Monday 3 October 2005

ALFRED - MONDAY. 3RD, OCTOBER.

My last day in prison! And there is no diversion from the prison routine; no visit!
But I am worried about tomorrow. I am the sort of person that likes to know everything well before hand, like a sailor knowing at what time he is going to cast off from the quay, and what is the state of the tide; is it high or low; and what is the weather like now, and what it will be like when he sails? He wants to know which is his next port of call, and at what time of day, and what day. And I am always ready for the next thing I have to do, at least half an hour before it takes place. I am worrying so much that the present time is not important.
But the routine of the prison is relentless. Toast and teabags, and today a bowl of cereal, and a carton of long life milk.
Angelo went off to the gym. He likes to do his exercise as early as possible, and 8.30 am is good for him. The cell doors have not been closed, so that people can clean their cells and empty their rubbish in the large bins by the gate. I cleaned the basin and toilet, as I found out who had the toilet brush. I collected two razors and had a shave, and then returned the razors to the office. While I was there I asked an officer what the usual procedure was for release. He was vague, but thought it began with the 'main movement' at 8.30 am. But another officer, thought it could be when the 'legals' left: those who might being going to court wherever they were arrested, or those who had appointments with their lawyers in their home town, or their probation services. These usually left at 7.0am. It also includes those who have an appeal against their sentence, or even as Ali had to, being sentenced a long time after being 'sent down'; Ali had to write a letter to the judge, when he was about to be sentenced some weeks after his court case, and was appealing for clemency before the sentence was pronounced.
So I do not know when exactly I shall leave the wing for the last time, but general consensus is that it will be with the main movements at 8.30am., so that the final release from prison would be about 10.00am.
Exercise was called at about 9.0 or 9.15 am. I did many circuits with Pat, and every now and then we stopped to talk with other inmates, Most of them knew I would be leaving to-morrow, and wished me well.
Then it was bang- up and I started my packing. I tipped out all my post on to my bunk, and bundled as much of it as I could with elastic bands, and put them in the bottom of the plastic prison bag with the loose ones on top. The bag was extremely heavy. I did not realise that letters and cards could be so heavy. Now I know what postmen and women carry on their rounds, and why they love their red bicycles with the large carrier on the front. On top of the letters and cards I put what few clothes I had, leaving those I needed for the morning on top. I put the bag at the foot of our bunks.
When lunchtime came we ate 'out' in the hall. I then took the slips of paper with my address and telephone number on them, around to various people and invited them to write if they wanted to do so, and if they would like I would be pleased to meet with them when they were 'out'. I wonder if any of them will either write to me, or contact me on their release.
After lunchtime we were not banged- up immediately, but half an hour later. For Muslims it was Ramadan and we did not see them much. I suspect that they slept during the day as much as possible, but Dev's door was open so I popped in to see him, and gave him my address and telephone number. He seemed well. We were finally locked up until suppertime.
Angelo talked about his girlfriend who had been paroled, and was living with her sister on the south coast, and was working as a gym instructor. She was waiting for his release and their life together after that. He told me of his sister, who went out to New Mexico and married a civil engineer who ran his father's firm, working both in the USA and Mexico. They had a very young son of whom he was extremely fond. His mother also lived out there. She was trying to persuade him and the girl friend to move to Mexico until they got permission to live in the States. They had decided that they might indeed do that. So he had a plan for the future. I was very pleased for him, as he is a much happier person now than he was when he first came in.
After supper, it was association until about 8.0 pm. As near to 7.30pm, I rang up Una, to tell her that I expected to be released at about 10.00 am.

My last thoughts on our protest against the continual rises in Council Tax: It is the single largest claim on our limited income. If it is not reformed it will take the whole of our income very shortly. This, of course, applies to all people on low fixed incomes, whether they are older or younger with family responsibilities. Everything must be done to stop this happening.
Many years ago I worked for the local Council. Now, we pay minor politicians as well as the senior officers to do the same work. One lot presumably capable, and the other totally incapable because their motive is political and for personal benefit, and has very little to do with running the council for the sake of the taxpayers.
If our protest is going to have any effect thousands more people must repeat, year by year, what Sylvia and I have done. The longer the Government and councils ignore this protest, more and more people must withhold some of their council tax.
I am proud of the way Una and I have made our protest. South Northamptonshire Council have played into our hands by its political decisions. If it had calculated the mere æÃ43 that they would have lost and they knew exactly what we planned, it would not have cost æÃ690 odd, that it did in the end.
But that is only a very small amount compared with the hundreds of millions of uncollected council tax in the United Kingdom. The whole system is totally stupid. I think that what we have done is justifiable and right.
What is 28 days in Prison compared with the national exposure of this hopeless and corrupt tax?
With active strong support there should be in place a council tax that takes into consideration peoples' ability to pay from income.



UNA - OCTOBER 3RD 2005

Immediately after my 9 a.m. lesson I set off to invite local people personally to our Celebration Party. This included a six mile drive to Blakesley where Mike and Sue live. I had forgotten their surname so contacting them by phone was not an option. They were not in, so the invitation card I had brought with me was pushed through their letter box.
The people I asked in the shops and around town seemed surprised and delighted and this added to my excitement about Alfred's release. I felt more settled when all the contacts had been made and I could go home because there was so much to do.

