Pornography
From Lord Longford
Sir: In his article (March 30) in favour of the liberation of pornography Mr Abse feels called on to remark, "Lord Longford, that most immodest of Christians, with whom the anti-pornography campaign is most associated, has even among his peers gained a rare reputation for highly-publicised exhibitionism that he surely deserves ... " We, to my regret, barely know each other but within certain limits anyone in public life has a right, and perhaps a duty to offer his opinion about other practitioners. As David Holbrook indicates in the preceding article the intellectual discussion of the so-called Longford report has been disappointing. Our opponents have preferred to rely on personal disparagement. At first I was presented as a tyrant, then a buffoon, then an exhibitionist. On the last point I can only ask Mr Abse and others to cast an eye on my small book on humility (Fontana, 1969). They will at least realise that I am not unaware of the problems of anyone who tries to secure attention for Christian values in public.
Now that Sir Gerald Nabarro is no longer with us Mr Abse is usually regarded as the leading exemplar of 'decent display' in the sense of sartohal brilliance. I have always asAimed that his extravagance on that plane was designed to call attention to his social measures. Few of us Christians can compete with him there but in our own modest way are we not allowed to try to be heard from?
Frank Longford Sidgwick and Jackson Ltd. I Tavistock Chambers, Bloomsbury Way. London WC1
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