2 JANUARY 1959, Page 17

LORD MOUNTBATTEN is widely—and probably correctly—regarded as having Leftish sympathies.

Many Tories find it hard to forgive him for his part in the transfer of power in India. So Mr. Duncan Sandys can be congratulated on ignoring prejudice, political considerations, and pressure from the popular press and his own party in appointing the best man to the job of Chief of the Defence Staff. That Lord Mountbatten is the best man becomes overwhelmingly clear as soon as one tries to think of an alternative : nobody has had such a variety of experience, as Viceroy of India, as Chief of Combined Operations (with command over all three Services), and as Supreme Commander, in South-East Asia, over United States as well as British forces. And he has the open and inquiring mind to benefit from such experience.