The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 1

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ASTHMA RESEARCH COUNCIL (G28) Frwpoat, London Nl 2BR SunLife of Canada Published in London and Manchester Tuesday 22 December 1987 25p TTOflflSIf I ht to report allegations of scandals in government 'is one of the bulwarks of a democratic society' Judge rales for press freedom free to publish Spycatcher in And in perhaps the most damning passage in his 107-page ruling, he said: "I found myself unable to escape the reflection that the absolute protection of the security service that Sir Robert was contending for could not be achieved this side of the Iron Curtain." Mr Peter Preston, editor of the Guardian, said last night: "This is more than another Judgment details, page Leader comment, page 12; Hugo Young's Commentary, page 13 victory in the legal game of snakes and ladders the Government has inflicted on the press. This is the full hearing of the case. It vindicates our stand. "It condemns crucial government evidence as shallow and unconvincing. And it suggests that the press and the public have legitimate, vital rights.

I think this is a Christmas present for democracy." However, the Government immediately asked the judge to prolong the injunctions against the Guardian and the Observer and Sunday Times the two other defendants until its appeal is heard on January 18. The date for this was fixed by the Appeal Court even before Mr Justice Scott made his judgment in the High' Court. As a result, the Guardian cannot publish material from Spycatcher the memoirs of the former MI5 man Mr Peter Wright pending the appeal. The judge, however, rejected a government attempt to prevent the newspapers from put lishing any future information from Mr Wright. It was well established, he said, that the courts did not grant injunctions on issues which have not arisen: there was nothing to suggest that Spycatcher 2 had yet been written.

Government action over Spycatcher in the British courts started 18. months ago when the Guardian and the Observer wrote what Mr Jus tice Scott yesterday called "innocuous" articles giving an outline of the contents of the book, including allegations of a plot to destabilise the Wilson government in the 1970s and a plot to assassinate President Nasser. In a reference to the Wilson plot, the judge said that if activities of MI5 officers had taken place as suggested, they could not be protected by a duty of confidence. "The importance to the public of this country of the allegation that members of MI5 endeavoured to undermine and destroy public confidence in a democratically elected government makes the public the proper recipient of the information," Mr Justice Scott said. A plot to kill Nasser, he said, would have been "a monstrous thing and a stain on this country's honour." Whether the allegations were true or not, the duty of confidence could not be used "to prevent the press from informing the public that the allegation has been made." New BA bid wins battle for control of BCal By Andrew Cornelius, Industrial Correspondent British Airways yesterday clinched control of British Caledonian, to create a giant new British airline, after tabling an increased cash takeover offer of 250 million which was accepted by the BCal board and the airline's major shareholder, Investors in Industry.

The new airline will employ 48,000 people, own 188 aircraft, carry 22 million passengers each year, and increase BA's share of UK scheduled airline traffic from 75 to 93 per cent. The take-over was sealed in dramatic fashion after Investors in Industry, which owns 41.4 per cent of BCal, demanded that final bids by BA and the Scandinavian airline, SAS, should be tabled by midday yesterday at the latest. Lord King, BA's ch.irman tabled his new offer at 9am but insisted in turn that the offer would be withdrawn by 3pm if BCal's board had not accepted by then. BCal's board met at 1.30pm to consider the offer and quickly recommended it to Investors in Industry which then agreed to sell its 41.4 per cent BCal share stake. These shares together with the BCal directors' and BA's near 9 per cent sharehold Philippines ferry blaze claims over 1,500 lives Britain.

But he rejected the Govern ment's argument that the news papers were bound by this auiy, partly oecause ot the na ture of the allegations, and partly because Spycatcher was now well and truly in the puonc domain. It was not enough, Mr Justice Scott said, for the Government to assert that national security demanded the suppression of lniormanon. in any case, any aamage to national security had already been inflicted bv the widespread publication of spycatcner. Again referring to claims maae Dy sir Kobert Armstrong. he said that a duty of confi dence is not imposed on news papers to maintain the morale ot MI5 officers.

The judge said he found it difficult to follow Sir Robert's point that greatly increased damage would follow publica- non oi tne oook here and unrestricted press comment on its Turn to back page, col 1 upper deck. He said he felt a tremendous impact, and the night exploded into fire. "I saw many people, some of them screaming," he said. As the flames quickly engulfed the ship, he jumped overboard. "When I jumped into the water, fire surrounded me, so I dived and swam about five yards to get away from the fire.

But when I re-surfaced, I was still surrounded by fire," he said: "So I dived again, and this time, when I resurfaced, I was able to get away from the fire, although the water was still hot. "I swam slowly away from the site, letting the waves take control of me. I could no longer hear or see my fellow passengers. I think a lot of people died," he told reporters from his bed in a Manila hospital. The Philippines navy searched the site throughout xgrtacaay with palftsi-a -flawfrand a by four, commercial vessels.

