Lt.-Cmár. Fletcher quoted criticisms of Reuters made in Singapore.
He added that, in South America, American news agencies.were "taking advantage of this payment to discredit Reuters, on the ground that they had received a subsidy from the Government."
Mr. Philip Noel-Baker. Labour member for Derby, said that "this £6,000 is a trifling sum to Reuters, in view of their annual turnover, but it might do harm abroad, if it was thought that Reuters news services were under the influence of Government guidance.
Reuters, Mr. Noel-Baker emphasized, maintained "complete independence" in the collection and selection of their news. Reuters did not want a subsidy, and it was only because they realized the "vast importance to Britain of British and world news being presented through British, and not through foreign eyes" that they were prepared to take even this assistance in their distribution of news.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.