"[CR] Tony Benn seems to have been an incredible headache. [MF] Yes, he was. [CR] She asks this question: "Should Michael be tougher on Benn and the other trouble makers?" But she fears that if you do, there will be a party split. Do you know what she said about your speeches? When you dealt with other people's writing, they didn't allow at all for your own speaking style. She felt you were constrained by that. [MF] Well, that's true, no doubt. And to read a speech--I should never have done it. So ... [CR] She sees you on TV: "Michael lacks the cosy, avuncular, reassuring style of Callaghan and Healey." [MF] True. She was absolutely right. [CR] "Too inclined to shout, which gives the impression that he is haranguing the audience." [MF] All that criticism is right and that is what made it worse for her. In person no one could be more avuncular and reassuring than Michael. His shouts within his own circle were merely hearty greetings, an "eccentricity of energy," Sally Vincent had called them. [CR] Jill says, "Cocktail parties are a barbaric ritual. We have never never given one, nor will we." [MF] Quite true. What we did do is give decent meals down here. The friendships we had through her were wonderful."