CROWD CONTROL BILL (Hansard, 3 July 1974)

§ Mr. Greville Janner (Leicester, West)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the establishment of a code of practice for securing the safety of persons attending pop concerts and other entertainments. The Bill follows upon the death of Bernadette Whelan on 30th May. Bernadette, aged 14, died after a pop concert at the White City Stadium. At her inquest the Hammersmith Coroner called for a code of practice. Nothing has happened since that announcement and, therefore, I seek leave to introduce this Bill both as a result of that fact and out of personal concern, because my own fourteen-year-old daughter attended the concert. I take this step with the full support and co-operation of my hon. Friend the Member for Lambeth, Central (Mr. Lipton) in whose constituency Bernadette used to live.

The situation at such concerts is one of grave concern to all parents. When we are asked by our children whether they can go to pop concerts or festivals, we should be able to say to them, "Yes, go and enjoy yourself" and then have no further worry. Instead, as a result of this festival and previous concerts of this kind, we are only happy when they return home in safety. At the concert in question, the children, comprising youngsters aged between 12 and 18, were given tickets on a rota system. If the tickets were one colour they were in the arena and had no seats; if the tickets were of a different colour, the children were seated in safety. My daughter was one of those fortunate enough to be seated. Had she not been seated, she would have been among the first to arrive and no doubt would have been at the point where the stampede occurred.

This terrifying teenage hysteria caused a stampede and resulted in the death of Bernadette Whelan, who presumably fell under the feet of other children. The scene was described in The Times, and perhaps I may quote from that newspaper, to show that action is required urgently: To a background of the song 'The Wombles of Wimbledon', girls could be heard shouting 'Please get me out', as loudspeaker 402 appeals were made for the crowd to stop pushing forward … 10,000 youngsters were crowded up against a barrier in the centre of the arena, with no means of getting out. It was a highly charged situation in an atmosphere of hysteria and fainting as tension built up to David Cassidy's appearance. St. John Ambulance workers dealt with 500 casualties, and 30 people were taken to hospital. A disc jockey, Mr. Tony Blackburn, said that he had given warning to the audience by saying: There are people lying down in front here, and if you move forward any more you will kill somebody. Strangely enough, the organisers of the concert apparently not only complied with Greater London Council regulations but had even more stewards than the regulations required. It is time for this House to say that the regulations must be changed, and that there must be a code of safety to be complied with by all those concerned in providing entertainment for young people. The code would be a fairly simple one. What basically is needed is somewhere for the audience to sit—for where there is seating, there is unlikely to be a hysterical surge forward Secondly, I believe that there should be spaces between the blocks of seats and, thirdly, adequate stewarding.

The idea of a code suggested by the coroner is not new. There was a report and a code of practice produced by the Conservative Government as a result of pop festivals which took place at that time. Those pop festivals, for financial reasons, have almost died out, and have been replaced by the sort of one-night stand represented by the tragic evening at the White City.

The code would provide a means by which local authorities could require the promoters and organisers of pop concerts to comply with it provisions, and, if they did not do so, they would not get a licence, nor would any insurers be prepared to provide cover for anybody who did not comply with the minimum requirements laid down in the code.

It is the age group most at risk which attends these concerts. Nobody is trying to prevent this type of recreation. In the city of Leicester it is the 13-to-17 year-old group which needs looking after. The older ones go to discotheques and other facilities and they earn enough to pay for them. I am concerned about the youngsters who, in the main, do not find 403 a place in a youth club or attend discotheques and who are entitled to go to pop festivals and concerts and to be there in safety. Their parents should not have to worry about saying "Yes" when their children request permission to attend pop concerts.

Finally—and incidentally, Mr. Speaker, well within the Ten Minutes Rule—may I simply quote the words of the Hammersmith coroner, which clearly called for the type of action which this modest Bill embodies. The coroner said: If you intentionally create an excited crowd, one has got to accept that the control you have over them must be experienced and must be effective. At the White City the control was neither experienced nor effective. There is no code of conduct or practice which is designed to protect young people against the sort of hysteria that led to the tragic death of Bernadette Whelan. It is for this purpose that I seek leave to introduce a Bill which would establish such a code.