Looking after the children after a disturbed night and then driving them to Stanton to visit my Mum and Dad, Grace and Fred Broad and then an evening writing before an early night. This as a massive hunt continues into finding the missing Terry Waite who has ruled out any ransoms to be paid in his farewell note and Special Branch is criticised for an oppressive raid on BBC Scotland over the ‘Secret Society’ documentaries, McGlinchey’s wife is murdered and HMS Splendid’s towed sonar is captured by a Soviet submarine
A better night, but still lost a fair amount of sleep, as first, Debbie came in to the room during the night having ‘had a bad dream’ and climbed in beside me. Then Daniella was awake early and running about the house. Di called me at 8.00am with my morning tea and I got showered and dressed on a very chilly morning. There were cracking noises during the night, as the river ice was fracturing with the changing water levels. A nice fried breakfast and then the morning working at the Paxton Hall files. Della kept coming in and Diana was in one of her Sunday moods. Late, I laid the table, we enjoyed roast chicken for lunch, and then I did the washing and drying up. Quickly changed, out to feed the ducks and doves, then I got the family in the car and the house locked, so that we could leave. The roads were quiet during our drive to Stanton to see my Mum and Dad, but the girls (particularly Della) misbehaved.
Still snow around in Suffolk from the cold weather last month. Arrived at 4.00pm, having collected Daniel from his friend Gary’s house in Cotton on the way. He enjoyed his overnight stay and was good company for his friend, who is somewhat out in the sticks there. A nice visit – we stayed for three hours until 7.00pm – and they made us welcome and were pleased to see the children. Mum was brave with her leg, helping Dad as much as possible, and playing word and other games with the children. She was tired and needing more medicine at the end, and we do hope that she gets called in for the operation soon. Dad was well, but putting on even more weight around the middle. Another clear run home and then, once the children were in bed, I caught up on my journal and both Di and I had an early night. In Beirut, Syrian, Iranian and Lebanese militia officials all help in the process of finding the whereabouts of Terry Waite. In a message left behind, this hero has asked for no ransoms to be paid. There is bound to be a row in the House of Commons tomorrow, after a weekend of Special Branch searches from the BBC Scotland headquarters, where over 200 reels of film have been taken, together with several boxes of documents. This included all material from six programmes of the BBC TV’s ‘Secret Society’ series. Opposition politicians have been indignant over what they see as oppressive action, as a curtailment of civil liberties and free speech. The wife of INLA Irish terrorist Dominic McGlinchey, jailed for 10 years in the Irish Republic, has been shot dead in front of her two sons aged 9 and 11 and the Irish Justice Minister has refused permission for him to attend her funeral. Police believe the attackers were also involved in an INLA power struggle for leadership, but this may just be said to further discredit them. A story abroad that British submarine, HMS Splendid, lost a trailed sonar system during a tangle with a Soviet submarine. If this is true, it will have been a technological disaster, as the Russians could learn much from the device which could be of use to them.