§ 23. Mr. Mayhewasked the Secretary of State for War what have been the results of his television recruiting campaign.
§ Mr. ProfumoI have nothing to add to the answer which my hon. Friend gave the House only last week.
§ Mr. MayhewCan the right hon. Gentleman say in general whether the response has been satisfactory? He will recall that in the debate on the Estimates he stated that recruiting had been improved by 18 per cent. during the experimental period of television broadcasting. Can he say anything about the results now that the full campaign is in operation?
§ Mr. ProfumoI am not trying to conceal anything. I am encouraged by what is happening in the television campaign, but I am loath to give the House figures until they mean something. As the House will know, there has to be a hang-over period after the end of the television campaign before we can assess the number of people who have come in after it has ended. The first slice of the national campaign on television is only now beginning to come to an end, and I shall require a month in which to 1361 get all the letters in. I hope that by the middle of June I shall get some figures which may mean something to the House, and if they are interesting I shall tell the House at once. Meanwhile, I am encouraged by the 20 per cent. increase which occurred in the north of England where we were able to assess the number of people who were recruited in that part of the country through television advertising.