HC Deb 25 July 1940 vol 363 cc966-7
33. Mr. Wedgwood

asked the Home Secretary the total number of members of the British Union of Fascists in Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the beginning of the war; how many of these members have now been interned; and has he any record of the number now employed in Government service?

Sir J. Anderson

I regret that it is not possible to give any of the information for which my right hon. Friend asks except that the number of detention orders made against members or former members of the British Union of Fascists is over 500.

Mr. Wedgwood

Did not the right hon. Gentleman tell me last week that he had the names of those who were Fascists at the beginning of this war? Should I be wrong in suggesting that there were 9,000 of those names, and are they being traced by the Home Office?

Sir J. Anderson

It is true that I indicated to the right hon. Gentleman informally that I understood that the number of persons who had paid their last annual subscription was in the region of 9,000. Steps have been taken to supervise the activities of those persons.

Mr. Wedgwood

How many dangerous people among them have not been interned?

Sir A. Knox

How many Communists have been interned?