The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 1

Lottery mcnla: tho poor oubsMtsing the paotlmoo of tho rich? Miko Tyoon: coming out and locating for200m 40p Wednesday March 22 1995 Published in London and Manchester LUDsido- ft poatt parity odd aOeirtt tfoir sonaip poDD as Norman Blackweli. new-head of the policy unit, and Chris Meyer. Mr Major's press secretary, will attend. The new committee, known as the EDCP committee, will complement the daily tactical meeting of Tory business managers which Mr Major sometimes chairs Mr Hunt is already deputed to pick up banana skins before ministers slip on them. Yester day's announcement confirms his weekend admission that more needs to be done if back bench despair over looming election defeat is to be lifted.

"You could call it the Hymn Sheet Committee." said one party official. "We will not write the hymns, but we wiU authorise and publicise them The Labour leadership is also sprucing up its own hymn sheet. Mr Blair will warn col leagues against complacency and against a lack of clarity which could undermine Labour in office as it marred Bill Clinton's first year as US president To that end he will appoint John Prescott, his deputy, to chair a new regional policy commission to examine social, economic and democratic regeneration; Gordon Brown to lead a new "tactical response unit" of officials to tackle day to-day problems and define eco nomic policy: and Robin Cook to chair what is described as a "policy Star Chamber" to do velop flagship policies. Andrew Smith, shadow chiet secretary, will inherit Margaret Beckett's old role of grilling col leagues about lurking spending implications. Mr Blair is expected to tell colleagues that no spending commitments will be permitted.

Mr Blair's team has con eluded that Mr Major may soon be terminally wounded and that Mr Heseltine will emerge as the man best placed to save the Government's skin. Many-Tory MPs vehemently disagree, but the Labour leader believes prime minister Heseltine would ignore adverse polls and go to the country quickly. Turn to back page, column IMehaalWhita Pomteat Editor TONY BLAIR will today warn his shadow cabinet they could be facing a snap general election against a new prime minister. Michael Heseltine, within a year as the Conservative Party succumbs to the kind of panic which saw John Major replace Margaret Thatcher in 1990. As the Labour leader prepared to put his team on an election footing, and to unveil new roles for his key allies.

Mr Major announced a symmetrical move, unconvincingly presented as being nothing to do with the coming election. He appointed David Hunt, his unofficial ministerial trouble-shooter, to chair a new four-man cabinet committee of loy-alists to co-ordinate government policy and take a "strategic view" of the next two years. By any test the move looked overdue. Mr Hunt has taken six months since his initial appointment as free-ranging Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to decide that he needs the civil service back-up which an official cabinet committee would command. And yesterday cabinet ministers again squabbled over education and the "feel-good Mr Major won one reprieve last night when the Labour led attack on the Euro-farm policies too much "waste and fraud" was defeated by 305 votes to 278, a majority of 27.

Unionists and most "whip-less" Tory rebels abstained, but four rebels were said to have voted with the Government, raising the likelihood that they may be offered the whip back. The main motion was carried by 298 to 277. Mr Hunt's committee will in elude Tony Newton, leader of the Commons: Viscount Cran-borne. his counterpart in the Lords and a Major intimate: and Jeremy Hanley, the party chairman, over whose performance the Tory tabloids have placed a large question mark. Downing Street officials such The paper that fights Helen Pennant-Rea 'support and respect' Mark Mmwr, Larry BUatt, Sarah Boaalay and MfctoalWMta I I HE Bank of Eng- Inland, already bat-I I tered by the Bar-I I ings crash and a I I shaky pound, suf-U fered another blow yesterday when its deputy governor, Rupert Pennant-Rea, resigned over revelations about his private life.

Korty-eight hours after pledging to carry on. Mr Pennant-Kea quit his 180,000 a year job. blaming his own "foolish mistakes" and the intrusions of the tabloid press. His departure, little more than two years after he was appointed at Downing Street's behest, may come to be seen as another chapter in Mr Major's ill fated back to basics campaign. The governor of the Bank of England, Eddie George, said he understood the reasons for the resignation and greatly respected Mr Pennant-Rea's "determination to minimise any damage to the Bank Bank sources said Mr Pennant Rea felt he had no choice but to resign given the circumstances of his affair with freelance journalist Mary Ellen Synon, and his key role in the administration of the Bank, in On the way out Rupert Pennant-Rea leaves the Bank of England after resigning yesterday PH070GHAPH HUSSfcLL BOVCt sources indicated the governor and the Chancellor will discuss potential candidates before jointly forwarding a name to the Prime Minister.

