I am inclined to think that Lord Rothermere's decision to
withdraw his patronage from the British Union of Fascists will affect Sir Oswald Mosley's prospects con- siderably, for while on the one hand the vast amount of free publicity, including recruiting-appeals, given to Sir Oswald by the Rothermere Press must have been worth a good deal to the movement, on the other the Daily Mail and its kindred journals have shown themselves pretty shrewd in the past in dropping what they decide arc losing causes, and when they drop Fascism the man in the street will quickly draw his own conclusions. In this case, moreover, Lord Rothermere has been able to give good reasons for parting company with Sir Oswald. Lord Nuffield (still better known as Sir William Morris) has been wise, I think, in disposing definitely of the per- sistent rumour that he had subscribed extensively to the Fascist cause, for no name has been mentioned more frequently in connexion with Fascist finances than his. Sir Henri Deterding's is another, but probably with just as little foundation.
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