Alconbury Air Base
Alconbury Air Base

A recovery day catching up with current affairs and reading as the Gulf deadline is imminent and our proximity to the main attack air base of Alconbury a consideration and I was preparing for my afternoon Pathfinder House meeting to attack the Tory Council’s Poll Tax plans                                          

I was not going to achieve a highly active working day after the exertions of the weekend and was most reluctant to wake up when called on a very cold morning. I had also been up after mid-night switching the swimming pool control system on to the winter setting after noticing that the pump was not cutting in for frost protection. A light and late breakfast and then, as Diana went into St Neots to return the offending book and do some shopping, I lit the log fire in my office and got through some reading on the affairs of my council and the world. With the Gulf now only hours from war, it is important for me to keep up with as much news and analysis as possible for our own sakes and for the prospects of the substantial family funds for which I am the de facto investment manager.

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Today, the UN leader was still being reported as saying that the talks had failed, and the EEC announce that they will not be sending a mission to Iraq and so that seems to be it! We worry about being in the middle of the military air force area, close to Alconbury where John Major met Baker yesterday and to where the might of the US and UK attacks are going to come from. With the IRA being supplied by their Libyan allies and with the prospect of Iraqi saboteurs and terrorists teaming up with them, there could be trouble here. Even if not, there is the problem of Gulf casualties congesting our local hospitals and of contamination from returning planes, personnel and by bacterial war agents. The economic and political judgements that I am trying to make become daily more complicated. After the frost and fog this morning, the sun came out and we had the unusual spectre of the crew of a day-boat mooring in the middle of our stretch of the river and doing some fishing.

This morning, I caught up on my newspaper reading and then sifted through the council's latest measures for the Poll Tax, noting the points that I intend to raise in a working party meeting at Pathfinder House this afternoon. There is plenty to be upset about at the moment. I worked on a few things later but was anticipating my afternoon meeting. When I got there, I found that the chairman was nervously-respectful of me and that I was able to make several telling points about the implementation of the "Community Charge" or Poll Tax. In particular, the council's preference for the use of the Bailiffs rather than getting "attachment of earnings" judgements was draconian and causing hardship in the district. Home for a late tea and then I was writing my journal this evening and making telephone calls before watching the latest Gulf developments on the television whilst extracting this week's local press cuttings.