HC Deb 22 May 1957 vol 570 cc1206-7
20. Mr. Frank Allaun

asked the Postmaster-General if the Independent Television Authority has now reached a decision about the showing of sixteen propaganda films at a cost of £160,000 by the Institute of Directors.

Mr. Marples

The I.T.A. has not yet come to a conclusion about the new proposals.

Mr. Allaun

Is the Minister aware that the Institute's prospectus states: We have been described—not inaccurately —as the bosses' trade union "; that the President is Viscount Chandos, and that at the last General Election the Institute spent thousands of pounds on the private enterprise poster campaign? Does the Minister seriously ask the House to believe that such an organisation would spend £160,000 and buy advertising time without a political motive in mind?

Mr. Marples

I prefer to wait and see what the films are like when they are made. How on earth can anyone make a judgment on films which have not been made?

Mr. Farey-Jones

Does my right hon. Friend accept the reference to propaganda films?

Mr. Marples

I do not accept it at all. Two separate issues are involved here. The films themselves have not been made, and no one can pass judgment on them. The I.T.A. was concerned about the descriptive material which accompanied the circular letter which was sent round. Upon that they are now negotiating, and it is a matter between the I.T.A. and the Institute of Directors. So far as the films are concerned, it is clear that nobody can pass judgment on them.

Mr. Ness Edwards

Is the Minister aware that a pilot film has been made; that this was the subject of examination, and that this proposal for sixteen 20-minute films is a continuation of the campaign conducted by this Institute at the last General Election? Is the Minister also aware that the Institute's annual report says so? I ask the Postmaster-General to try to keep propaganda off commercial television.

Mr. Marples

The right hon. Gentleman is entirely wrong. The pilot film or any other film which has been made is not one which it is intended to show. If the Institute of Directors wish to show the magnificent achievements of British industry in a dispassionate and impartial way, I am sorry that the right hon. Gentleman should wish to preclude the British public from seeing these films.

Mr. Allaun

I beg to give notice—this is something which I have never previously done—that I shall raise this question on the Adjournment.

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