17 DECEMBER 1965, Page 11

Pantaloon On November 12, the day after UDI, Mr. Bottomley,

the Secretary of State for Common- wealth Relations, proclaimed Mr. Ian Smith to be 'a man of character and integrity.' Four weeks later Mr. Bottomley told the House of Commons that Mr. Smith was a liar, a man not to be trusted and a man impossible to deal with.

It is tragic that at such a delicate moment Pantaloon should be in charge. Almost every- thing he has said and done, from his pep talk to the RAF with its ghastly reference to Zambians as 'noble creatures,' to his interviews with Presi- dent Kaunda and President Nyerere, has been a disaster. True, he was once a junior minister under Mr. Wilson in the Attlee government. True, he taught the Prime Minister to play golf. It does not seem quite enough.