Downing Street tried to minimise the impact of the controversy. Though Mr Pennant Rea's job is formally in Mr Major's gift, officials offered no guidance as to his views on the resignation. On the foreign exchanges. Mr Pennant-Rea's departure had little impact, with the pound rising by almost three pfennigs against the mark to DM2.2378. made it clear she was determined he should lose his job.

Ms Synon alleges Mr Pennant-Rea was in a turbulent state of mind over the affair, which might have affected his judgment. She says he came to her flat in London last April after confessing the affair to the governor, claiming he had tried to commit suicide. last night, she told BBC 2's Newsnight: "If I was a governor. I wouldn't have asked him to resign, but I'm not the governor. It's up to Eddie George to decide whether he wants a deputy governor who has such bad judgment in how he uses the Bank's facilities." Mr Pennant-Rea's wife, Helen, backed his decision to resign and then pleaded for the family to be left alone.

Reading from a prepared statement on the doorstep of her west Lon don home, she said: "I support and respect my husband's decision to resign from the Bank. His relationship with Ms Synon ended over a year ago and Rupert told me about it then. "Over the last year, despite her threat to publicise the affair, we have endeavoured to rebuild our marriage and protect all our children. Throughout this time. Rupert has paid a very high price for taking the right deci sion and staying with us Speculation was rife last night about his successor.

Bank Deputy governor resigns over affair cluding its internal discipline. He will receive no pay-off. In his letter of resignation the 47-year-old former editor of the Economist, the rightwing weekly magazine, said he had been grateful for the chance to work at the Bank, believing that Britain would benefit from greater job mobility between the private and the public sectors. "But I do know that many good people in the commercial world are put off by the tabloid intrusion into the private lives of those in public positions. After the events of the past few days, this reluctance to move will increase." The Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, expressed his regret over Mr Pennant-Rea's resignation and praised him for his work on the Barings crisis.

"I am sorry that you feel that tabloid intrusion is increasingly discouraging the movement of good people from the commercial world to the public sector. I would view this with great regret," he said. Mr Pennant-Rea decided to go after widespread publicity in the weekend tabloid press about his relationship with Ms Synon was picked up by the broadsheet newspapers. An article in the Financial Times is thought to have been particularly influential in persuading him to resign. advertisements to reassure Instants gamblers.

"I am most concerned that players are kept fully informed and their interests are protected." he said. Since the pursuit of money can bring out the animal in man. it seemed appropriate that the launch took place at London Zoo. attended by a whole human menagerie. As four Red Devils parachuted from the sky.

the party indoors was like a sharks' feeding-frenzy, with Camelot staff handing out wads of scratch cards. The Instants scratch cards are on sale at 20,000 outlets. Players can reveal six cash amounts, requiring three matching sums to win a corresponding cash prize. Camelot said the odds of winning a 50,000 jackpot prize are one in 2.4 million against the lottery odds of one in 14 million. About 300 million tickets were being printed for the first game and Camelot said 55 million would contain winning combinations with prizes of 1.

2, 5, 10. 20. 50, 200, 1 ,000 and 50.000 on offer. Ml UMary mania, Ot front New lottery cards not up to scratch Heart attack MP 'received letter from Ms Synon, who knew Mr Pennant-Rea at Trinity College. Dublin, and then worked for him at the Economist, claimed they had a three-year affair which ended last March.

She said he arranged for her to visit him at the Bank under an as sumed name at a time when it was on maximum security alert because of IRA activity in the City. She also alleged he used his chauffeur-driven car to visit her at her flat. The 44-year-old Cork based journalist told the Guardian that Mr Pennant-Rea had confessed his affair with her to Mr George last April, because he was afraid she would tell her story to the newspapers. She News in brief Nato chaos over Turkish attack Nato is in contusion over Turkish air strikes and armoured incursions into the UN protec tion zone for Kurds in northern Iraq. Page 24 Janirar survives Tory MPs have pulled back from their attempt to unseat Greville Janner.

