The top West German politician, Oskar Lafontaine, was stabbed and badly injured
The top West German politician, Oskar Lafontaine, was stabbed and badly injured

Making a good contribution to this today’s Full District Council Meeting, despite my bad cough, after making some good preparations and putting in a low offer for Redgrave Post Office and Stores. My motion on the Poll Tax was the one chosen for debate and it attracted a range of speakers in the end. I was coughing so much in bed tonight that Diana opted to go and sleep in a spare bedroom.

The top West German politician, Oskar Lafontaine, was stabbed and badly injured by a woman at an election rally in Cologne, The Strangeways prison riot has been ended after 25 days by an SAS-style attack that isolated the remaining prisoners on the roof. The second largest ever UK trade deficit of £2.2Billion rocked the City again.

I had a bit of a lay in on a day that proved to be quite fine and mild for a change. I was slow to get up, get washed and fed and do some urgent but superficial tending of the conservatory. It was mid-morning before I settled down to prepare my notes for this afternoon's Full Meeting of Council and there was some doubt as to whether I would make it. In view of that, I took the precaution of telephoning the Labour leader, Jim Lomax, to warn him that I might need them to cover for me. I worked all the rest of the morning and just had a couple of calls including one from Freda. The valuer had put a conservative value of the bricks and mortar of the Redgrave Post Office and Stores of £160,000 which I suggested Freda convey to My Whitmarsh, the present owner, for him to consider for a while. We had already put in an offer of £158,000.

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Within the time I had this morning, I prepared a reasonable script for this afternoon's interventions and, well stocked up with throat sweets, I rushed off and just got there before the start of the meeting. My voice held out, though I was croaking and had to repeat myself a couple of times and my performance was not impaired in the end. We achieved the necessary critical appraisal of the ruling Tory group's activities, but I had to use Standing Orders a couple of times to get our message through. My motion on the Poll Tax was the one chosen for debate and it attracted a range of speakers in the end. The Labour, Democrat and Independent opposition were highly critical of the new tax and its problems over implementation and the Tories were predictably defensive and supportive of it. They prefer refinement and reform of the tax, rather than abolition which is where we differ. The meeting went on late as a result of our opposition and there was also the need to hold another couple of brief meetings before councillors were allowed to go.

On my way home, I drove around the Buckden and Offord Wards and from this deduced that the Labour Party were not giving Terry Hayward a hard enough time in Buckden to prevent his people coming over to the Offords and helping Roland Smith in his fight against Percy. I then relaxed for the rest of this evening, struggling to contain my cough before going to bed. Once there, I was coughing so much that Diana opted to go and sleep in a spare bedroom.

The startling news today was of the violent knife attack on the top West German politician, Oskar Lafontaine, who was stabbed and badly injured at an election rally in Cologne. A woman was led away but a terrorist or political motive has been ruled out. The Strangeways prison riot has been ended after 25 days by an SAS-style attack that isolated the remaining prisoners on the roof. The city was rocked again today, this time by the announcement of the second largest ever trade deficit of £2.2Billion. Chancellor major attempts to put a gloss on the situation but stood no chance and the markets fell