§ 21. Captain Ramsayasked the Home Secretary whether, in districts wherein Communist processions are banned, this ban is held to include the participation of Communist contingents in processions organised by Socialist societies; and whether any instructions have been issued to this effect?
§ Mr. LloydIn the Metropolitan Police District, to which I presume the hon. Member refers, no order has been made under Section 3 (3) of the Public Order Act, 1936, prohibiting Communist processions as such. The order now in force prohibits, in the area in East London to which it applies, the holding of all public processions of a political character.
§ 22. Captain Ramsayasked the Home Secretary whether the Commissioner of Police in the last 12 months has had to exercise, his powers under the Public Order Act to ban Communist and Fascist processions, respectively, in any part of London; and, if so, will he give the districts and the total duration of the ban in each district?
§ Mr. LloydThe Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has not taken any action to ban Communist or Fascist processions as such: but on five occasions he has, with my right hon. Friend's consent, made an order under Section 3 (3) of the Public Order Act, 1936, prohibiting the holding of all public processions of a 1290 political character in an area in East London comprising the boroughs of Bethnal Green, Poplar, Shoreditch, and Stepney and parts of Hackney and Islington. These orders have been in operation since 21st June last, and the latest order will expire on 13th June next. No such order has been made prohibiting public processions in any other part of the Metropolitan Police district.
§ Mr. ThorneIs the hon. Gentleman aware that an application was made to his Department for a procession to march in the East End of London through Commercial Road to the Embankment, and that it was prohibited, although it was only a civil procession?