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Broadcasts, Algiers

Volume 390: debated on Tuesday 1 June 1943

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44.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to broadcasts by Algiers radio station that purport to give indications of policy and the strategy of the United Nations; what French authority is responsible for these broadcast statements; what is the form of censorship exercised and by whom?

My right hon. Friend's attention has not been drawn to any broadcasts from Algiers which could fairly be described as purporting to indicate the strategy of the United Nations, and I should be glad if my hon. Friend would inform me what broadcasts he has in mind. As regards the second part of the Question, I understand that the majority of broadcasts from Algiers are arranged by General Giraud's information service although the station is sometimes used by the United States authorities for the broadcasting of American programmes. As regards the last part, I believe that the Allied military authorities exercise a censorship over all broadcasts from Algiers, but my right hon. Friend's information on this point is not exact, and further inquiries are being made.

Is it not a fact that this radio station was at one time controlled by officials sympathetic to Vichy? I shall be glad to send the right hon. Gentleman the quotations he desires, although I should have thought that the Ministry of Information and the B.B.C. would have had a verbatim report.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that, in view of the unpardonable absence of British stations at Gibraltar and Malta, Radio Algiers is the only broadcasting wave station in the Western Mediterranean under United Nations' control that can be adequately heard? Will he arrange with the French authorities concerned for certain hours of that station to be devoted to transmissions in Italian, Spanish and English?

Is it not a fact that the statements to which my hon. Friend the Member for Abingdon (Sir R. Glyn) has referred would have been picked up by our monitoring service and would, therefore, be at the disposal of the Government Department concerned?