>   Lionel Robbins was one of the most egregious offenders in this regard. 

Adds another strange twist to my understanding of unfolding events
concerning morality at LSE.  I always assumed Robbins promoted Hayek to his
LSE post.  And I am certain that Hayek secured Popper his position.  Yet
Popper in Open Society and its Enemies was surely bidding for the moral high
ground on behalf of anti-state factions.  Indeed OSE was a rather successful
attempt, on behalf of Hayek, to steal Russell’s (moral) thunder.

I mention this in case my knowledge of a further twist, concerning Popper’s
pupil Watkin’s position is of interest.  In his later study, John Watkins
made no criticisms of the authoritarianism of Hobbes to parallel those
Popper had made of Plato and Hegel.  And this was at a time when Poppers
star was waning at LSE and the neo-traditionalist Oakeshott was apparently
gaining ground.

In private correspondence Watkins repeatedly directed me towards another
neo-traditionalist, Collingwood.  He surely must have known that in his “New
Leviathan” Collingwood very clearly made it the duty of the (self
selecting?) intellectually mature sections of society to lie to the rest?

Rob Tye, York, UK