HC Deb 01 July 1942 vol 381 cc187-8
13. Mr. Gallacher

asked the Minister of Information whether he has considered the letter written by a shop steward at Dalmuir and sent to him by the hon. Member for West Fife, alleging that faked photographs are being taken by the Minis- try of Information photographers for use in the Soviet Union; and will he take steps to stop this practice?

The Minister of Information (Mr. Brendan Bracken)

I am grateful to the hon. Member for bringing this to my attention. There has never been any question of the Ministry sending faked photographs to the Soviet Union, or anywhere else. I learn that on the occasion which the hon. Member has in mind a film company took two shots of women actually carrying out work for which they are at present being trained. The film has yet to be approved by the Ministry and great care will be taken to ensure that it gives no misleading impression of our war effort.

Mr. Gallacher

Is it not the case that photographs were taken of women at automatic rivetters, and that these women had never had an automatic rivetter in their hands before the taking of these photographs?

Mr. Bracken

I am not quite certain about the hon. Member's facts, but I tell him that no photograph affecting our war effort that is not genuine will be released by the Ministry.