§ 30. Mr. Blakerasked the Lord President of the Council why the Government have decided to place advertising with theMorning Starnewspaper.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Privy Council Office (Mr. William Price)In the past the Morning Star was not considered for Government advertising because it did not produce independently audited circulation figures upon which its cost effectiveness could be judged. It has now done so and will in future be considered in the normal way and on the same basis as every other national newspaper.
§ Mr. BlakerIs it not curious that the Government have decided to place an advertisement in the Morning Star, as more than one-third of its circulation is sold abroad as a form of concealed subsidy for the Communist Party of Great Britain?
§ Mr. PriceIt is not the only newspaper that sells abroad. What the hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends are really arguing is that Government advertising should be withheld from those newspapers whose policies we dislike. If the Government were to operate such a policy there would be some suicidal management in Fleet Street tonight, led by the Sun, the Daily Express, the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, and so on.
§ Mr. TapsellIs the hon. Gentleman saying that, if the National Front were to produce a daily newspaper with audited figures, the Government would advertise in that newspaper also?
§ Mr. PriceThe Government advertise in the Daily Telegraph. There is no reason why any morning newspaper that supplies the figures should not be considered. I quote what was said in the House on an earlier occasion:
Government advertising has always been placed wholly on a commercial basis. The Morning Star will be considered for such advertising when, like every other national newspaper, it provides independently certified circulation figures and analysis of readership." —[Official Report, 24th March 1971; Vol. 814, c. 137–8.]That was said by the right hon. Member for Wanstead and Woodford (Mr. Jenkin) when he was a Treasury Minister.