A letter from Ian McCartney, a shadow employment minister, to a leading over-50s pressure group, sent at Mr Blair’s instigation, promises to “introduce legislation to make age discrimination illegal, just as discrimination on grounds of race and sex are today”.The letter to the Association of Retired Persons Over 50 (ARP), which campaigns on behalf of 18 million people, says Labour is consulting on the form of such legislation. PATRICIA WYNN DAVIES

Political Correspondent
Tony Blair has pledged a future Labour government to ban job discrimination on grounds of age. He stressed the “unprecedented transparency” with which the government was treating the tests.nForeign Office calls French test ‘a matter for them’nAustralian Prime Minister calls it ‘an act of stupidity’nJuppe says internationalreaction is ’sometimes a little hysterical’nFaced with boycott threats, Juppe says breaches ofcontract will be contested via World Trade OrganisationnChirac says France will show ‘absolute firmness’, in carrying out tests and indefending its interests- page 3World reaction. In a sign that the consumer boycotts could be starting to bite, however, he warned that breaches of contract would be contested by France through the World Trade Organisation.Mr de Charette took the highly unusual step of personally issuing a statement in English for the benefit of the foreign press, in which he said he was “shocked” by the nature of some of the anti-French demonstrations, and by the participation of Japanese and Swedish government ministers in protests in Tahiti. Later, he repeated France’s proposal that its nuclear deterrent might be “placed at the service of the European Union” for the defence of Europe.

In a television interview on Tuesday, Mr Chirac had spoken of between “six and eight” tests, and said that the results were more important than completing a particular number.Mr Juppe went on French radio early in the morning to say that he found the international reaction “sometimes a little hysterical”. We understand the concern the decision has caused in a number of countries”.Senior members of the French government, including Prime Minister Alain Juppe, and the Foreign Minister, Herve de Charette, professed themselves “unsurprised” by the reaction, but only the head of Mr Chirac’s own RPR party, Jean-Francois Mancel, could bring himself to praise the test as “conforming with the higher interests of the nation” and “necessary to guarantee our security and independence”.Le Monde newspaper, which prints in the afternoon in Paris, said yesterday that the global condemnation might force President Chirac to reduce the number of tests. The Foreign Office called the French testing “a matter for them, and for them to justify. New Zealand and Chile recalled their ambassadors from Paris, and the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru suspended diplomatic relations with France altogether Britain reacted cautiously to the tests, as did Germany.

Two French police were injured, and the airport was closed after the runway was blocked with canoes, rocks and coconuts.The Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, called the French test “an act of stupidity” and said that “with every test they conduct, the good name of France will be diminished in this part of the world”. The terminal at Tahiti’s international airport outside the capital, Papeete, was set on fire, with hundreds of passengers still inside the building, after French riot police responded with tear gas to a demonstration by hundreds of Tahitians. French authorities raced to evacuate the passengers from the smoke-filled terminal and escort them to a military base. A bureau de change, a consumer credit venture, a Caribbean real estate business and an office rental business operated from the premises.Police said that they have been investigating the fraud for several months following a complaint by a local resident Sixty officers were involved in the investigation.. MARY DEJEVSKY

Paris
ROBERT MILLIKENPapeete, TahitiThe President and government of France tried yesterday to preserve a small centre of calm and normality as a veritable tornado of global condemnation swirled around them, prompted by France’s first nuclear test for three- and-a-half years.By the end of the day, however, the scale of the diplomatic and probably commercial damage to France caused by President Jacques Chirac’s decision to break the 1993 moratorium could not be disguised.Protesters marched, burned French flags and chained themselves to French embassies worldwide as anger flared over the test blast. Any operation of this nature creates particular difficulties for the police.

It is resource intensive, has international connotations and the offences often fall into various areas of jurisdiction.”Another police spokesman said: “We have no idea why these people appear to have settled here, except that it is a rather nice place to live. This is the largest financial fraud we have ever investigated.”The properties raided include the former TSB building which appears to have been the local base for the group. When customers tried to arrange their loans they were told that they could not do so because the company concerned was not a recognised bank, sources said.The victims appear to be wealthy individuals and institutions based overseas, mainly in Europe and the US.”The first indications are that the victims are likely to have lost all their money,” a spokesman for the Devon and Cornwall police said, adding that there was nothing to indicate that people in Torquay had been defrauded.Mr Albon said: “It won’t be known for some time how many of those arrested will be charged, or when. Once this was paid the customer would receive a certificate of deposit which, it said, would enable a loan to be arranged at another bank.