HC Deb 05 June 1940 vol 361 c835
17. Mr. Glenvil Hall

asked the Minister of Information whether he will consult the director of the British Broadcasting Corporation on the possibility of limiting, during the war, both commentaries on sporting events and the regular announcement of race results?

Mr. Cooper

I have been in consultation with the B.B.C. Broadcasts on sport have been severely curtailed, and all such items are under review by the B.B.C. from day to day. But so long as sporting activities continue there will be a public demand for information about them which the B.B.C. feel they must continue to supply.

Mr. Hall

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the so-called sport I have in mind is dog-racing and that I put the Question in the form I did in order to get it passed by the Clerk at the Table? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that commentaries on and announcements of results of dog-racing is new, and does he not think that in time of war, with all that we hear over the wireless, this is a wrong time to start this sort of thing?

Mr. Cooper

The hon. Gentleman is now asking the Question he did not get past the Clerk. I have answered the Question he asked, which is quite another one.

Mr. Hall

In that case may I ask whether the right hon. Gentleman is aware that the commentator on Saturday referred to the fact that people at the stadium were war workers who were there between shifts, and I would like him to ascertain how the commentator knew that, and what connection that had with the answer which the Home Secretary gave me a day earlier?