§ Sir WILLIAM BULLasked the Undersecretary of State for India if he will explain why some important and interesting
732Wnews in connection with the operations in Mesopotamia was issued by the Press Bureau on a recent Saturday night, and, as there seemed no reason why the information could not be made public at once, why was the publication prohibited at his request until Monday, thus depriving the Sunday papers of legitimate news; and if, on the contrary, it was of vital
importance, why was its issue not kept back at the Press Bureau until Sunday night?
§ Mr. C. ROBERTSMonday has been thought to be more suitable generally than Sunday for communiqués, when not of exceptional urgency. The communiqué in question was accordingly marked for publication in Monday's papers, but was issued by the Press Bureau on Saturday night, instead of Sunday, to meet the convenience of Monday's provincial Press. The Secretary of State has now decided
that in future such communiqués will ordinarily be issued, if available, on Saturday, in time for publication in the Sunday papers.