Memo On Broadcasting Programmes About the USSR

This memo from George Barnes, the Director of Talks, explains why it is proving difficult to broadcast features about Russia outside of news programmes. The memo describes the inevitable change in the tone of broadcasts that came about after Russia was invaded by Germany on 22 June 1941 and the concern and suspicion that this raises from a variety of different sources. The extent to which output on this tricky subject is overseen by the government is also revealed.

Sir Ernest Simon was a Liberal MP and dedicated reformer who crossed the floor to join the Labour Party after the war. In 1947 he became a Labour Peer (Baron Simon of Wythenshawe) and, later that year, was appointed Chairman of the BBC for a five-year term.