EXECUTIVE BOARD
Wednesday, January 1st, 1941.

Present :

D. G.

D. D. G.

Sir Maurice Peterson

Lord Davidson

Sir Kenneth Clark

Mr. Radcliffe

Mr. Fraser

Mr. Wellington

Mr. Gates

Mr. Waddell (Secretary)

1. Two points arose in regard to the minutes of the meeting on 31st December.

(a) The D.G. reported that he had spoken to the Minister on channels for minutes. The Minister had approved the D. G.'s decision that the case of Sir Maurice Peterson should be treated exceptionally, and that he should be entitled on such matters as he thought proper to minute the D. G. directly. It would be for the D.G. to see that the D.D.G. was kept informed of the minutes passing from Sir Maurice Peterson's department. Other Controllers would minute the D. G. through the D. D. G.

[A/638].

It was agreed that in view of this report minute 1 of the meeting of the 31st December should be withdrawn. The paper which had been under discussion at that meeting should be circulated, subject to the alteration of the second sentence in Paragraph 3 to read “The Controller is competent to send an official reply and it is in his discretion whether the matter should be referred to higher authority”.

(b) It was noted that the Minister had minuted on the last paragraph of the minutes that he had received the Prime Minister's authority for requiring other Ministers to obtain permission to broadcast at an agreed time only through the Ministry.

2. COMMERCIAL PROPAGANDA.

[CR/54]

Lord Davidson referred to the difficult situation in which we were placed through the unwillingness of the main Departments concerned with commerce, i.e. M. E.W., Department of the Board of Trade, Department for Overseas Trade, Export Council and the Ministry of Shipping, to agree that commercial propaganda should now be undertaken on a large scale by the 224 -2-Ministry. The time was now ripe for a Ministry drive which might entail the setting up of a considerable department in the Ministry, since what could be done at present was inadequate. The only reason so far advanced for the unwillingness of the Board of Trade to undertake propaganda on a large scale was that they did not wish a subhead for this purpose to appear on their vote, lest they should be obliged to continue the work after the war. The need for commercial propaganda was particularly evident in Latin America and to a less extent in the Far East.

It was agreed that as the questions involved were to a large extent political, it would be necessary before any progress could be made for the Minister to take them up with his colleagues. The views of the Willingdon Mission, which would shortly return from South America, might be of assistance, and it was agreed that in the meantime Lord Davidson should prepare and discuss with Sir Maurice Peterson a brief for the Minister to use in discussion with the President of the Board of Trade, the Secretary to the Department of Overseas Trade and the Ministers of Shipping and Economic Warfare.

3. Mr. Radcliffe mentioned that he had discussed with the Treasury Solicitor points arising on the banning of periodicals for export (see minutes of Policy Committee 5th December, 1940), and said that he would prepare a paper on the matter for consideration by the Board.

[HP]

4. COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICERS.

Mr. Gates said he had been asked by the Secretary to the Committee of Public Relations Officers, which is associated with the Executive Sub-Committee of the Civil Defence, whether the Ministry had any observations on the Committee's proposals for making the people “front-line minded”. Sir Kenneth Clark explained that these proposals meant a revival of something on the lines of the Home Morale Campaign, and it was agreed that the useful elements in any such campaign would be explanations of facts and the arrangements made by various Government Departments for the well being and guidance of the people. The other part of any such campaign would be mere exhortation, which in the Ministry's experience, would be useless and even aggravating. The reply to the Committee would have to be that the Ministry would be happy to assist in publicising any factual information which could be given by the Departments, but would not recommend exhortation unsupported by such factual information.

[6P]