Gang Financial a

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TWO-THIRDS of the British warships in Falklands waters were sunk or damaged by Argentine missiles and bombs.

The extent to which the navy was damaged was concealed while the war was on.

Defence secretary Nott revealed last week that out of 23 destroyers and frigates operating in the South Atlantic, four were sunk and 12 were damaged. Six of those damaged escaped being sunk only because bombs which passed through the decks failed to explode.

The statistics which have been given minimal publicity help explain why the Tory leadership still wants to swap some surface ships for more nuclear weapons. IN some ways it was business as usual in Fleet Street; pens dipped in poison; headlines polished; sights set on a frade union leader who just called a national strike.

There was a strong supporting cast. Red baiting over the Militant inquiry. Law and order outrage at secondary picketing. A 'we want to work' campaign nourished and supported in local papers up and down the country as well as by •the national press.

Despite appearances this Advertisement is not a rerun of three years.

Orgy

Nothing can be quite the same in the wake of the military victory in the Falklands war and the orgy of nationalism which has engulfed the media - and a large segment of the population.

There has been swift evidence that the Thatcher government intends to cash its chips from the Falklands war by launching a major campaign against the trade union movement.

The Daily Express didn't shilly shally forging links between the two. Its front page headline was superimposed on a silhouette of intermeshed rail lines and said: 'After our finest hour in the Falklands, the nation faces chaos at home Now the Battle for Britain"

Press

It isn't the press who contrived this link - it is the Thatcher cabinet itself Cecil Parkinson; Tory Public Relations Officer, acquired a taste for television interviews as the task force was being assem-

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kept quiet