Letter: Battles won and lost in Beveridge's war on poverty

Sir: One element of the effects of the publication of the Beveridge Report in 1942 should not be overlooked: its effect on the morale of a nation mobilised for war.

My personal experience was as a junior artillery officer in hospital near the Suez Canal. I had time to read the little that was available there of the report, but on return to my unit in southern Tunisia I noticed that it was being discussed much more among the sergeants and other ranks than among the officers.

One middle-aged Territorial sergeant confided in me that his greatest fear had been removed: that of chronic illness on his return to North Wales. Would he feel so secure today?

Yours truly,

PETER HUTCHISON

Dereham, Norfolk