Myself and my family recovering from our holiday trip, with a portfolio of transactions actioned today and a large job started with my history archiving, and the nation recovering from the shock and mourning the outcome of the so called ‘Poppy Day’ Remembrance Sunday massacre at Enniskillen yesterday. Stories were emerging of police intimidation of the Irishmen wrongly convicted of the last Birmingham Pub bombing. I keep a close watch on the stock exchanges, which are falling again and Di and I supervised Daniel’s prep and Debbie’s flower arranging for Brownies this evening. UK Industry Minister, Kenneth Clarke, got a pounding from fellow European Space Ministers today, as Britain stuck to the policy of resisting any increase in space exploration research funding. Up to 70 people have perished in a bus bomb attack in Colombo, Sri Lanka
Another night of gradual acclimatisation. Not tired at first and then difficulty in waking up this morning. My normal routine, but it was all too slow and I ended up missing the family at breakfast. Read the financial paper after the meal and had deduced from my entire weekend reading that the markets were going to fall again and fall they did. I worked with one eye on the TV teletext this morning and the other on my accounts and deskwork. The Index opened up another 30 pts down and finished 50 off. Wall Street followed suit later. This morning’s work was to sort out the mess on my desk, update financial accounts and make a number of calls to arrange things. This took all morning and most of this afternoon and I sent Diana off to St Neots with a virtual portfolio of financial transactions to do for me. Collin Howard brought round the photograph copies and this evening I started the long process of sorting, referencing and sticking them into my photo portfolio.
I had already stuck into my scrap book some 2 weeks of local Little Paxton press cuttings and am still overwhelmed by the outstanding work left before I can catch up. Supervised Daniel’s homework this evening and Di looked after Debbie. She first had to make and take a flower arrangement to her Brownies meeting and then do some more biology prep, leaf searching and writing up the result. Still tired and put out, I wrote up my journal tonight whilst watching the news and then went to bed, hoping to catch up further tomorrow. News today is still of the ‘Poppy Day Massacre’. The IRA eventually admitted responsibility, but claimed they had not detonated it, saying that it could have been set off by British Army radio interference. This is greeted with widespread scepticism. Sinn Fein have ‘regretted the deaths’, but public opinion will be dead against them and the effect is of them scoring a press agenda, ‘own goal’. Tests on the explosive used show it to be similar to that used by Libya and to that found on the recently intercepted arms shipment. Meanwhile, there are poignant victim reports about the last minutes of the dying relatives. Public and church leaders are pleading for no retaliation. Unionists were very angry in the House of Commons and were not satisfied by government minister’s expressions of horror and condemnation. In the Appeal Court hearing the case of the Irishmen convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings, a police woman has admitted witnessing the defendants being beaten up and intimidated in the way they claim led to their false confessions. Most people believe that they did not do it, but were forced into confessions by police during the wave of hysteria and revulsion that followed the outrage. There was no other corroborating evidence and alibis were suppressed. Irish police are still trying to find O’Hare, the kidnap gang leader, after he turned up and shot at his wife. Back in England, a man has been charged with kidnapping missing Bristol woman, Mrs Banks, and will appear in court tomorrow. Elsewhere in the world, up to 70 people have perished in a bus bomb attack in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The incident was in rush hour outside a police station, when 32 were killed outright and the remainder are dying with 1st degree burns. UK Industry Minister, Kenneth Clarke, got a pounding from fellow European Space Ministers today, as Britain stuck to the policy of resisting any increase in space exploration research funding. My sympathies are with the French – a technocratic, rather than classical, society as for as its politicians are concerned. It had rained overnight, but I still got Pete to clear up the area by the river.