§ Mr. Garro Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Air whether he proposes to continue to allow the regular dispatch to Germany of aviation journals with their technical articles, service news and large volume of circumstantial information; whether he is aware that one of these journals recently gave, among other things, the full names and addresses of Air Ministry manufacturers and details of the goods they supplied; and whether any German publication provides for us the same corresponding information?
Captain BalfourI am glad that the hon. Member has raised this matter because it is desirable to emphasise that it is not our policy to restrict the despatch abroad of British aviation journals. They are of high repute, and provide a means of making known to the world the excellence of our products. As the hon. Mem- 227W ber is aware, since the war, arrangements have been made to prevent the publication by the Press in general, including these journals of information likely to be of value to the enemy. I am aware that a recent publication contained information on the lines indicated by the hon. Member, but I am advised that there was nothing in it of a secret nature. German publications even in peace time have never furnished information comparable with that contained in British journals.