292 294

SECRET
POLICY COMMITTEE
15th July 1940

Present:

Minister

D.G.

D.D.G.

D.S.

P.S.

Lord Perth

Sir Kenneth Clark

Mr. Macadam

Mr. Kirkpatrick

Mr. Wellington

P.P.S.

Mr. Gates

Mr. Ogilvie

Mr. Ryan

Mr. Valentine Williams

Mr. Willert

Mr. Wiltshire (Secretary)

1. TELEGRAM TO LORD LOTHIAN

Mr. Kirkpatrick produced a telegram (draft attached). He said that the Ministry of Economic Warfare took the view that we should stop all movement of food into Europe from the U.S.A at once. They had seen the telegram, but Mr. Dalton had not yet formally agreed to it. The Foreign Office had been rather inclined to deplore so strict an attitude on the part of the Ministry of Economic Warfare, but had approved the draft. The Director General suggested that the point might be made that the gathering of the European harvest at the present time provided additional reasons that there should not be any immediate shortage of food. The Minister thought that the point might he made that the situation was quite different from the last war. Then the Belgians were the only people to be fed and the Hoover organisation could give some guarantee that the destination of the food could be controlled. This was not now possible. Mr. Kirkpatrick mentioned that Mr. Hugh Gibson of the Polish Relief Fund was going back to America to do propaganda there against the sending of more food to Europe. Lord Perth suggested that the telegram should put the question whether we can enlist help from the American administration or otherwise.

It was decided that the telegram should he sent as amended as soon as possible.

2. LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

The Minister mentioned the proposal of Mr. Priestley that the Ministry of Information should be responsible for a project in which a London theatre or hall of suitable capacity was to be taken and concerts were to be given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, interspersed with propaganda talks. The public would be charged, say, 1/- admittance and troops in uniform would he admitted free. After discussion it was agreed that Mr. Priestley should be invited to discuss finance with the Deputy Secretary and Mr. Bamford.

In answer to a question, Mr. Ogilvie pointed out that there were other orchestras also worthy of support, and we might be asked to extend the scheme to them. Sir Kenneth Clark referred to the Council for Encouragement of Music and the Arts, of which Lord Macmillan was Chairman and Mr. Tom Jones Deputy Chairman. A fund had been collected, amounting to £100,000, with the assistance of the Carnegie and Pilgrim Trusts, and amongst its activities was financing orchestral tours to factories, etc. They had, however, purposely left London out of their calculations 293 as they thought the public needs there would already be satisfied. He recommended that this body should be asked to cooperate, and as he was a member of the Committee he undertook to ask the Committee to nominate a suitable person to discuss the matter with us.

3. TREATMENT OF ENEMY ALIENS FOR PROPAGANDA PURPOSES TO GERMANY

Mr. Valentine Williams said that the indiscriminate treatment of aliens raised very great difficulties in relation to propaganda in enemy and occupied territories. Great feeling had been aroused by internment and bad arrangements in the camps. Moreover, the worst possible impression had been created by the action of the French, who had allowed a large number of interned refugees to fall into the hands of the Germans. Mr. Nicolson considered that the present system had many unjust features. He himself knew of some aliens whose internment was quite unjustified. Mr. Ogilvie reported a state of affairs which had come under his own observation in relation to the German speaking staff of the B.B.C. Mr. Valentine Williams mentioned various points that had been drawn up by Electra House which might produce amelioration. e.g. that a letter should be given to those aliens who were free from suspicion of Nazi sympathies, possibly signed by the Prime Minister.

The Minister said that the Cabinet were much concerned by this problem and were appointing a special committee to go into it. He mentioned several unfortunate features of the present system. He thought that unless the Cabinet did something in the next few days we should prepare a memorandum. In the meantime, Mr. Valentine Williams was asked to draft a suitable letter to be given to friendly internees and be prepared to bring the subject forward again next Thursday. Mr. Kirkpatrick suggested that the Swiss should be consulted since they were charged with the management of German affairs and were visiting the internment camps frequently. It was agreed that they should be unofficially consulted.

4. STANDARDISATION OF TERMS EMPLOYED IN RELATION TO GERMANS

Mr. Valentine Williams referred to a number of German terms, such as Gross Deutschland, Wehrmacht, etc., the use of which in British journalism would appear to imply an acceptance of the notions which they represent. He thought it important to control all these matters and undertook to supply Sir Walter Monckton with a list of terms and their suggested English substitutes which might be communicated to the Press for their guidance.

5. EQUALITY OF TREATMENT OF PRESS AND B.B.C.

Mr. Ogilvie referred to three questions by Commander Southby next Wednesday which dealt with allegations of inequality of opportunity as between the Press and the B.B.C. Sir Walter Monckton said he thought that the principle was that as soon as it was sage for a story to go out it should go. This was strictly true of hard news, but with other news of which the way of presentation was important, it was sometimes necessary to bring other considerations to bear. Lord Perth thought that we were also committed to the principle of equal opportunity for the Press and B.B.C. and that we should underline this principle. Sir Walter Monckton considered that equal opportunity would occur if we adopted the principle enunciated above.