Ministry of Information

Abstract

QUESTION time in the House of Commons during the past few days has produced a crop of inquiries about the Ministry of Information. As is well known, the staff of the Ministry has suffered drastic reduction as the result of the criticism levelled against it. On October 18, Sir John Graham Kerr asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Information, “in view of the important part played in modern warfare by science and in view of the importance of accuracy in public information regarding such matters, how many of the 190 members of the staff of the Ministry, of which particulars have recently made public, are university graduates in science?” Sir Edward Grigg said in reply that the “information is not available and could only be obtained at an expense of time of which I should not feel justified in giving to the inquiry”. He added that “scientific advice can be obtained whenever necessary from a large range of exports in Government service and outside it, and that it is therefore unnecessary to add on that account to the establishment costs of the Ministry”. While it will not be denied that such advice is available, it is difficult to see how the Ministry, without scientific guidance from within, can hope to utilize to the full the scientific knowledge of the country.