§ 18. Wing-Commander Hulbertasked the Minister of Information how many periodicals and daily papers are published in England under the auspices of foreign Governments and organisations; what is the weekly amount of paper used; and whether he will publish a list of these publications in the OFFICIAL REPORT?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Information (Mr. Thurtle)I regret that not all the information required by my hon. and gallant Friend is available. Certain papers and periodicals published in this country in foreign languages or under foreign auspices receive assistance from the Ministry of Information or other Government Departments to enable them to obtain paper. They number 87 in all—8 are dailies, 2 are bi-weekly and 18 are weeklies; the remainder are published fortnightly or monthly or even less frequently. They serve the needs of various sectional interests, literature, news, politics, and technical subjects. They have consumed paper at the rate of 27.4 tons per week. There are also a considerable number of other papers and periodicals published by foreign interests without any assistance from the British Government. Their circulation is small but I have no information as to their paper consumption. A list of the assisted publications is being prepared for circulation in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Wing-Commander HulbertDoes not my hon. Friend think that one paper per country is sufficient?
§ Mr. ThurtleThe whole matter is under consideration.
§ Mr. ShinwellIs this the reason for the intensified salvage campaign?
§ Sir Percy HurdWhen will an answer be given on this matter which was raised three months ago? The number has since increased from 60-odd to 80-odd, and cannot some stop be put to the increase?
§ Mr. ThurtleI have answered the request in the Question for statistical information.
§ Following is the list: