of The Wilderness Years series, beginning on BBC2 on Sunday, Mr Prescott says that Peter Mandelson MP, Labour's former communications chief but now part of the deputy leader's campaign team, had "extraordinary influence, beyond what he should have exercised", at the time of Mr Precott's 1988 challenge for the deputy leadership.Mr Prescott adds that "I'm sure Peter would feel that he was carrying out the job he was expected to do", but comments: "If you went to tell Neil [Kinnock] and protested as often shadow cabinet ministers did ... The measure ends "quickie" divorces, substituting a 12-month pause for consideration, but it also ends the requirement to prove fault by one partner.Lord Craigmyle, president of the Catholic Union of Great Britain, warned that if Parliament strove to make divorce as simple, stigma-free and inexpensive as possible it would become a "normal, every-day affair". Britain already tops the European divorce league.However, Lord Mackay was supported by the Duke of Norfolk, the senior Roman Catholic layman, with a strong proviso that more resources go into counselling and other help to save marriages.Countering a call from the moralists for a two-year cooling off period, Lord Mackay said that while 12 months might not seem long to peers, it was a very long time indeed in the life of a young child living with uncertainty.Presaging a key vote later in Bill's later stages, Lord Irvine of Lairg, the shadow Lord Chancellor, said Labour would put down amendments to try and remove the 12-month embargo on obtaining a divorce as it was too restrictive."If the parties are able to make sensible and firm arrangements to protect the interests of the children, we see no merit in holding them to a marriage which is dead and from which they wish to escape," Lord Irvine said.. STEPHEN GOODWIN Parliamentary Correspondent A political struggle over the time couples should have to wait for a divorce was signalled last night as Lord Mackay of Clashfern, the Lord Chancellor, came under fire from both Tory moralists and Labour over his Family Law Reform Bill.Former Conservative Cabinet minister Baroness Young said that by removing fault from divorce, the state was "actively discouraging any concept of lifelong commitment in marriage".The sharp divisions emerged as the Bill began what is expected to be a stormy passage with its Second Reading in the Lords. He said: "The Welsh Grand Committee has the potential to ensure that Welsh interests are kept high on the agenda in Parliament."But the proposals were met with derision by Labour and Liberal Democrat spokesmen.Ron Davies, Labour's spokesman on Wales, called the statement "a welcome admission of the inadequacies of the current arrangements", but said a directly elected Welsh assembly remained the priority.Mr Hague told MPs that in the last referendum Wales had rejected an assembly.. PATRICIA WYNN DAVIES Political Correspondent The Government yesterday attempted to meet the clamour for devolved democracy in Wales with a series of proposed changes to the Welsh Grand Committee.But opposition parties at once dismissed the plans as doing nothing to change the committee's "talking shop" status.William Hague, Secretary of State for Wales, said he planned more frequent Grand Committee meetings - six or seven a year with half of them in a range of Welsh towns - the introduction of question times and, in line with plans for Scotland, a new right for Welsh MPs to question visiting ministers over responsibilities affecting Wales.There will be no new legislative role for the committee, which currently has the power to consider, but not vote on, government legislation.Mr Hague told MPs in a Commons statement that John Major and Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor, had both indicated their willingness to attend a session of the committee.