Demonstration in support of The Sharpeville Six
Demonstration in support of The Sharpeville Six

I tried sailing on the river this morning on a sunny and warm day then came in to prepare for my economic development committee meeting and helped Diana receive two dozen brownies who had come to use our swimming pool. At the EDC meeting, I opposed excluding the public to the council office car park without success. Thatcher is upset today at the lack of an Irish extradition for a terrorist suspect, South Africa’s Supreme Court refuses to open the case of the Sharpeville Six despite prosecution witness torture and the French socialists win most deputies in their election

A good night’s sleep and then fairly early and active start to the day. I made myself more French toast for breakfast and then spent the day at home. Went through my morning reading of the papers and mail and then set up the sailing dingy and tried using the wind to sail up and down the length of the river to see if it could be done. It was a fine, sunny and warm day today and not very conducive to work. Lunch of salad and then this afternoon I typed up a summary of my intended contribution to this evening’s Economic Development Committee and then printed it out.

I had made a few calls to confirm appointments for the rest of the week and chased up progress on my conservatory building. We had tea of salad rolls in the dining room, as Diana had set up the kitchen area as a changing room for the Brownies. We had a couple of dozen of them come and use the pool, in two rotas of 12 in and out; also playing games when not in. I had to leave them at it to go to my EDC meeting. I was there in good time and succeeded in extending the meeting from its customary one, to two hours. I opposed a plan to spend £50K blocking off the Council Offices to the general public and leaving no spaces for bone fide visitors. Then tried to amend a proposal to ensure that the officers looked at the possibility of adding a fifth floor to Pathfinder House, as being good value for money. None of my ideas were accepted of course, as the only non-Tory there, but at least I worried them that the car parking plan would be controversial and unpopular with the public and I will do a press release, critical of the decision, to ensure that it is so! Home, and it was still not dark at 9.30pm and so I fed the ducks and wrote up my journal before bed. The news tonight is of the Irish Court’s refusal to extradite Patrick McVeigh to face terrorist charges in Britain. Thatcher is said to be ‘utterly dismayed’ by this technicality. It seems that nobody appeared in Court to identify him as the one for extradition. This was the first time an extradition case was heard under new laws designed to prevent these technicalities avoiding extradition. South Africa’s Supreme Court has refused to re-open the case on the five men and one woman facing the death penalty – The Sharpeville Six – even though charges of prosecution witness torture are admitted. The French electorate have given the Socialists the largest grouping of deputies, but no overall majority, and it remains to be seen whether it is the Communists or Centre Right interests that form a coalition with Mitterrand’s Socialist Party.