§ Sir P. Harris(by Private Notice) asked the Prime Minister whether he can make any statement about the announcement of air-raid casualties?
§ The Prime MinisterI am sorry to see that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Information has been criticised for imposing this restriction. The truth is that I am primarily to blame in the matter. As Minister of Defence I do not consider that daily publication is desirable. First, we do not receive from the enemy any similar information about the effects of our attacks upon them, and I see no need to present them each day with the tabulated results of their raids. This information, when examined by the German Air Force, would enable them to lay their plans with more exactness than they have hitherto shown, and, by comparing it with the reports of their bombers, to ascertain to some extent which attacks were fruitful, and which were wide of the mark. Secondly, this country is now on active service so far as the whole mass of the people are concerned. It has been well said that the front line runs through the factories. It is not usual in war to publish the casualties which occur on the front as results of an artillery bombardment. If the casualties were heavy the enemy would be encouraged. If they were light he would strive to improve his aim. Thirdly, although each battalion of the line knows pretty well what its daily casualties are, it is not thought necessary to publish the totals daily in Army Orders, and read them out to the troops every morning. I do not see why these analogies do not apply to the aerial bombardment of the civil population under the new conditions of war.
I propose, therefore, that in future, as is already done to a large extent, all casualties from air raids shall be posted as soon as they are ascertained at the town hall or other convenient centre in any town or district; but that the reproduction of these figures in the Press, either individually or in the aggregate, shall be forbidden. I propose further that at monthly intervals the general total of the casualties in that period shall be announced to Parliament and published in the Press. This will give the public the satisfaction of knowing the worst without enabling the enemy to connect any particular attack with its results, and otherwise to gain information at our expense. It seems to be a good moment to make this change in procedure when, after a month's widespread, if ill-directed, 403 bombardment, our losses have been singularly slight.