Recovering my voice and myself from the elections on a seemingly even hotter day, taking phone calls from Radio stations and local papers as I sorted my office, my fish and conservatory out. Saying goodbye to our gardener Pete and hosting Sally and Percy this evening to brief them on their new HDC roles.
US President George Bush is proposing a full NATO review of strategy resulting in the minimum level of US nuclear forces remaining in Europe as a deterrent. An attempted bombing of a British military barracks in West Germany was foiled and, 1,000 Hong Kong police raid a Vietnamese Boat People camp. The process of reconciliation and political reform begins in South Africa
Yet another warm night and a hot day to follow, with the sun seemingly hotter than ever. My voice and chest were pretty bad this morning after doing so much talking and I am also wondering whether all this pollen and heat is bringing out some asthmatic tendency in me as well. I have found so many people who are being affected for the first time due to these unusually hot conditions for May. I took some time to wash, shower, shave and shampoo my hair and it took this long to clear my chest and be able to breathe and speak properly. Then I had a couple of phone calls from the radio stations and I also tried to phone others. Late last night I had an interview with Chiltern Radio that went out live and excerpts of it were being broadcast at news times this morning.
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My office was in a terrible state as I had just not got the time these last few days to do anything apart from election work. I had to give my fish a good feed and the conservatory plants a good watering. The bedding plants are coming on very well but need attention that I will not be able to give. It was the last day for Peter Hewlett, our gardener, and I spent a little time chatting to him and saying goodbye. This morning, Helen Young came round and helped Diana and I erect the large tent that she had loaned us. It took a couple of hours to do but will be quite suitable for Debbie's Party guests to sleep in overnight. We stopped and drank some coffee halfway through on another hot and sunny morning. Helen's husband, Eric, is employed with a subsidiary of Atlantic Computer Leasing, the company that has just gone spectacularly bust on the stock exchange. We shall be giving them the equivalent of the tent hire fee. This evening, I had Percy and Sally round and briefed them on what to expect from the Huntingdonshire District Council. We will continue to work very closely with the Labour Group and we then agreed the details of which committees we should serve on if allowed.
There was more in the news tonight of US President, George Bush's, proposed reduction of their overseas arms commitment. He is proposing a full NATO review of strategy resulting in the minimum level of US nuclear forces remaining in Europe as a deterrent. This followed his abandonment on Thursday of plans to update short-range nuclear weapons in Europe, despite British disapproval. An attempted bombing of a British military barracks in West Germany was foiled on Thursday night when three men were disturbed by a dog handler. Bombs totalling 45Kg were found but the men escaped after firing shots. In Hong Kong, 1,000 police raided a Vietnamese Boat People camp and arrested 180 people, firing tear gas to overcome the barricades. The detainees have been protesting over the circumstance and conditions of their detention. At the end of three days of talks with the South African Government (the first formal talks between these two parties since 1912), the African National Conference have agreed to consider the suspension of the "armed struggle" in view of the reforms of President de Klerk. This paves the way for the future ending of much of the repressive legislation including the release of political prisoners. A working party has been set up to attempt a definition of "political prisoner" so as to facilitate this.