§ 30. Sir H. Williamsasked the Minister of Information the reason for the delay in making the public announcement of the sinking of the "Accra," having regard to the fact that the news was widely known in this country many days before the announcement?
Mr. CooperIt is contrary to the policy of His Majesty's Government to 768 announce the loss of individual merchant ships. But in the present case there was no reason for withholding the news of the loss of the "Accra" after news of the loss had been published in the U.S.A.
§ Sir H. WilliamsHaving regard to the fact that the loss of this ship was well known in this country for at least eight days before publication of news of the sinking, does he not think that delay would cause considerable anxiety to relatives of those on board?
Mr. CooperIt may have been well known in this country, but we did not want to publish it to Germany.