§ 23 and 24. Mr. Mathewasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) if, in view of the present international controversy on the status of Berlin, he will now take steps immediately to restore the number of hours of broadcast time devoted by the Overseas Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation to the Eastern zone of Germany to their former level;
(2) if, in view of the increasing interest in and importance of the United Kingdom's relationship with the European Economic Community, he will ensure that Great Britain's case is fully understood in Western Germany by now restoring the number of broadcast hours from the British Broadcasting Corporation overseas service to the Federal Republic of Germany to their former level.
§ The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Dr. Charles Hill)The B.B.C. broadcasts the same service to all parts of Germany. It lasts four hours a day, which would seem to be adequate.
§ Mr. MathewIn Germany itself it is not considered adequate by those studying the position in the Communist zone of that country. In view of the present Berlin crisis, does not my right hon. Friend feel that it is necessary to restore the service to the number of hours that were being broadcast some three years ago?
§ Dr. HillThe number has been four hours for some three years. Before then it was rather more than four hours, and I think that six years ago it was five hours; but it is not only a matter of the length of time devoted to broadcasting. My impression is that four hours in four different bulletins a day is sufficient.
§ Mr. MayhewWill the right hon. Gentleman say why he has cut these broadcasts? Is not this another instance of the Government giving this overseas broadcasting a much lower priority than it deserves?
§ Dr. HillThere has been no cut for the last three years, and for the years immediately prior to that it was only just over four hours a day.