LETTERS Now hear this, Birt
Sir: Mr Paxman (`Seven types of evasion', 7 January) was quite correct in saying that Winston Churchill (whose private secretary I was from 1952 to 1965) did not engage in `press conferences'. (And is 'conference' the mot juste? Surely it implies an exchange of views?) Nor did he have a formal press secretary, nor indeed a cloud of advisers. He did not feel that he needed them. But more importantly, he believed that he was answerable to the country through Parliament.
In an ideal world senior politicians would not consent to be interrogated by someone who might turn out to be an ill-mannered and self-important know-all. They too would feel that they were answerable to the country through Parliament, and not through those who would do well to consid- er Stanley Baldwin's Kipling-inspired rebuke to the press lords: 'They seek power without responsibility, the harlot's preroga- tive throughout the ages.'
Well, we can't go back and Mr Paxman is again quite right in saying that politicians do not find the parliamentary forum ade- quate for their needs.
But, my God, look at the consequences! Look no further than the election of a modern American president to judge of the desirability of choice by television and of cross-examination by television con- ducted by those who may well have a gen- uine concern for the public good, but who are also substantially motivated by per- sonal ambition and a thirst for power deriving from outside the democratic processes.
Anthony Montague Brown
99A Prince of Wales Mansions, Prince of Wales Drive, London SW11
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