Madam, - Kevin Myers writes that the British people properly dumped Sir Winston Churchill in 1945 before he led them to war with India (An Irishman's Diary, March 2nd). I was around at the time and my recollection is different.
The British armed forces and general population heroworshipped Churchill at the war's end - and rightly so, if only for the fact that in the aftermath of the Dunkirk evacuation he took charge when Halifax and others were considering surrender.
In 1945 Churchill happened to head a government that opposed the implementation of the Beveridge proposals for a national health service. The Tories also opposed Labour's plans to open the way for young working-class people to gain entry to grammar schools and universities. Incidentally, the Ulster Unionist MPs also opposed these changes.
It was for these reasons that the Conservative Party was routed in 1945. Even in political defeat, Churchill was adored by the public. - Yours, etc.,
SAM McAUGHTRY, Comber, Co Down.