10 JULY 1947, Page 15

THE COMMUNISTS IN NORWAY

Sot,—I am very pleased to be corrected by so great an authority on Norway as Mr. Gathorne-Hardy. I had in mind, when I gave Norway as an instance, the dangerous possibilities of an alliance between the narrowest and most absurd forms of economic nationalism and the various local Communist parties, such an alliance as the French Communist Press is trying to organise this week. I had also in mind the story, printed more than once in the American Press, that the Norwegian Government, under Communist pressure and moved by the natural nervousness of a territorial neighbour of Russia, had felt itself obliged to withdraw an invitation to Mr. Churchill to visit that country. As far as I know, Norway is the only liberated (and belligerent) country of western Europe which has not given a public welcome to Mr. Churchill, a step that the Governments of Holland, Belgium and France were able to take, despite the existence of important Communist parties. If this story is untrue, I should be very glad indeed to see it contradicted.—Yours, &c.,

Hotel de Castiglione, D. W. BROGAN. Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, Paris.