A PANEL OF EXPERTS SIR,—Janus comments scathingly on the conviction
of the authors of Keep Left that " they know more about business than most successful businessmen, and more about the Army than most successful soldiers." Mr. Mikardo, who wrote the sections of the pamphlet dealing with indus- trial efficiency, was by profession an industrial consultant. For many years his living was therefore dependent on the fact that businessmen were prepared to pay for his advice on the running of their factories. Among the fifteen signatories of Keep Left are at least one colonel, one wing commander and two majors. Their military experience may not give them the right to be called successful soldiers, but it does lend some authority to their charge that Service chiefs habitually overestimate their manpower needs. This is the main thesis of the military sections of the pamphlet, and I should have thought its truth would have been admitted by anyone who had served in any of the Forces. If Janus wants to dis- credit Keep Left, he must do better than this.—Yours sincerely,
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