I found it hard to decide what to pack for the overnight stay in Banbury. It had to be done soon. We were away immediately after the Press Conference and there would be little time to pack before that. It reminded me of the arrangements for our Honeymoon when we had to be ready to leave after the Wedding Reception. At this moment I was unable to make decisions. I have never packed for Alfred except to take his clothes to prison. He has always been a very self-reliant man.
I wonder how he is feeling in his confined surroundings. Tomorrow will be a major shock for him when he faces the outside world again confronted by the media listening hard to what he has to say. Perhaps he will phone tonight. No one is visiting him this afternoon, which will give him time to prepare.

From 11 a.m. until 9.35 p.m. the phone calls were as numerous as on September 7th, the day Alfred went to prison. The end of Alfred's ordeal was turning out to be as important as the beginning, but with added appreciation from those who understood the reasons for his stance.
Joel became involved in dealing with the phone calls, giving the media the details they needed to know. His strength and clear thinking were tremendous s help.
The receptionist from the Saracen’s Head made me laugh when she phoned to warn me that " one or two" members from the Press would be there tomorrow. She wondered if their biggest room would be more suitable than the middle-sized one I had booked. I stuck to the original arrangement and seized the opportunity to ask for three chairs to be in place behind a table facing the Press for Christine Melsom, Alfred and me. The receptionist said the Hotel had never coped with anything like this before and was eager to help us as much as possible.

The next three days were shaping up. We really were pulling out our stops!
You and Yours made arrangements for Thursday, 11.15 a.m. when there would be an interview with Alfred in a Northampton BBC studio. A car would take him there and back. I made a note on the kitchen diary.
The producer of the Today programme would be listening in to this interview and then decide whether or not to go ahead with an interview with John Humphreys.
Joel finalised arrangements with the Richard and Judy Show who were willing to change their plans to fit in with us. This meant moving Sylvia Hardy and Walter Wolfgang who were appearing with Alfred, from Thursday to Friday. Walter was the 82 year old gentleman who was thrown out of the Labour Party Conference for daring to heckle. We would be driven to London and back staying overnight in a hotel. This would be another opportunity to speak out.
I hope we can project the reasons for our campaign and even manage to state that heckling was part and parcel of electioneering in our younger days. Politicians were able to use it skilfully, none better than Rab Butler.

It dawned on me that we were going to disappoint Tim Maybe tomorrow over his request to interview Alfred. Because of the agreed exclusive rights of the Daily Mail, we were limited to the amount that could be said after a short statement at the Press Conference. My memory had let me down about Tim Maybe's request, but there was time to explain. I rang him on his mobile number but had no success.

Tom Hendry made arrangements for a courier to collect our Diaries. His intention was to see if the Mail on Sunday wanted to publish them. I was not happy with this because there would be no time to read them through and mine was indecipherable in places.
To be first with news was the all important aim of those working in the media. No wonder this haste to view our Diaries came to nothing. They made little sense in their raw state, at least mine did, and it needed time to read them through first, before letting them go. I understood that time was of the essence, but the pressure was on.

John Burnett offered an idea to welcome Alfred as he stepped out from prison, by spreading a red carpet made from paper, blowing party poopers and breaking open a bottle of champagne. His heart was in the right place but Joel and I decided that this it was not suitable. It would divert attention from Alfred's reason for going to prison. That he had succeeded in winning attention for council tax reform was the main highlight. What it had cost him personally would become clear later, although I thought he would not go public about a private issue. We needed to focus on the need for Government action.

I hope that Alfred is able to make a short statement outside the prison as well as the one he has prepared for later. He is very good at responding spontaneously to challenges like these.

While I was teaching I heard the phone ring several times. I collected eight more messages afterwards. Joel was busy elsewhere and so I continued to deal with enquiries.
Alfred had left an important message on the answerphone to say his time for release had been brought forward so that he could walk through the prison gates at any time from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
The Trevor MacDonald team would be here earlier, at 8 a.m. in line with this change. They must be experienced in coping with last minute changes. I find it difficult.

I wondered how Anne would be after working solidly all day, then taking care of Jakie, followed by setting off in the small hours to drive here for tomorrow morning's excitement. I know her friend Hannah gives her a great deal of support but the long drive from Devon would not exactly increase Anne's energy. As capable as she is, she still has limits. I shall be so glad to see her.

There was no time to cook. We ordered a take-away instead. That solved our problem well.
Joel and I began to bustle about getting ready for tomorrow. Baths were taken, clothes were sorted, and at last the small amount of packing was done. By mistake I had turned the control to the central heating the wrong way and the house was like an oven at 80 degrees! I came downstairs at 9 p.m. to find the front and back doors flung wide open as well as the windows. Joel was attempting to cool the house down!

The last official call of the day was from Radio 5 who had arranged for this interview earlier in the day, looking for news about tomorrow's events.
This done, I settled down to a spell of diary writing. Then I finished writing two final letters to Blair, tomorrow's in advance. There would be no other opportunity to do this. The 28 letters were now completed and my penance was done.
Alfred's voice had sounded buoyant on the phone today. He was longing to see me he said. Perhaps there will be a time soon when I have time to feel more deeply than at surface level. What I can feel at the moment, and it is a continuing feeling, is enormous pride for my man who has completed what he set out to do.

For the last time I tried Tim Maybe's mobile but still there was no answer. It was late so it was understandable why it was switched off. I shall have to speak to him tomorrow if I can and hope he will understand. How reasonable will he be?