SECRET
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Tuesday, 24th June, 1941

War Diary, Week ending 14th June

Draft by the Parliamentary Secretary

Monday, June 9th

Anti-Gossip Publicity.

In accordance with a Cabinet suggestion General Productions Division had for some time been preparing a co-ordinated anti-Gossip Campaign to replace the haphazard and semi-humorous kind of publicity which this subject had so far received. It was felt that in order to be effective this campaign would have to be conducted on a national scale and to a great extent by press advertisements, which would make it very expensive. Doubts were expressed in the Horae Planning Committee whether an anti-gossip campaign could be wholly effective in removing people’s inclination to talk about their jobs. It was felt that the Cabinet should review the desirability of anti-gossip publicity and that if it were decided to go on with it, the timing and the scope of the campaign should be left entirely for the Ministry to determine.

(HPC 948)

Wednesday, 11th June: Home Intelligence Enquiries

Sir Percy Hurd asked two Parliamentary Questions, arising out of an enquiry made by Home Intelligence on public reactions to the decision of the House of Commons against the opening of cinemas on Sundays, In the previous year there had been an outcry against such enquiries on the grounds that the Ministry had no business to investigate private opinions or trespass on the right of Members of Parliament to represent the state of opinion in their constituencies. This particular enquiry had been issued by the then Director of Home Intelligence on her own responsibility. It was decided to reply to Sir Percy Hurd that this question was not one in which the Ministry should have interested itself, but that the Ministry could not accept the view that discussion in the House prevented it from making such investigations.

(XB, 10th, 5; PQ 730, 731)

Friday, June 13th

Clothes Rationing Campaign.

Lord Davidson circulated to the Executive Board a paper explaining the difficulty which had arisen between the Ministry and the Board of Trade in regard to publicity for the clothes rationing scheme. The scheme had, after a period of great secrecy, been sprung upon the public on Sunday, June 8th and the Ministry had been asked to follow up the first announcement by an elaborate advertising campaign. The Ministry pointed out that the expenditure involved was not justified since the introduction of clothes rationing would itself be such important news that the newspapers would have to carry the scheme in their editorial and information columns. It was felt, moreover that the Ministry should have been consulted on an earlier date since the General Productions Division had been faced at the last moment with a scheme of which they did not themselves approve. After personal representations had been made to the Minister by the President of the Board of Trade it was agreed that the Ministry would in this exceptional case waive its objections and agree to the advertisement as proposed by the Board.

The incident was important as indicating the extent to which Public Relations Officers in other Departments drew up schemes without consulting with the Ministry and then expected the Ministry to issue these schemes to the Press. The principle must remain established that the Ministry is the department responsible for all Government advertising.

(XB3)

Friday, June 13th

Lord Gort's Despatches.

The Minister informed the Executive Board that the Cabinet had on the previous day agreed to his contention that this was not the moment to publish Lord Gort's despatches. It was decided therefore to suspend all action on such publication for the present.

(XB5)