3 OCTOBER 1958, Page 7

MRS. CASTLE'S remarks about British troops in Cyprus were ungenerous

and misplaced, and they well deserved criticism. But the outpouring of ministerial patriotism that has descended upon her head has been rather ,overdone. The Lord Chancellor, for instance, told an audience at Harrogate that he had no time for 'these leading ladies of the Left, who in their twisted shame for the greatness of Britain, pour calumny on the fighting men.' Nor do a lot of other people. But by what sub-Kiplingesque quirk does Lord Kilmuir manage to believe that our greatness is being exhibited in Cyprus? Patriotism is becoming more and more the first refuge of party politicians —as it long has been of newspaper proprietors.

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