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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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After last night’s successful bid to recruit Angela Bush as our candidate for St Ives South, I was slow to get going but then caught the train to first visit Tottenham Court Road where I failed to find a suitable laptop and then on to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors building in Parliament Square for a Fountain Forestry launch event. The train home after which I took Debbie to the dentist and back for a Little Paxton Parish Council meeting, leaving early to take the family to see a splendid Kimbolton firework display.
I had planned to visit London today and therefore did not have a great deal of time to spend in the house this morning. I was also slow to rise because I was very late to bed last night. We had a successful visit to recruit Angela Bush as a candidate for St Ives South, but the meeting went on late and I sat in front of the TV later still. There had been some interest fever in the City yesterday with rumours of a cut in the rates, but that was soon dispelled today as Germany actually put their interest rates up and UK shares fell in value again. After a bit of a rush, I made my way out and to the station to catch the first train after 9.00am to take advantage of the off-peak "cheap-rate" fares. The railway car-park charges also drop from £1.50 to 10p after 9.00am, but as the first available train is at 9.03am, that does not leave enough time for everyone to park and catch it; which was the source of a few complaints.
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