§ 8. Mr. Flanneryasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he remains satisfied with electoral law, in view of the fact that during the Lambeth, Central by-election, at a public election meeting for the National Front candidate the meeting was held up until National Front members arrived in coaches and only selected members of the general public indicated by Mr. Martyn Webster to the police, were allowed in, as a distinct minority; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesI am reviewing the provisions of the Representation of the People Act 1949 relating to election meetings.
§ Mr. FlanneryDoes my right hon. Friend agree that throughout the country it is believed that at election time public meetings are open to the general public? Is he further aware that nothing is more conducive to disorder than the sort of events that occurred at Lambeth, Central on that occasion? Will my right hon. Friend expedite his inquiries so that when the elections take place we can be sure that if such situations occur again people generally can go into the meetings to assess candidates and, in the case of the National Front, vote solidly to keep them out?
§ Mr. ReesThat is not an easy matter to resolve. Legislation on it goes back to the Local Government Act 1894. That and the 1918 legislation referred to schools. The Representation of the People Act 1949 extended the law to other buildings. I know, having spent all my life in the Labour Party—I make a narrowly political point here—that one 354 of the advantages of this legislation is that any candidate can get a hall. In my early days local authorities did not allow Labour Party people access to such accommodation.
§ Mr. Robert HughesAnd the British Legion.
§ Mr. ReesPerhaps it was the British Legion, too, but that is not my responsibility, I am glad to say. In these matters it is important, when we have the legislation, not to deal only with one aspect and then limit the freedom of other people to cherish that freedom, which took so long to secure.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyDoes the Home Secretary accept, and with the possible exception of all-ticket meetings, that election meetings held in public premises during campaigns should be open to those who wish to hear the candidates speak?
§ Mr. ReesI agree with that. I have been considering carefully just what is a public meeting. That definition has not been tested in law, and it is not an easy question to decide. There is the point that under criminal legislation—and we are talking so far about civil offences—the chairman at a public meeting has the right to call the police, via the stewards, to eject people. The question arises whether, if that happens, the meeting ceases to be a public meeting. This is a complicated matter at a time when tensions are high, and I cannot promise that there is an easy solution to it. I am concerned, however, that the National Front people tarnish school buildings when they use them and that when they retire from them the people know that the National Front has been there.
§ Mr. Greville JannerHowever great the need for electoral reform undoubtedly is, does my right hon. Friend not agree that the recent drubbing of the National Front in the local elections gave a clear indication that, whatever its behaviour may have been at the sort of meeting we are discussing, and whatever violence it might produce or provoke, the British public now recognises the Fascist and violent nature of the organisation and its leadership?
§ Mr. ReesThe best way to deal with any organisation of this nature, whether 355 of the extreme Left or the extreme Right, is at the polls. That is when we hear the message of what the people want. Some time in the next 18 months the people will decide.