§ 13. Mr. R. RICHARDSONasked the Home Secretary if he will say for what reason two meetings to be held at Houghton-le-Spring and Herrington Burn, to be addressed by Mr. T. Mann and Mr. W. Gallaher, respectively, were banned?
§ 15. Mr. KIRKWOODasked the Home Secretary if it was on his instructions that a meeting of miners at Clown, Derbyshire, to be addressed by Mr. Thomas Mullins, on Sunday, 7th November, was banned; and for what reason?
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSThese meetings were prohibited by the Chief Constables of Durham and Derbyshire 1228 respectively under authority given by me in pursuance of No. 22 of the Emergency Regulations.
§ Mr. RICHARDSONIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that Mr. Mann spoke at Houghton-le-Spring only a few days before, and no disaffection or disturbance was caused by him being there; has his attention been called to the remarks made by Mr. Justice Finlay at the Assizes now being held in which he said that no case either directly or indirectly could be traced to the dispute; and has the right hon. Gentleman read the remarks made by the Chief Constable who said that Mr. Justice Finlay's remarks represented the spirit of Durham County.
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSUp to the present I have not had time to read the remarks of Mr. Justice Finlay, but as my attention has been called to them by the hon. Member, of course, I will read them.
§ Mr. LAWSONIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that these men and other Communists have spoken continually during the coal dispute in the Durham coalfield, and no case of disturbance has arisen; and in these circumstances why not trust to the judgment of the people in the county?
§ Mr. T. WILLIAMSIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the person referred to in question No. 15 is not a Communist, and will he be good enough to state why his meetings are banned?
§ Mr. LEEIs the Home Secretary aware that it has been the deliberate policy in Derbyshire to arrange meetings and lectures, whist drives and dances every day; that in this particular welfare hall meetings have been held every day since the dispute began and does he think it is good policy to keep these people out of these welfare halls and turn them into the street where disaffection may be caused, when it has been the deliberate policy of the authorities in Derbyshire to see that these people cause no trouble?
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSI am not objecting to whist drives, concerts, or anything of that kind. If the hon. Member will look at the question he will see that only two meetings have been stopped there, and he has just informed 1229 us that hundreds of meetings have been held. I am very pleased that they should continue to be held.
§ Mr. KIRKWOODArising from the right hon. Gentleman's reply to Question No. 15, I would like to ask if he is aware that a summons has been issued to me from this district, because I was there last week, and on the summons it states that I delivered a speech which was calculated to restrict the supply of fuel—that is all. I have written asking—[HON.MEMBERS: "Speech!"] Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I have written to the superintendent of police there for the purport of the speech which is complained of, so that I may be in a position to defend myself when I go to the Court on Monday, and that he has replied as follows:
I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th instant concerning the summons received by you, and to say I have forwarded the same to the Chief Constable to be dealt with.That is because I was informed by a legal luminary of the law of this country—[HON. MEMBERS: "Speech!"]—that is more than some of you can make—that, unless they intended to be very nasty with me, they would forward to me, as a matter of courtesy—
§ Sir CHARLES OMANOn a point of Order—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member appears to be entering on another question entirely. I cannot see the connection of what he is asking with the question on the Paper.
§ Mr. KIRKWOODIf I cannot get satisfaction now, I am going to move the Adjournment, and raise it to-night.