§ 25. Mr. Oliverasked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been drawn to the case of a post office telephonist who was convicted and heavily fined for divulging the contents of telephone messages to a London newspaper; and whether any action is contemplated against the newspaper in question for receiving this information knowing that it had been improperly acquired by them.
§ Mr. Wilfred PalingI understand that newspapers often receive information by telephone from persons who are not regular correspondents. In this case the telephonist's activities came to light indirectly as a result of the newspaper's independent check on his message, and I accept the editor's assurance that his staff had no reason to think that the information had been improperly acquired.