A morning of bank queries and problems and then a drive to The House of Lords for a PITCOM Council and plenary meeting where satellite broadcasting was the issue inside the committee room and then Sunday Trading Bill was passing the chamber beneath as the Bradford Fire victims get a Royal visit and the London tube strike is eventually called off
Awake to my tea and morning paper, but the girls saw to it that I could read little before breakfast. Crawling all over my bed and competing for attention, they were eventually sent downstairs. I joined them for a breakfast of toast, more palatable of late, and then back up to read the paper properly. A late start on washing and shaving, but dressed easily from my bedside clothes rack, which was a sound purchase this weekend. To the office and some confusion over my bank/building society accounts and the bills we have to pay. Also as to where to pay in some large dividend cheques from Kode and some others for government stocks. Eventually established that, though we have plenty of cash on deposit, we are short on funds available by cheque. When Diana came over with a cup of coffee, therefore, I asked her to pay the lesser funds into the Abbey cheque account and the larger ones into the Abbey high interest account. Time then to complete some correspondence and small accounts and update my investment summary to include income and purchases in this tax year. Then to start the long process of printing it out before called to lunch. A spring salad and ice cream to follow, which I would have enjoyed a lot more if it were not for my mouth ulcers, which are troubling me at the moment and aggravated by the pickles and creams. An hour more at the office and then home and quickly changed into my Huntsman suit for the car journey to London. The roads were quite good considering commuter traffic was up 30% with the tube strike. I was pleased for the comfort of my air conditioning and saw others suffering in their cars on a dull, wet, yet humid day. Arrived early and parked on a two hour meter and walked to the House of Commons.
A PITCOM council meeting of formal and then business and then a poorly attended plenary, addressed by British Aerospace on Satellite Broadcasting. I stopped on the way home for a chicken dinner and ice cream. News tonight of an IRA bomb, killing four police in Ulster on the border near Newry, to make a total of 14 police killed from Newry police station in the last three months. The Israelis swap hundreds of Palestinians for three of their own in a spectacular three-stage trading operation of mutual prisoners. Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited the Bradford hospital today to see the fire victims and nursing staff as the first victim, Mr Mason, was buried. The South African political defendants talk to the press today as the judiciary allows the bail to continue, but the opposition to apartheid is limited by the process. The London tube strike was called off tonight after 2/3rds of the tube trains ran today. I also saw the reason for some interruptions in tonight’s PITCOM meeting. The Lords narrowly supported the government in the latest local government vote and 30+ Tories are set to vote against the 3-line whip to introduce Sunday trading. I reflect tonight on the furniture I saw in the Commons committee rooms and in particular the antique oak benches and tables, with quarter-cut oak showing the medullary rays prominently.