HC Deb 14 July 1943 vol 391 cc165-6
1. Mr. David Grenfell

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has considered the communications from Allied Governments in London on the subject of simplified writing and spelling as a means of extending proficiency on the part of allied nationals who desire to learn and to use the English language for fuller co-operation in war and peace; whether he has consulted the President of the Board of Education on the matter; and how far he is in agreement with the proposal?

The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Eden)

I have made careful inquiries, but I find that neither my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Education nor I have any record of such a communication.

Mr. Grenfell

Has the right hon. Gentleman received a communication asking that English should be used as an auxiliary language for international intercourse?

Mr. Eden

I cannot find the communication, but I should be heartily in sympathy with that expression of opinion.

Mr. Grenfell

If the right hon. Gentleman is heartily in sympathy with the use of English, would he express his sympathy with those who desire to make English a little easier for those who wish to use it as an auxiliary language?

Mr. Eden

That seems to me almost to enter into the domain of the President of the Board of Education.

Mr. Ivor Thomas

As foreigners learn our language so much more easily than we seem to learn theirs, does not that suggest that the Question is based on a false assumption?

Commander Locker-Lampson

Can the right hon. Gentleman see that the Labour Party issue some of their pronouncements in simplified English?