Progress with my third and final election leaflet after a troubled night and back to canvassing in Southoe until the weather deteriorated later on. Unions helped enforce the NUS seamens’ picket line which prevented ferries leaving, the government have at last recognised that the new benefits system is underfunded by £100-300m and the massive fire at the Shropshire ordnance depot is still billowing smoke and spreading asbestos dust on neighbouring homes and gardens.
Had a troubled night, as my ribs prevented me from turning over and I was thrashing about for a while. In the end, Di moved to the spare room, so as she could get the rest at least. I checked with John Mathewman first thing and he had managed to get my A3 leaflet printed at last and he now intended to fold it this morning. I despatched Diana to collect the result during her visit to Cambridge this morning and I stayed at home. I started to tidy up my office etc, but the sun came out and the weather was milder this morning and so I resumed canvassing in Southoe. I had photocopied a larger batch of combined ‘out’ slips and reprints of my letter in last week’s Hunts Post and so I was not concerned about finding people out, as it was an effective leaflet drop for the ‘outs’ and ‘undecideds’. Home to lunch rather later than usual and I had to make myself a pork pie salad to eat. This afternoon, Mike Pope came to join me and we spent an hour and a half canvassing, before Di arrived with our supplies of our leaflets and we counted them out and packaged them up for 7 Little Paxton rounds and one further each in Southoe and Diddington. We then took off on our separate ways to get the results in the hands of the deliverers.
Friends took 4 for Little Paxton, leaving one for Stuart Aldridge and one each for Diana and Moira. They delivered in the rain tonight and I retired early from canvassing for the same reason. Before this, I had signed up a lady in Southoe to deliver the leaflets there and got agreement on two more flag board sites, which is good. Later, I wrote up my diary and then had an early night. News was of the conflict in the seamen’s dispute, as hundreds of pickets prevent the ferries leaving and Sealink threaten legal action and the sequestration of the union funds. After defending the position for too long, the government has now admitted anomalies in the new benefit payments and is poised to announce a £100 to 200 million programme of measures to ease them. A massive fire at the Shropshire ordnance depot has led to the asbestos roof disintegrating and the billowing smoke and dust spreading over a large area, to the consternation of many thousands of people.