Labour chairman of the Commons employment select committee. Page 6 Towns go it alone Fifteen large English towns are to get unitary status Page 7 Media ownership Four national newspaper groups have called for a relax ation of cross-media ownership rules Page 8 Attack fails Government offensives against Bosnian Serb positions have petered out amid heavy snow, high casualties and withering Serb artillery fire. Page 10 Inside G2 Politics, pages 6 and Leader comment, paga 23 people, write jnd tell EKDdJ NATIONAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS for a fairer Britain That's the boast but it's the mirror image of the truth In fact Mirror Gioup Newspapers denies its journalists the basic trade union rights to organise independently and to bargain over pay Over the last two years it has sacked hundreds of workers, including nearly all the officers of the National Union of Journalists Now, in a joint campaign with the TUC, the Daily Mirror demands rights for part time workers, but doesn't give a damn for the rights of its own staff Its concern for workers' rights stinks of hypocrisy This week the Daily Mirror has launched the Rolling Rose campaign, jointly with the Labour Party Why have Labour and the IUC joined the Mirror in these campaigns'1 They know the men and women who produce the papers have few union rights Why do they shut their eyes to injustice, intolerance and What do they sec in the Mirror? 'Wrenaad woman', paga Tha succession, page 12; Mauraan Fraaty, paga 22 Sir James would have seen the story before his plane left Belfast Mr Tatchell said a decision on the future of the OutRage! campaign would be taken at the group's next monthly meeting. The organisation would never "out" MPs who supported gay and lesbian equality, although it was possible that others who voted against legislation lowering the age of consent for homosexuals might be outed in the future. "James Kilfedder was a homophobic MP who voted against the equalisation of the age of consent, voting for 21 rather than 16," he said.

"Out Rage! campaigns for homosex ual human rights and he sup ported legislation which discriminates against lesbian and gay people." The late MP's sister Mima, with whom he lived in Bangor, Co Down, said last night she was aware of the rumours concerning OutRage! She added: "He's had a his tory of heart trouble over the last 20 years and has taken medication. But it's very dis comforting in circumstances like this to get that sort of proposition." TatchaN is dsrfcJadi paaa 2 1 1 activist, refused last night to confirm that Sir James, who died of a heart attack on his way to Westminster, was one of the MPs approached. However, he had earlier told the Guardian one of the 20 was a member of a "smaller Unionist Sir James was the sole Ulster Popular Unionist Party MP. The later editions of Monday's Belfast Telegraph reported that a Northern Ireland MP was among the politicians to whom OutRage! had sent a letter. It is unlikely that 1 PBRK5 OUR MORALS ARU A BIT OF A JY ARA Sarah Boaalay THE National Lottery's scratch cards, named Instants, ran into instant trouble on their launch day yesterday when high-tech security equipment to give protection against theft broke down.

"Camelot is working to rectify the system as soon as possible." said David Rigg. communications director. The software problem, discovered after the first sales, centred on computers through which each 1 card must be swiped to make it Anyone who bought a winning card will now have to have it validated before collecting any winnings, which could be from 1 to 50 004) Last night Peter Davis, Director General of the National Lottery, ordered Camelot to place newspaper 12 770261 "307330 Lawranca Donagan and David Sharreck THE gay rights group Out Rage! was under pressure last night to end its cam paign urging individuals to "come out" after claims that Sir James Kilfedder. the Ulster Unionist MP who died on Mon-day, had received a letter from the organisation pressing him to declare his sexuality. Amid growing signs of divisions within the group, a lead ing OutKage! member said the high-profile campaign should end.

"It has got out of hand," he said. "We should get back to what we do best, which is issue-based, radical gay politics." The OutRage! tactic of target ing individuals has attracted criticism. Last week Dr David Hope, the Bishop of London, who said his sexuality was a grey area after receiving an OutRage! letter, accused the group of intimidation. It is believed some OutRage! members had misgivings about it writing to 20 politicians in January. The MPs each received a letter saying the group had "reliable" informa tion they were gay or bisexual and urging them to come out.

Peter Tatchell, the OutRage! It you LJ'e Jbout the rights of working David Montgomery ie1 executive, 1 Cdnddd Squire lonoon 14 Toay Hair. House of Commons, London SW1A0AA -jnd John Monks, UK Husst-I Street London WCIB LS for mote alott the at Jl-JUuyslnr Hodd London Wl IX HUP Tel 01 71 7'ilf) ArU 4-e Mac hi rHaw 10, 11 Hh 7 Outofc Croword 15 TV and Radio IB. 16 Waathar 14.