But as darkness fell, nearly 24 hours after the disaster occurred, there were no signs of further survivors, authorities said. Survivors said the three-deck ship was so overcrowded that people were sharing one-n cots, and the passage- ana aecKs were crammed pie. Most of the travel- en route to Manila to istmas with family or In Manila, scores of friends and relatives thronged the offices of the Sulpicio lines, owner of the ferry, anxiously awaiting news of loved ones. rSmves ing gave BA a stake of 51 per cent in BCal. SAS, which had considered increasing its 110 million take over offer for a 23.5 per cent stake in BCal to 130 million, was then forced to concede defeat.

"We did not believe it would be appropriate to make a revised offer under the circumstances" said Mr Jan Carlzon, SAS president and chief execu tive officer. "We knew from the start that it would be a terrific uphill battle." Lord King, who was forced to pay 105 million more than he offered for BCal immediately after a monopolies investigation into the deal and the stockmarket crash, insisted that the price "would be fullv justfied in future trading." ue saia ba has the financial, operational and marketing skills to turn BCal round. "BCal requires immediate action to turn its operations into an efficient and profitable part of the new merged airline. We will set about that task with the utmost urgency," he said. Sir Colin Marshall, BA's chief executive, will visit BCal's headquarters at Gatwick this morning to talk to staff, and will unveil further details of its plans for the airline at a news conference in London this afternoon.

However, a BA spokesman stressed last night that the 2,000 Turn to back page, col 6 The united enemy within Israel page 13 Whose life is it before conception? Women, page 10 Seasonal gifts for the Gerbil man Education, page 9 Tomorrow Wilmette Brown of the King's Cross Women's Centre and Wages For Housework replies to her critics News in brief SDP call for split A MEMBER of the SDP negoti ating team has launched a campaign against merger with the Liberals, whom he describes as "fractious and fee bly Back page. Post profits THE POST Office has an nounced pre-tax profits of 46 million and an investment pro gramme worth ioo million. Page 14. Gas cloud HUNDREDS suffered bums when a cloud of unidentified gas spread over Alexandria, in Egypt, after an explosion at a military chemicals warehouse. Page 6.

Anti-drink drive HEALTH experts want minis ters to qppose the Home Office oui on aii-aay arinKing, claiming it will lead to an "epi demic of intoxication" among the young. Page 5. Fresh start PRISONERS at Bristol gaol still live in Victorian conditions, despite the Government's much-vaunted Fresh Start programme. Page 2. Iran attack IRANIAN forces claim to have killed or wounded.

1,000 Iraqi troops in an attack to reclaim the disputed Do'iradj river. Page 6. Airport row A ROW has erupted between two airlines over the suspension of flights between the new 32 million City airport and Paris pending safety inquiries. Page 2. Brides inquiry BRITISH Embassy officials are hoping to meet Yemeni authorities over claims that two Birmingham girls were sold into marriage by their father.

Page 2. BP offer ends THE Bank of England's 70p buy-back offer, brought in to safeguard BP shares after the disastrous 7.2 billion issue, will run full term. Page 14. Test draw ENGLAND'S final Test against Pakistan ended in a draw yes- leaving Pakistan 1-0 rictors in the series. Leader comment, 12; Match report, page 18.

Page 5 Inside Arts ltaviawa Business and Finance). Classified Advertising. Education Guardian. Bjitsi taliiiiiBiiliM TV and Radio Crosswords 31 mum i Guardian Woman 10 Home News Letters 12 Overseas News 6,7 Personal 20 Sport Mews 17-1 0 21 By Richard Norton-Taylor A High Court judge yesterday dismissed the Government's prolonged attempt to suppress the contents of Spycatcher and ruled that the Guardian had made out an "overwhelming" case to allow it to report allegations of serious misconduct by officers in the security service, MI5. In a judgment highly critical of arguments employed by the Government, as well as of the advice of its lawyers and the evidence of Sir Robert Armstrong, Cabinet Secretary and the Government's chief witness, Mr Justice Scott said: "The ability of the press freelv to report allegations of scandals in government is one of the bulwarks of our democratic society." Air Rnhpri- ttip iiiHda cniri would not accept that any freedom of speech or of publication should permit information about MI5 to be disclosed by an Hospital stays may cost 50 By Andrew Veitch, Medical Correspondent PATIENTS could be charged 50 for the average 10-day hospital stay under plans being considered by the Government to make them pay food and accommodation costs.

