Political notes

National Coal Board drops "cheap gas" scheme Further evidence of the rundown be ing planned by the National Coal Board (see Ken Tarbuck's article in la st week's edition) is given by the announcement of the abandonment of a £1 million experiemnt to produce from low grade coal at Manvers Main colliery, Yorkshire. The experimen was started in 1961 when coal was the only source of gase Subsequently, the manufacture of gas from the waste products of petroleum, the import of liquid methane and the discovery of gas in the North Sea have provided overwhelming competition, The end of this experiment means the end of the Coal Board's attempts to compete in this field and will inevitably lead to an overall reduction in the demand for coal. Pioneering work in heart surgery threatened by lack of funds One of the consequences of Wilson's clamp down on public spending is a reduction in spending on matters literally of "life and death." After seven years of support from the Nuffield Foundation, the unit at Hammersmith Hospital which has been doing essential research work on the transplantation of organs and the development of artificial valves for the heart, applied for further support from the University Grants Committee. This has not been forthcoming, Professor Welbourn, director of the department of surgery, states in the hospitals: annual report that unless further funds become available the unit's work will stop. Big anti-freeze rally to be held in Glasgow Frank Allaun and Harry Nicholas top the bill of speakers at a mass rally in opposition to the Incomes Policy which is to be held in Glasgow's 1,400-seat Concert Hall on Sunday, 15th Janaury, at 2.30 p.m, The rally is sponsored by 10 trade unions including the TGWU, Scottish NUM, NALGO, ASSET and DATA,