HC Deb 05 April 1944 vol 398 cc2002-3
49. Mr. John Dugdale

asked the Lord President of the Council whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that a grant of £320 was made by the Rockefeller Foundation, in 1936, in aid of the research work by Professor H. W. Florey and his colleagues at Oxford, which has established the great medical value of penicillin; and whether financial assistance has been given to this work by the British Government.

Mr. Attlee

Yes, Sir. Grants from the public funds administered by the Medical Research Council have been made to Professor Florey continuously since 1927. The assistance provided to him in this way for work specially on penicillin, which began in 1939, has since that date amounted to approximately £7,000.

Mr. Dugdale

Would it not be as well, in an instance of this sort, if the Government put their light on a hill rather than under a bushel, so that people can know what we are doing?

Mr. Attlee

I think that is a point well worthy of attention.