Churchill was great leader but like all politicians had faults

PROFESSOR Richard Toye’s recent book Roar of the Lion correctly asserts that Churchill’s wartime speeches made no decisive difference to the British people’s will to fight on. That would have happened in any case. People simply said “I think we’ve got the right man at the top”.

Although Churchill was a great leader in countless ways and his 1940 oratory is superb, the quality of his many broadcast speeches declined. In June 1941 his speech when Russia was invaded lacked any clarion call. The nadir came in 1945, when in a major speech to begin the General Election campaign he warned that if the Socialists (his wartime Cabinet colleagues) gained power, there would be a Gestapo. The media (who had backed him in the war) didn’t know what to make of that. It was certainly the worst speech in all his life.

One consequence was the electoral result in his own safe Essex seat, where his last majority in 1935 had been 20,419. In 1945, the Labour and Liberal parties, as an act of respect for his wartime leadership, gave him a free run. But a relatively unknown independent reduced the majority to 17,200, taking nearly one third of the total vote with 10,488.

Mrs Churchill, who had suggested his retirement (he was now over 70) and who attended the count in his absence, remarked: “That man should never have got all those votes.”

Churchill did not endear himself (as some thought he did) with his penchant for fat, expensive cigars at a time of severe wartime shortages.

He was seen as a member of the upper classes, now no longer regarded as the natural form of government.

His intervention in wartime by-elections during an electoral truce was resented, and Conservative nominees, often in safe seats, were defeated by Commonwealth and independent candidates.

Speeches or no speeches – Churchill or no Churchill – Prime Ministers (and indeed most politicians) rarely retain popularity. People tire of them, and sooner or later experiment to try to get something better.

From: Janet Rowntree, Escrick, York.

IT was encouraging to hear that, according to a leading government official, Britain is still making “diplomatic efforts” in Syria and seeing that “aid gets through”. Perhaps we can do even more along these lines and, in so doing, sow the seeds of peace.

Any military action will not, in the longer run, bring peace but will, as always, sow the seeds of future wars and aggression. No one has the right to deliberately kill any human being. Indeed, one of the ten commandments says as much – thou shalt not kill.

There is no good reason why those of us who are so intent on condemning the use of force, of any kind, to manipulate people, which is always evil, should not urge all governments to 
set a better example by investing energy and financial resources 
in rebuilding war-torn 
societies.

How much better to show young people positive ways of helping theirs, thereby rejecting wanton harming, maiming, killing and destroying.

We could begin by more effectively helping Syrian refugees, especially children.

From: Brian Johnston, Rigton Drive, Burmantofts, Leeds.

WELL done Parliament and all MPs who accepted their responsibility, listened to the people, stopping the mighty executive in its tracks, as it raced head-long into yet another Middle East war that had nothing to do with us. It was a fine day for democracy.

Have we at last broken free of Blair’s malign legacy of being the world’s policeman, intervening into every foreign crisis to export democracy, only to end up spilling more blood, humiliated into making a crisis into a humanitarian disaster?

Has the day dawned at last that we are no longer a great world power, but only a medium-sized European nation with a chronic economy and a laughing stock as a military force – a mere poodle of American foreign policy?

From now on let’s hear more about improving our own back yard. There is a yawning gap between the people and our deluded ruling elite.

The British people demand that the concerns of our own nation come first, and away with foreign adventures, as well as dishing 
out our money in great dollops 
of foreign aid to any tin-pot nation with a begging bowl.

This is not a call to be Little Englanders but a reality check of how we stand in the world.

Our people are weary of not being listened to, but at last Parliament spoke up for us.

So is there a glimmer of hope that politicians will respond likewise and take note of people’s concerns. Last month the House of Commons finally woke up.