A day at home after a good night’s sleep, supervising a bonfire and taking some phone calls from the press and District Council. Then to Cambridge this evening to a meeting of the S.W. Cambs Executive to discuss party issues.
Our UK aircraft losses in the Gulf war are a worry as were continuing Scud missile attacks on Tel Aviv
I had a good night's sleep - the nearest to a full seven hours that I have had since the Gulf War broke out. I got up at 7.00am to the radio news and had a little trouble with my eye which was sore. Since an accident with my daughter a few years ago, my left eye is always a bit sore if dry of tears and with my cold and loss of liquids this was the case after I had inadvertently rubbed it. Shaved and dressed for breakfast and then back to my office to do some work whilst keeping abreast of the news from the Gulf. I then spent time in the garden where I lit a bonfire now that the breeze was from the north-east. I tried to dispose of the existing brazier of waste (which I did) and then the branches from the Silver Birch tree that I cut back the other day (which I could not).
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Lunch and then the same routine this afternoon with a number of telephone calls to add to the mix. They were from the Press, from colleagues and also from the Chief Executive of the District Council. This evening, I went to Cambridge with Percy Meyer to a meeting of the S.W. Cambs Executive to discuss party issues. The news from the Gulf is of the loss of a further British Tornado and crew so that this nation has been suffering the greatest losses of any coalition country because of the danger of the low-level sorties on well-defended airfields. The military assessments are now much more cautious after the initial euphoria.
The latest air losses are now given as 12 American, 5 British, one Italian Tornado and one each for Saudi Arabia and Kuwaiti and 17(to 30) Iraqi with Us helicopters now joining the casualty list for the first time. The late news tonight was of a successful Scud attack on Tel Aviv where, for once, one landed in the heart of a residential area and three people were killed and an estimated 70 injured. The Israeli censorship suppressed news of how many other missiles were fired and where exactly the hit was, but this has dealt a stunning blow to Israeli pride and morale.