300 301 - 2 - 302 - 3 -

EXECUTIVE BOARD
Tuesday, 4th February, 1941

Present:

D. G.

D.D.G.

Parliamentary Secretary

Sir Maurice Peterson

Lord Davidson

Mr. Radcliffe

Mr. Wellington

Mr. Gates

Mr. Macadam

Mr. Waddell (Secretary)

1. The minutes of the meeting on 31st January were considered. It was explained that minute No.3, on the Monitoring Digest, did not make clear (a) that the material at present being used by the Foreign Press Association was not the complete Digest; (b) that the Foreign Press Association at present have quite satisfactory accommodation and that difficulty arose only in regard to accommodation for the Press to have access to the Digest among other material; (c) that the place where improvement in conditions was required was the cellar in the basement where Mr. Warner Allen worked. It was agreed that the minutes of the meeting should be read in the light of these explanations.

[RE/51/2]

It was further explained that Allied newspapers were quite prepared to end the arrangements under which they had used the Digest so long as they could have the use of a room where the Digest would be available (along with other material of a similar sort). It was agreed that the Daily Report should be used instead of a new document, at any rate, for a start; it would be necessary for Mr. Warner Allen to see that no improper use was made of the material since the Report was prepared for War Cabinet and departmental use.

[/69/103]

2. Paper on Air Defence.

It was agreed that subject to consultation with the Ministry of Home Security the Paper circulated by Mr. Macadam on Air Raid Defence might be sent to the Members of Local Information Committees and Regional Advisory Committees. The Parliamentary Secretary would write to Mr. William Mabane to invite his concurrence.

[MP/739]

3. Postscript by Mr. Priestley of Sunday, February 9th.

The D.G. referred to consultations on the material which should be supplied to Mr. Priestley for use in his broadcast.

The D.G. had advised the Minister, who had agreed, that special reference might be made in the broadcast to Lord Haw-Haw and that material should be supplied to Mr. Priestley to enable him to deal with this subject. It appeared however that whilst the Duty Room supported this view the Planning Committee would have preferred that Mr. Priestley should deal generally with the lying nature of German propaganda and the danger of rumour and should deal only incidentally with Lord Haw-Haw. It was explained that the Planning Committee had felt there were dangers and perhaps would have liked to see the script, and also that we might be increasing the potential audience for Lord Haw-Haw by drawing attention to his broadcasts. The view of the Swinton Committee now was that we should not draw attention to them by contradicting them. It was agreed that the material already prepared should be given to Mr. Priestley together with any which Mr. Macadam would obtain at short notice on Lord Haw-Haw and his personal history.

[B/96]

It was further agreed (a) that the D.G. should discuss with Sir Kenneth Clark the arrangements for preparation of the agenda for the Planning Committee and (b) that the idea of a Listening Post (which is a programme by the B.B.C. for American audiences once a week drawing attention to the contradictions within German propaganda) should be developed.

4. Review of Broadcasting Scripts .

The D.G. referred to the discussion on this subject at the meeting of the Board on 27th January and it was emphasised that the Broadcasting Division should be the sole channel for proposals for broadcasts by Ministers and for review of scripts; and that it would be desirable for the proposals to be brought to the notice of the D.G. through the Executive Board or otherwise.

[B/18]

5. Memorandum on Propaganda in Latin America for U.S. Security Services .

Lord Davidson referred to a request he had received that Mr. Edgar Hoover's staff should he provided with a description of our propaganda in Latin America It was agreed that there would be no objection to this and that Lord Davidson should discuss the proposal with Sir Maurice Peterson; it was appreciated that in all probability the material the Ministry could provide might be disappointing and that the request might have to be referred to the “black” side.

6. Lord Davidson drew attention to disquieting information which had come to his notice on the lack of interest taken by workmen in a great many industrial establishments, especially in the North, in the war effort. He felt we ought to consider this situation in relation to the Ministry's propaganda. It was agreed that this should be borne in mind and it was felt that steps in the right direction were already being taken in the preparation for invasion which had been done, in the propaganda on the theme “If Hitler comes” and in the drive by the Ministry of Labour on manpower. It was noted that the approach of the Ministry of Labour to problems of this sort was to proceed generally by way of removing grievances before taking other action.

[6p/262]