The bill, calculated from official figures, would be at least twice as high if minis ters decided to charge wage earners more to make up for the 75 per cent who would almost certainly have to be exempted, such as the unemployed, children, and pensioners. Doctors, health service managers, and health au Letters, page 12 thorities yesterday roundly condemned the proposals to charge patients for meals, laundry, and linen, disclosed at the weekend. If the fees were to be high enough to cover the costs of collecting them, patients would be tempted to leave hospital before it was safe to do so, they warned. The Department of Health and Social Security said last night that catering, laundry, and linen services cost an average of 5 a patient per day: a total of 470 million a year in England. However it would be diffi cult for ministers to bill patients who are exempt from drug charges.

More than three-quarters of prescriptions are dispensed free to pensioners, the under-16s, expectant mothers, new mothers, and people who receive social security or are on poverty-line wages. The Government appears to have had a sudden change or heart on the charging Turn to oack page, col 6 UIW1 Mr Justice Scott: critical of Government However, the judge ruled that by publishing his memoirs, Mr Wright was "in clear and flagrant breach of the duty of confidence he owed the Crown," He described Mr Wright's example as a "lamentable beacon." Heinemann, his publishers, would still not be trapped below decks when the fire engulfed the vessel. "The fire spread rapidly and there were flames everywhere," said Paquito Osabel, aged 42, a survivor from the ferry who was on his way to Manila with his sister and three nieces to spend Christmas with his family. The disaster occurred at about 10pm on Sunday when a small tanker, the Victor, loaded with 8,800 barrels of oil, collided with the Dona Paz, an 3nter-island ferry with L493 Manila-bound passengers officially listed aboard, the coast guard saia. The collision took place in a channel between t'Afelands of Mindoro and vltfSdimnp aoout liu miles Manila.

1 ic-. The tanker nurtured oil exploded into flames, auicklv SDread to the fer the surrounding waters, vors said. One survivor, Almario Balanda, said that minutes before the collision, he had gone below deck to the ferry's dining hall to eat, but it was too crowded so he returned to the BBC 'mole' loses post By Ed Vulliamy Mr Michael Cole, the BBC court correspondant, was yes-, terday removed from his post after the corporation acknowledged in an apology to Buckingham Palace that he was responsible for leaking details of the Queen's Christmas message to Fleet Street journalists. The speech, the subject of a strict embargo, is understood to condemn the "men of violence" in Northern Ireland. If true, this would be the first occasion on which the annual broadcast had contained a directly political reference.

A BBC statement said that Mr Cole had mentioned the contents of the speech to other reporters at a lunch "on what he had presumed was a private The statement added that he was to be "assigned to other duties." The BBC's deputy director of news and current affairs, Mr Ron Neil, said: "This has been a most unfortunate event which we all regret." Diary, back page. Lisa Steinberg in New York. Her adoptive father, himself a Manhattan adoption lawyer, has been charged in the case. Thus one New York radio station reports more than 3,000 requests for Dear Mr Jesus in one day alone. Inevitably, stories are surfacing that "Dear Mr Jesus" is helping child-beaters to mend their ways.

A caller to a Fort Worth, Texas, station, reported that "I realised that the cycle of abuse was continuing with this generation She had decided to break that cycle. As the chorus puts it: "Please don't let them hurt your children. We need love and shelter from the storm. Please don't let them hurt your children. Won't you keep us safe and warm?" CV IROUTE Luzon 1 COLLISION I HERE I 1 'k TV SUTTsw Arab unrest spreads From Gregg Jones in Manila Philippines navy ships were last night searching shark-infested waters south of Manila for more than 1,500 Christmas travellers from a ferry that sank after a fiery collision with an oil tanker on Sunday evening.

But the best that could be hoped for nearly 36 hours after the ferry, the Dona Paz, sank is that a further small handful of survivors may be picked up. The sinking could turn out to be the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster, with more lives lost than when the Titanic went down in 1912. Filipino authorities have so far refused to comment on reports that the Dona Paz, registered to carry 1,493 passengers and 50 crew, may in fact have been crammed with as many as 3,000 people. Most of. those who died on, the Dona Pazwefe tvSjils; death below dectefefter flatwag-' oil from the tanker sePme ferry ablaze, survivors' Recounts suggest.

Those who managed to leap into the sea also faced flames as the oil slick around the two vessels caught fire as well. Earlier yesterday, the passenger ship Don Claudio ferried 26 survivors of the disaster, including two of the tanker's 13 crewmen, to Manila. Most had suffered serious burns. The survivors said many of the ferry's passengers were One of the few ferry survivors is treated for third degree burns. as 3 die several policemen injured in the incidents inside Israel proper.

