Tuesday January 13th

I woke up when Mum got up at 7.20 a.m. but typically I didn’t get downstairs until five-to-eight – in to school at twenty-past. The first period was History in C9 with Ingham, although it began ten-minutes later because he had an interview or something. We are continuing work on the Bolshevik Economic policy, finishing off War communism. The course is becoming really deep and I haven’t a clue how Ruth Fielding, who’s joined us recently, is going to cope.

During the second period I got on with my Art (contrasting Jacobean-Florentine paintings using Edmund Burke Feldman Technique). Deborah and Claire went out to Gilthwaite to buy some milk and undoubtedly all yesterdays hoo-ha was discussed – undoubtedly; because when they came back they were discussing it until third period. From what I gathered from the odd snatch of conversation I overheard (honestly!) it seems that they’re still not OK – from the way Deborah was talking I started wondering if the whole thing has been misconstrued by Claire – anyway, nothing to do with me really! It has been interesting though; I looked at Deborah through coloured specs after what Claire’d said to me yesterday; the way they acted was so uneasy (Claire said yesterday that on the coach she’d told Deborah to “Go away” snappily).

History in C7 third period was a continuation of the first and we wound up War communism ready for a start on the NEP.

At dinnertime I said that a controversial debate for a week on Monday would be “This House Believes that Immigration Controls Should be Scrapped” – I agreed to propose it. Steve Bates and Duncan are opposing us. Deborah said she’d come with an open mind.

During the next three-quarters of an hour or so I became really heated as Richard Houlding, Tommy Whelan and Nigel Creek farted on so unfairly and in a racist way – “Wogs are so unhygienic” etc. – it really made me fume. Robin Quinn agreed to second the motion and gave me two leaflets – an SWP and a Communist Party one. I must’ve got annoyed, because even Deborah commented on how “worked up” I was getting. At least the debate will raise temperatures.

In Art I continued with me tree painting after we’d had an hour or so talk from Hine on the High Renaissance and Leonardo da Vinci in particular.

I got home at six-thirty and in no time at all it was eight-thirty and here I am writing out my diary entry. No harm in doing it so early because nothing good will happen in the rest of the evening.