§ MR. KEIR HARDIE (Merthyr Tydvil)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the letter of Mr. A. S. Williams, chief constable for Brecon, in which he refuses to afford protection to a public open-air meeting because he does not approve of meetings in the thoroughfare; and whether he will inform the local authorities that this failure on the part of the police to preserve order against organised rowdyism is a proof of inefficiency in the force which, if persisted in, will lead to the police grant being withheld.
§ MR. HERBERT SAMUELThe Secretary of State has made inquiry in this matter and finds no reason to suppose that the police have failed to repress violence or disorder at Brecon. It is no part of the duty of the police to secure a 1488 quiet hearing to a speaker or to prevent verbal interruptions. The Secretary of State sees no reason, on the facts known to him, for addressing any warning to the responsible local authority.
§ *MR. KEIR HARDIEIs the hon. Gentleman aware that at one time there were ugly rushes endangering life, and that the police did not interfere?
§ MR. HERBERT SAMUELThat is not our information.
§ MR. RAMSAY MACDONALD (Leicester)And cannot the hon. Gentleman make inquiries in other quarters?
§ MR. HERBERT SAMUELWe have had a statement of facts from the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydvil.
§ MR. KEIR HARDIEWhy not take the same steps to preserve order at Brecon as are taken at Hyde Park?
§ *MR. HERBERT SAMUELSimilar steps should be taken if the cases are similar.