After pouring over the Tory Council Poll Tax stories in the local newspapers, I issued a balancing release entitled "Draconian Council cuts to keep the lid on the Poll Tax" before Mum arrived with friends for our visit to Dad’s grave in Little Paxton cemetery.
Later Daniel arrived from university for the weekend and helped with his sisters both with their daytime activities and when Diana and I went to the cinema in the evening.
The news tonight is of the resignation of Sir Geoffrey Howe as deputy Prime Minister and the Thatcher Government is rocked by the news. A re-shuffle brings the unpopular Kenneth Clarke to education which is set to fuel further controversy
It started fine today but cold and, after my chores, I dressed ready for our visit and then settled down to some paperwork to await the arrival of my mother and friends. I was trying to sort through my council papers after Tuesday's Policy Committee and my attempts to find out how the government's local finance restrictions were to affect our Council's Poll Tax levels put me on to a chain of events that lasted most of the day. I discovered that Huntingdonshire DC and Cambs CC had both put out press releases presenting things in the best possible light and I obtained copies of them by Fax and then composed and faxed an alternative and harsh response along the lines of "Draconian Council cuts to keep the lid on the Poll Tax" to all of the local papers and radio stations. This is a good example of what can be achieved with modern means of communication.
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Mum arrived very late in the end and just before lunch, bringing with her neighbours Alan and Lorna who were kind enough to drive her here. The weather had been fine and sunny but now it was raining and cold and so, after coffee, they stayed on chatting until lunch and then Diana went up with them to the cemetery as they laid the flowers on Dad's grave for his birthday remembrance. I spoke to Freda this morning and learnt that Mum is going to stay with her for a few weeks from next Monday which will be nice. Their visit was characterised by Alan enquiring persistently about council procedures and practice because, in his role as the chairman of the park residents association, he was trying to pursue a number of planning grievances. They left quite late and I finished off that publicity project with Percy who had come round to help before tea.
This afternoon, Daniel arrived on a weekend visit from university and we were all pleased to see him and he seemed very pleased to see us. He took Della to the video shop to hire them each a video film for this evening and then went to collect Debbie from her horse-riding and chatted to her. He had agreed to stay in this evening to look after the girls and let me and Di go out as an eve-of-birthday treat. He still had a sequence of telephone calls from each of his local friends and then Jason came round to visit him tonight. Di and I went to see a film in Cambridge. Our first choice cinema was closed but we then went to the Arts Cinema to see "Nikita", a very violent French film that was not totally to Diana's taste but I enjoyed it and it was my birthday. In fact, we both enjoyed the change and chance to get out and actually communicate with one-another without having the girls hanging around us all of the time. Home quite late and tired to bed.
All the news tonight is of the resignation of Sir Geoffrey Howe as deputy Prime Minister and the Thatcher Government is rocked by the news. A re-shuffle brings the unpopular Kenneth Clarke to education which is set to fuel further controversy.