§ 2. Mr. Mayhewasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the estimated readership in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Russian-language periodical Anglia; and if he will now arrange for the publication of similar periodicals in other Communist countries.
§ Mr. P. ThomasIn accordance with our agreement with the Soviet Government 50,000 copies of Anglia are distributed by the Soviet authorities and a further 2,000 by Her Majesty's Embassy. As far as I am aware, the full number of each issue is being put into circulation. I do not know how many people read each copy.
As to the second part of the Question, I agree that it would be useful if we could produce similar magazines for other Communist countries. But, as the hon. Member knows, it is a question of allocating available resources to different types of cultural and information work. Magazines are one of the projects which we are considering.
§ Mr. MayhewIs the Minister aware that the image of Britain in the Soviet Union has improved considerably during recent years and that part of this is due to the excellent magazine, Anglia? Will he look into the possibility of publishing a similar magazine in Poland and Hungary, where it could have a big commercial sale and might do a lot of good to our relations with these countries?
§ Mr. ThomasWe will certainly look into the possibility, but it is a question of deciding priorities.