Lost cause
Sir: Professor Beloff in his review of The Political Diaries of C. P. Scott 1911-1928 in your issue of 13 June, writes that: 'The period covered by these diaries was probably the last in which editors of daily or Sunday newspapers ... felt able to take up the time of prime ministers even when the country was at war, not just to be "briefed" but to offer their own advice and assistance'. In this he is not correct, though he is saved by the 'probably'. He has ignored the whole period from 1930, until, in his own words, the Man- chester Guardian destroyed its importance `by moving to London and changing its name.'
When my father, W. P. Crozier, was editor from 1932-1944. the testing period of Hitler's rise to power, of appeasement and of the
war, he regularly went up to London for conversations with the political leaders. In the war years he often saw, at his own request, Winston Churchill, not for editorial 'briefings' but for private discussions and exchange of views. I have the record of these interviews before me as I write.
Professor 13eloff could not have known this, since these diaries have not yet been published; nevertheless it is a mistake to suppose that the influence of the Manchester Guardian (apart from its readership) ceased with C. P. Scott.
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