ABSTRACT
Beveridge was permitted a BBC broadcast talk about his report on the day of publication. He followed up with a now famous Pathé Pictorial film promotion, which was seen by hundreds of thousands at the cinema. On screen, he appeared a very unlikely popular hero, with his icily clipped mode of speech, his beak-like nose, silvery hair and stilted delivery. He was rather like an austere avuncular version of Father Christmas, without the beard or the jollity but with welcome gifts for the British people. Two weeks after the Beveridge Report was published, the British Institute of Public Opinion conducted a survey in 150 constituencies using a careful sample, ‘the exact replica of the total adult civil population’. From all over Britain came expressions of opinion in favour of the Report, while airing fears that ‘vested interests’ might undermine its acceptance.