Tear gas was used to disperse large demonstrations in Nazareth and Umm al-Fahm, and there were violent incidents in Jaffa and Lod as well as in the Beduin township of Rahat in the southern Negev desert. PLO flags were raised in several places. UN officials in the Gaza Strip last night reported major disturbances in the huge Jabaliya refugee camp and said that at least 10 people had been injured when Israeli troops dispersed a demonstration, using a light plane to drop tear gas on the crowd. Thirty one Palestinians were arrested in the East Jerusalem area during the morning and the Jewish mayor, Mr Teddy Kollek, met local Arab leaders later to try to persuade them to use their influence to restrain young people from taking part in further riots. The general strike by Israeli Arabs and their compatriots from the occupied territories affected many sectors of the-Turn to back page, col 2 board's authoritative top 100 singles chart and rising fast.

The requests come from people of all ages, classes, and colours. The most likely explanation is not hard to fathom. In a country neurotically concerned with protecting its young, the dark side of its own society drugs, kidnapping, and physical and sexual abuse gain public attention more easily than the steady rise in homelessness and child poverty, which now affects some 20 per cent of American children. Among the spoiled offspring of the prosperous majority, parent abuse is also a problem evident in every toy store. But as 1987 ends, most people have been moved by the savage death-by-beating of six-year-old This Christmas make a blind man see.

10. From Ian Black in Jerusalem Israeli soldiers shot dead three more Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank yesterday as thousands of Israel's own Arab citizens came out on strike in a rare and dramatic mass protest against the government's supression of 12 consecutive days of unrest all over the occupied territories. Yesterday's killings, which took place in the Jenin area after petrol bombs were thrown at Israeli military vehicles, brought the unofficial death toll since December 9 to at least 22 and led to speculation that the wave of trouble in the West Bank and Gaza may be far from over. The protest by Israel's 750,000 Arab citizens those Palestinians who stayed behind in the Jewish state after the 1948 war was dubbed by organisers as a "day of but it was accompanied by several clashes with the security forces, although these were on a much smaller scale than those across the pre-1967 "green line" border. The strike, which was backed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation, represented the boldest expression ever of solidarity by Israel's 17 per cent Arab minority with the 1.3 million Palestinians who live under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

It is bound to fuel Israeli government fears about the possible dimensions and configuration of future unrest in the absence of any real hope of a political settlement of the Palestinian conflict. It will also sharpen the general and growing sense of Arab-Jewish The enemy within, page 13 emnity on both sides of the old "green "The purpose of the strike is to demonstrate our solidarity with the residents of the occupied territories," said Mr Ibrahim Nimr Hussein, chairman of the national committee of Arab local councils. "We want to protest against the violence there, not to cause trouble ourselves." Police sources said that 100 people had been arrested and Through the usual three minutes of a pop single, the little tot, actually Sharon Batts, a member of a Texan evangelical youth chorus, pleads for the villain as well as the victim. "Dear Mr Jesus, I don't understand why they took Her mom and dad away. I know that they don't mean to hit with wild and angry hands," and so on.

The denouement comes in the final line when Dear Mr Jesus is begged: "Please don't tell my daddy, but my mommy hits me too." What has taken the music industry and radio station DJs of every kind by surprise is a surge of requests across the country in recent weeks which is fast translating into 100,000 sales, 63rd position in Bill Cataracts strike thousands of elderly people in India and Africa, leaving them blinded and helpless. Yet cataracts can be cured by a simple operation that costs as little as 10. Help the Aged is running ophthalmic programmes in Indiaand Africa tnat are steadily eliminating as many cataracts as we have funds for-nearly 5000 last year. But our work cannot stop there. Money is desperately needed to support projects that tackle the root causes of the problem-poverty, bad hygiene, malnutrition.

Christmas is a time for caring. Please be as generous as you can, as soon as possible, because when blindness is the problem, prevention is the best cure of all. Child abuse weepie tops American pops TarklputeAgePrcjectTioos.FREErW.LaKlonECIB IBD. I enclose my chequepostal orderfor faiportiflclfyouiiKferto Veac4pNmphme(0l)25302533ndaikforextentim345. From Michael White in Washington The most popular children's message in the United States Christmas is not the traditional shopping list dispatched to overworked post offices in North Pole, Alaska and Santa Claus, Indiana.

Surging up the hit parade instead is a tear- jerking song, lisped by a seven- year-oia, aoout cnud abuse ana entitled "Dear Mr Even by the hard-boiled standards of show-business sentimentality, it is a weepie, beginning: "Dear Mr Jesus, I just had to write to you. Some- tning reaiiy scared me wnen i saw it on the news. A story about a Utile girl, beaten black and blue. Jesus, thought I'd take this right to you." (BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE) tame(HrfMntfelMi) Address Postcode- Help the Aged THE TIME TO CARE IS NOW. ST FJU COv.