Editing H. H. Asquith (section)

===Power without responsibility===
[[File:The Independent (1849) (14595849278).jpg|thumb|Lord Northcliffe teeing up]]
Lord Northcliffe's role was critical, as was the use Lloyd George made of him, and of the press in general. Northcliffe's involvement also highlights the limitations of both Aitken's and Lloyd George's accounts of Asquith's fall. Both minimised Northcliffe's part in the events. In his ''War Memoirs'', Lloyd George stated emphatically "Lord Northcliffe was never, at any stage, brought into our consultations."{{sfn|Lloyd George Volume II|p=982}} Aitken supported this by saying, "Lord Northcliffe was not in active co-operation with Lloyd George."{{sfn|Beaverbrook|p=403}}

But these claims are contradicted by others. In their biography of Northcliffe, [[Reginald Pound]] and Geoffrey Harmsworth record Northcliffe's brother [[Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere|Rothermere]] writing contemporaneously, "Alfred has been actively at work with Ll.G. with a view to bringing about a change."{{sfn|Pound & Harmsworth|p=513}} Riddell wrote in his diary for 27 May 1916: "LG never mentions directly that he sees Northcliffe but I am sure they are in daily contact."{{sfn|Riddell|p=157}} Margot Asquith was also certain of Northcliffe's role, and of Lloyd George's involvement, although she obscured both of their names when writing in her diary: "I only hope the man responsible for giving information to Lord N- will be heavily punished: God may forgive him; I never can."{{sfn|Margot Asquith 1962|p=308}}

The claims are also contradicted by events. Northcliffe met with Lloyd George on each of the three days just prior to Lloyd George's resignation, on 1, 2, and 3 December,{{sfn|Jenkins|p=445}} including two meetings on 1 December, both before and after Lloyd George put his revised proposals for the War Council to Asquith.{{sfn|Lee|p=160}} It seems improbable that ongoing events were not discussed and that the two men confined their conversations to negotiating article circulation rights for Lloyd George once he had resigned, as Pound and Harmsworth weakly suggest.{{sfn|Pound & Harmsworth|p=514}}

The attempts made by others to use Northcliffe and the wider press also merit consideration. In this regard, some senior military officers were extremely active. Robertson, for example, wrote to Northcliffe in October 1916, "The Boche gives me no trouble compared with what I meet in London. So any help you can give me will be of Imperial value."{{sfn|Pound & Harmsworth|p=508}} Lastly, the actions of Northcliffe's newspapers must be considered—in particular ''The Times'' editorial on 4 December which led Asquith to reject Lloyd George's final War Council proposals.{{sfn|Jenkins|p=450}} Thompson, Northcliffe's most recent biographer, concludes, "From the evidence, it appears that Northcliffe and his newspapers should be given more credit than they have generally received for the demise of the Asquith government in December 1916."{{sfn|Thompson|p=264}}