Slandered out of business
Sir: Your journal has done a public service in providing a forum for the views of Colonel Lohan and Mr Pincher about the evidence given to the Radcliffe Committee.
One of the key passages in the report is para- graph 40, which refers to the telephone call Mr Pincher made to Colonel Lohan at 6.30 p.m. on the evening the cable-vetting story was being pre- pared for publication. The Privy Councillors point out that Mr Pincher did not at this time say that the editor had already decided in favour of publication. The Privy Councillors add : 'Mr Pincher, in our view, was being more cautious at this point than his dealings with Colonel Lohan justified. He could fairly have told him that the editor was not accepting his request, but have asked him not to take any action with the Mail until it was quite certain that the Express was going to publish that night. But he did not.'
It would be useful to have the observations of Mr Pincher and Colonel Lohan on that para- graph. They would also assist the public discus- sion of this important matter by commenting on paragraph 32 of the report, which deals with the famous luncheon at L'Ecu de France. In the last sentence of this paragraph the Privy Coun- cillors say: `There was no misunderstanding between the two men that Colonel Lohan was making an urgent appeal on behalf of the Govern- ment for the suppression of the story.'
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