§ Sir Knox Cunninghamasked the Post-master-General whether he will give a list of the dates when and the places where danger to shipping has resulted from broadcasts from Radio Caroline and other pirate radio stations, respectively; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BennThe dates and places where interference from the pirate stations to communications between ships and the shore has been reported to my Department are:
From "Radio Caroline"
- 29th March, 1964—South East coast generally.
- 1st April, 1964 (continuing until at least 13th July, 1964)—Antwerp area.
- 2nd April, 1964—Essex coast.
- 9th June, 1964—Essex coast.
- 11th June, 1964—South East coast generally.
- 31st August, 1964—Irish Sea.
- 15th to 25th November, 1964—Irish Sea.
From other pirate radio stations
35W
- 12th January, 1965—North of Scotland.
- 13th January, 1965—Netherlands.
- 13th January, 1965—Kent coast.
- 14th January, 1965—Netherlands.
- 14th January, 1965—East Coast of Ireland.
- 19th January, 1965—Bristol Channel.
- 19th January, 1965—Kent Coast.
- 20th January, 1965—Germany.
- 22nd January, 1965—North of Scotland.
- 4th February, 1965—Thames estuary.
- 23rd February, 1965—Pembrokeshire.
- 16th March, 1965—Netherlands.
Many of these communications were of a routine nature, but the interruption of any of the authorised channels of communication between ships and the shore constitutes a danger to shipping. This was illustrated by the incident on 23rd February last, when a lightship was prevented for about 30 minutes from passing an urgent report to the shore because both of the frequencies available were blocked, one of them by a pirate broadcasting station.