§ 34. Mr. DORANasked the Postmaster-General whether any official representa 22 tives were appointed by him to represent English radio interests at the Madrid Conference; and, if so, will he state their names?
§ Sir K. WOODAll the official delegates of Great Britain to the Madrid Conference were qualified to deal with one or both branches of radio activities, telegraph and telephone. I am forwarding to my hon. Friend a full list of the delegates. In addition to the official delegates, the Cable and Wireless Companies, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and British Wireless Amateurs, were represented during the parts of the proceedings in which they were immediately concerned.
§ Mr. DORANAre we to understand that the minions of the British Broadcasting Corporation were authorised by the Postmaster-General to go to the Madrid Conference, and, if the British Broadcasting Corporation is not a Government concern, how did the Postmaster-General get the authority to tell those people to go there?
§ Sir K. WOODThe answer is that the representatives of the British Broadcasting Corporation attended the conference in the same way and in the same capacity as the representatives of the wireless companies.
§ Mr. DORANThe other representatives at the conference were members of the Governmental representation of other countries. Seeing that the British Broadcasting Corporation is not a Government Department, why were these people allowed to go to represent the British Government?
§ Sir K. WOODI am sorry; perhaps I did not convey properly to my hon. Friend what my reply was. The representatives of the British Broadcasting Corporation did not represent the Government; only the official delegation appointed by me represented the Government. In the same way as this country, so did other countries have representatives from various parties interested. For my part, I see no objection, but rather advantage, that representatives of the British Broadcasting Corporation attended.