HC Deb 24 June 1942 vol 380 cc1969-70
44. Commander King-Hall

asked the Minister of Information whether he will consult with the First Lord of the Admiralty and the Secretaries of State for Air and War with a view to making arrangements whereby once or twice a day there shall be issued a brief comprehensive British war communiqué embodying the official news from all fronts, land, sea and air, thereby ensuring equal publicity for all three services?

Mr. Bracken

I am obliged by my hon. and gallant Friend's suggestion, and I shall gladly discuss it with the Service Ministers.

Commander King-Hall

Will my right hon. Friend regard it as a matter of urgency in order to put a stop as soon as possible to the unregulated competition of publicity which has been going on between the Service Departments, a competition in which the Admiralty and the War Office have so often been left badly in the rear?

Mr. Bracken

I will certainly start these conversations as soon as possible, and I shall be helped, I suppose, in conducting them by the statement just made by my hon. and gallant Friend.

Sir Percy Harris

Does not the Admiralty stand for the old idea that the Navy is a silent Service?

Mr. Bracken

I should think that that is probably true.