Publication of The Pamphlet
Protect and Survive was formally published in May 1980, but had come to the public's attention before that via a series of articles in The Times newspaper in January 1980. This wave of interest had been preceded by numerous letters to The Times in December 1979 questioning what Civil Defence arrangements were in place in the UK.
This was then followed by a Times leader on 19 Jan 1980 which noted that: "In Britain, a Home Office booklet "Protect and Survive" remains unavailable." Following this unexpected publicity for Protect and Survive, The Minister of State at the Home Office, Leon Brittan, told parliament that:
This was not a secret pamphlet. There was no mystery about it. It had been available to all local authorities and chief police and fire officers. It had not been published for the simple reason that it was produced for distribution during a grave international crisis when war was imminent. It was calculated that it would have the most impact then.The Minister then went on to say the Home Office had received over 200 letters from the public on civil defence. It seems extremely likely that from pressure inside and outside Parliament, Protect and Survive was then published by the Government in May 1980. There is little to suggest that the Government ever intended the pamphlet to be made available for general sale had it not attracted this much attention. Just over 2000 copies were printed and only a few remain. Today, copies of the pamphlet can only be acquired on demand through Her Majesty's Stationary Office's online shop.
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