Foreign & General
1. Public Information Leaflet No. 2 (masking windows etc.) issued today. German visitors state gas masks have not been distributed in Germany. [No. reference]
Social
1. M.G. Weekly prints facts about the Spender letter, & a letter from Bonham Carter etc. Manchester Guardian Weekly [a]
Party Politics
1. M.G. Weekly considers pro-Churchill move inside the Conservative party has been checkmated. Manchester Guardian Weekly [b]
2. Communist party pamphlet against conscription withdrawn from circulation after 3 weeks. Left Forum, July 1939
[a] 
[b]
Orwell Diaries 1938-1942 
“M.G. Weekly considers pro-Churchill move inside the Conservative party has been checkmated.” – thank goodness the Guardian got it wrong on this occasion. Though I suppose Events subsequently intervened, didn’t they?
The strawberry patch is overgrown with bindweed, the limping hen is under surveillance, German visitors drop dark hints about gas-masks, the Communists are playing games over conscription and the Conservatives are playing chess while Rome burns.
The tension mounts as the mystery deepens.
Max