SIX MONTHS AGO, the German newspapers were complaining about the
coolness of London's welcome to their President. I hope they notice what a success the Mayor of Berlin is having, on television and at his press conferences. Having a pretty wife helps, no doubt (a Daily Mirror columnist went shopping with her, a supreme accolade), and there are many Englishmen who say sweepingly that they dislike and distrust, all Germans, quoting two wars-, and then make an exception for Berliners for the sake of one blockade. I went to Chatham House on Tuesday for Herr Brandt's off-the-record talk, and at 5.10 couldn't get into the hall; before his talk began at 5.30 the four overflow rooms that had been fitted with loudspeakers were also full, and members were being turned away. An elderly lady standing disappointed in St. James's Square—and yet vaguely elated, as having been present at a sig- nificant occasion—said : 'I haven't seen anything like this since Mr. Gandhi came to talk to us.'
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