David Mellor starts a diplomatic storm over Israeli treatment of Palestinian refugees
David Mellor starts a diplomatic storm over Israeli treatment of Palestinian refugees

A dental appointment today, resulting in poor news, and then much of the day trying to find a Rolls Royce Corning convertible whilst also monitoring the markets for investment opportunities and then transcribing some more interview tapes later. More Israeli over-reaction in Gaza today which is condemned by our visiting minister David Mellor, who also condemns the squalor of refugee camps there and the Kurds have murdered a West German Diplomat at the Paris Embassy

Slept poorly last night and just lay restlessly between 4.00am and 6.00am, before I thought it was time enough to disturb Diana. She is a most unfriendly person before she has had her regular morning ‘fix’ of two mugs of coffee. Still, chatted a while about Daniella and getting her started on a number of learning processes, such as numbers and reading etc. Breakfast of cereal again, having been up and ready remarkably early for once. I fielded the post – some quite exciting cheques for once from our recent share sales – and then read the newspaper a little. Soon it was all out by Range Rover to see Mr Osbourne, our dentist in St Neots. A rather disappointing visit – I was told that I had lost a rather large chip off one of my back teeth and will need it drilled out, capped and probably pinned as well, which will be most uncomfortable. Di also needs another session with the hygienist. We did a chore or two in town (me paying in my cheques and then buying an Exchange and Mart) and then we went home, stopping off at Little Paxton Post Office on the way for Di’s Child Benefit. I had tried to get a Sunday Times from yesterday at all of these places, but they had already been sent back at the same time as today’s deliveries. I was seeking any means of finding out about Rolls Royce Cornish Convertibles.

I spent the rest of the morning telephoning RR dealers to tell them of my requirements, but there are precious few suitable. I did arrange for us to visit Jack Barclay in London tomorrow, even though the cars they have in stock are too recent and hence too expensive, we shall get some idea. Soon time for lunch and then I finished reading the morning Financial Times, which had rather fallen by the wayside. From early this morning by radio, I had known that the re-opened Tokyo Stock Exchange and Hong Kong had fallen sharply overnight, as the US dollar had sunk further. Contrarily, this morning, London SE was up and climbed still further this afternoon as Wall Street shot up 70 points! I felt sure the market would fall today. Pity my few remaining stocks would not rise enough for me to sell, but, if my gut feeling is right, this rally until the Budget might be the last time to sell before a savage Bear Market. Worked the rest of the afternoon and evening translating he second half of tape II and first two thirds of tape III! A Mr Lynn from St James Cottage called by today to see if he could help. The news today is of more trouble flaring in the Gaza Strip in the wake of announcements that 9 Palestinians will be deported. British Foreign Office Minister, David Mellor, is visiting and has condemned actions as overreaction. On the expulsions he says that they would be against international law. He described conditions in the refugee camps as being an affront to civilised values. The army is tightening restrictions, with dusk-to-dawn curfews. The Israelis are ‘unhappy’ with these statements and consider them ‘unbalanced’, and seem in no mood to relent. A youth has been charged with the murder of the widow in Gwent, who was trapped upstairs as he set fire to her house recently. The recent Cleveland child abuse dispute has led to problems in recruiting Social Workers due to the controversy. Kurdish extremists have claimed the responsibility for the murder of a West German Diplomat at the Paris Embassy.