In 1940 the Fabian Society (founded in 1883) set up a Colonial Bureau, whose aim was to plan—and to agitate—for the liberation of Britain's colonies. Under the very able control of Dr Rita Hinden, the Bureau established a library and a press-cutting service, and became a recognised source of information and propaganda about the colonies. A battery of parliamentary questions was maintained, and many debates on colonial issues were based, on the Labour Party side, on material provided by Rita Hinden and her colleagues, and their contacts throughout Britain and the world.