Editing H. H. Asquith (section)

===Shell Crisis of May 1915===
{{main|Shell Crisis of 1915}}

The opening of 1915 saw growing division between Lloyd George and Kitchener over the supply of munitions for the army. Lloyd George considered that a munitions department, under his control, was essential to co-ordinate "the nation's entire engineering capacity".{{sfn|Cassar|p=84}} Kitchener favoured the continuance of the current arrangement whereby munitions were sourced through contracts between the War Office and the country's armaments manufacturers. As so often, Asquith sought compromise through committee, establishing a group to "consider the much vexed question of putting the contracts for munitions on a proper footing".{{sfn|Asquith 1985|p=497}} This did little to dampen press criticism{{sfn|Cassar|p=87}} and, on 20 April, Asquith sought to challenge his detractors in a major speech at Newcastle by saying, "I saw a statement the other day that the operations of our army were being crippled by our failure to provide the necessary ammunition. There is not a word of truth in that statement."{{sfn|Cassar|p=88}}

The press response was savage: 14 May 1915 saw the publication in ''[[The Times]]'' of a letter from their correspondent [[Charles à Court Repington]] which ascribed the British failure at the [[Battle of Aubers Ridge]] to a shortage of high explosive shells. Thus opened a fully-fledged crisis, [[Shell Crisis of 1915|the Shell Crisis]]. The prime minister's wife correctly identified her husband's chief opponent, the Press baron, and owner of ''The Times'', [[Lord Northcliffe]]: "I'm quite sure Northcliffe is at the bottom of all this,"{{sfn|Margot Asquith 2014|p=128}} but failed to recognise the clandestine involvement of [[Sir John French]], who leaked the details of the shells shortage to Repington.{{sfn|Riddell|p=111}} Northcliffe claimed that "the whole question of the supply of the munitions of war is one on which the Cabinet cannot be arraigned too sharply."{{sfn|Thompson|p=237}} Attacks on the government and on Asquith's personal lethargy came from the left as well as the right, [[C. P. Scott]], the editor of ''[[The Manchester Guardian]]'' writing, "The Government has failed most frightfully and discreditably in the matter of munitions."{{sfn|Scott|p=124}}