Important and active day of monitoring the building work in the morning and then travelling to The House of Commons for PITCOM Council and Member’s Meetings before a following reception and dinner at The Royal Horseguards Hotel and much interesting conversation with Michael Marshall MP and Wilf Robinson of Ferranti whose thoughts were very illuminating. This as the former President of Argentina, General Jorge Videla and four other former military rulers were convicted of responsibility for human rights violations and responsibility of ‘The Disappeared Ones’
I slept well and was awake early for my morning tea. A finer day, after the recent rain, but becoming chillier. Rather slow to wash, shave and dress and the decorator and plumber arrived before I was ready. I finished off preparing the house for them and then went out to the doves and ducks to feed them both. Again no eggs. Then to my office and some time updating my financial and investment records and reconciling my bank and building society balances. Fortunately my previous plans meant that both accounts were in funds. Then to make out and place my order for security alarm equipment and accessories – it came to £600-odd, which is a lot, but will give Daniel and I a fair project over Christmas to install. Diana returned from the shops for a meat roll lunch and then I did a bit more office work and liaised with the plumber. Today the plumber fitted thermostatic valves to all of the radiators in the older half of the house and also the hot water tank. Tomorrow he must add the two new radiators and then connect up the boiler. The decorator was working in the link building and passageways, filling and painting the woodwork to be ready for the wallpapers to arrive on Wednesday. Outside, the carpenter being still off with his bad back, Mr Cheeseborough and another builder floored the two main balconies and thus sealed in the roof of the link building. The contractors who put on the roofing and tiles will soon be in contact to finish them off. By mid-afternoon it was time for me to do a few chores before leaving for London.
As there was not central heating, I lit the fire in the old lounge, filled up the log basked and emptied the ashes, so that the family could keep warm on a cold night. Then to put the ducks away and come in to get changed into my best suit. Off by my Jaguar for the trip to the House of Commons. A good journey, in the opposite direction to the traffic flow, and arrived after only 1 hr and 20 mins and managed to park at a meter in Westminster – though it cost over £1 for the 1 ¾ hours until the meter expired at 6.30pm. A chilly walk across the grounds of Westminster Abbey to arrive in good time for the meeting in one of the committee rooms upstairs. The normal delay as we await the arrival of at least one MP to give us the credentials for access and then we crowded in. A well-attended Council Meeting of PITCOM and, for a change, plenty of lively discussion on the issue of widening the membership. Papers also presented on future policy and activity and I draw some satisfaction from this as it was I that started the process a year ago – albeit with more radical proposals that were not accepted at the time. Then, across to Room 10 and the larger audience for the PITCOM debate of the evening. John Benton, a telecommunications consultant, led the call for fresh policy initiatives for the success of the British Telecoms Industry and Geoffrey Pattie, the IT Minister, spoke in reply after a range of interesting questions. A fairly positive effort, but the whole process rushed and concertinaed by the Minister’s need to catch a plane to Brussels for discussions with his EEC counterparts on this very same subject. A common theme was the emphasis on European collaboration to create viable market and company sizes. There was also a debate on the British Telecom/monopoly issue and condemnation of the ‘cost-plus’ method of procurement, referring to the Defence examples with Ferranti in the 1960s. I had Wilf Robinson of Ferranti sitting next to me and he was able to tell me the true story, which I shall repeat for the record. In 1963, the government had felt that the ‘cost-plus’ formula should be brought to an end and so civil servants met with Ferranti management to hammer out a fixed price for a production order for 30 missile systems. After much wrangling, a price was arrived at, intended to give Ferranti a return of 6% on the capital employed on the project. The MD, faced with his new experience of a fixed price contract, called his senior designers together (including Wilf) and, far from being depressed by these terms, pointed out several potential improvements for efficiency. These included the streamlining of material handling procedures, the elimination of large inventories supporting ‘select on test’ tolerencing procedures etc. He sent his designers away to make these improvements in three short months and both they and their teams worked nights to do it. However, faced with the much better profits that resulted from this admirable efficiency, the MOD officials protested that, “the return was supposed to be 6%”, and there was a scandal and Ferranti were fined this ‘excess profit’. So much for the bureaucracies understanding and support for the ending of ‘cost-plus’ and for encouraging the efficiencies that are made imperative by the fixed price system! After the meeting, along to the Royal Horseguards Hotel for a PITCOM reception and dinner. I noted that my name was handwritten onto a typed list, but still several people did not turn up. I was at a table with Michael Marshall, an active member of the PITCOM committee and Conservative Back Bench MP, who told of all ministerial careers ending in tears. He was one of the very few former ministers with any business management training and experience. A lively discussion with a few others and then left early to take my car home. Though I had had a few drinks, the roads were again clear and I was home in no time. I made my Bournvita, toured the house to see the building progress, turn off the lights and make the place secure, then late to bed. Main news was of an OPEC agreement to reduce Gulf prices to North Sea levels and fight the non-OPEC nations for market share. The pound fell on this news. I have long predicted that the lustre of ‘black gold’ would wear off, placing further priority on the UK’s industrial performance, weakening the debtor countries and with it the International Banking System. GEC formally launches their bid for Plessey and, in Argentina, former President General Jorge Videla and four other former military rulers were convicted of responsibility for human rights violations and were sentenced to life (30 year +) imprisonment. General Galtieri and the other two of the leading triumvirate responsible for the Falklands invasion were cleared, but must still face trial for their incompetence on that matter. Thatcher has turned down the call for an enquiry on the Channel Tunnel. South Africa has sought a debt repayment delay until 1990 and is deeper in trouble by the day.