POLICE BILL (Hansard, 8 June 1972)

§ LORD WILLIS
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time. It is a very simple and short Bill to amend Section 44(2) of the Police Act 1964, and I stand here really as a "spear carrier and messenger" rather than as a principal, because the real work behind this short measure has been done by my right honourable friend in another place, Alfred Morris, on behalf of the Police Federation, which he advises. The Bill has the full support of the Police Federation and of the Scottish Police Federation. Its roots lie back in the history of the police force of this country, because 54 years ago in 1918 there was great unrest in the police, especially in London, and the police began to organise, quite illegally at that time, the National Union of Police and Prison Officers. They put forward demands for better pay and conditions and union recognition. As a result, their leaders were dismissed from the force and a strike was organised. This strike was settled, after some bitterness, on terms which gave the policemen most of their demands except for recognition of the union. It was understood that there were certain difficulties in recognising a straightforward trade union with a body of men like the police who have clearly a duty to be impartial.
In 1919 a Departmental Committee was set up and this recommended the establishment of the Police Federation, which has existed ever since. It was a sort of company union, financed out of official funds and deliberately insulated from any contact with any outside bodies. In spite of these difficulties it could, and did, speak for the ordinary policeman and it won growing respect. For example, in 1953 the Police Council for Great Britain was set up as a Whitley negotiating body for police pay. In 1955 the Federation had progressed so far that it was permitted by Parliament to raise its own funds by voluntary subscription. In recent years the Federation has increased in scope and influence and it would be impossible for anybody who knows anything at all about the operation of our police force in this country to imagine the efficient running of the force without it. But it is still hampered by the restrictions which were imposed over 484 fifty years ago in vastly differing circumstances. Among these restrictions was the insistence that the Police Federation: shall be entirely independent of and unassociated with any body or person outside the Police Service. The Federation feels that it is now old enough and responsible enough to decide what company is shall keep, and that is really the purpose of this Bill. It will enable them—within limits—to do exactly that. There is obviously no question of taking on political associations or of affiliation, for example, to the Trades Union Congress, because the leaders and members of the Federation realise that the independence and impartiality of the police must be protected and must be visibly seen to be protected. In the Bill I am now introducing there is a safeguard that lies with the Home Secretary, because he has the right of final approval of any association the Police Federation wish to make with an outside body.
What the Federation wants to do is to end the ridiculous situation which exists to-day in which it is illegal for it to associate, for example, with the National Association of Retired Police Officers, which is clearly nonsense. It wishes—and this is very important with the coming of the Common Market—to extend its links with the appropriate European and overseas police organisations. That, in a nutshell, is what this Bill is all about: to amend the 1964 Police Act so that the police have the right to do these simple things, always bearing in mind that the Home Secretary has the final right of approval. That is the Bill and I hope that it will commend itself to your Lordships.
For my part, I am delighted to have this opportunity to introduce it to your Lordships' House. The first speech I made in this House was on the police, during the Second Reading of the Police Act 1964 which this Bill now seeks to amend. I said then that the British public expect incredibly high standards of its police force. What is extraordinary is how often these high expectations are fulfilled, not how often they are let down. Recently I have been doing some research in the Midlands for a new police series that I am going to produce for television. I have been very active and have spent a great deal of time with the local police force of a small town in the Midlands. 485 Anything less like the "Fascist pigs" that the police are called in some quarters would be hard to imagine. They are—as they were in 1964, and as they were in 1918 when they went on strike—a collection of human beings who are trying to do their jobs, with all the variety of human beings ranging, if you like, from Barlow on the one hand to Dixon on the other. They are not perfect; but then they would not be human beings if they were perfect. Those who seek to attack them as "Fascist pigs" might pause to think: would they rather have no police force at all? Can they imagine a society that could exist without a police force? Would they rather have the police force of some other country? I cannot think of any force which is better than the one we have at present. This little Bill that I have the honour to introduce to your Lordships' House will help our policemen to do their job just a little better, and I therefore commend it to your Lordships' House. I beg to move.

§ LORD STOW HILL
My Lords, may I apologise for intervening in this debate on Second Reading without having put my name down to speak. I do so because I was delighted to hear what my noble friend said with regard to the police force generally in this country. We have a most admirable police force and it is a great pleasure to me in particular, because I have had some association with them, to listen to what was said in praise of them. They deserve every word of it. I had a lot to do with the Police Federation some years back; I found them extremely helpful and very responsible. I am quite sure that this Bill, which makes further provision for their independence—and, may I add, independent dignity—is a Bill which comes not a minute too early. I am very glad to see it brought before this House from another place, and I cordially hope that your Lordships will think it right to give it a Second Reading.

§ LORD SHACKLETON
My Lords, since this is a Bill which I understand has the support of all Parties, it is right that I should also support my noble friend Lord Willis who has moved the 486 Second Reading with such eloquence and knowledge. Let me on this occasion congratulate him on being in his place in time—remembering a previous occasion. The British public have a love/hate relationship with the police. I am certain that, like every other institution, the police need the recognition and gratitude of so many of us for what is at times a most difficult task, which is discharged with greater moderation, discipline and decency than by any other police force in the world. The fact that there is to-day this recognition of the Federation—and it has taken rather a long time for people to recognise that it has grown up, so to speak—is very proper. We have had the endorsement of a former Home Secretary and we are hoping for endorsement from the noble Baroness.
I hope that this Bill will pass rapidly into law and that it will do so with the blessing of your Lordships. On these occasions I think it is also right to congratulate the Member in another place, Mr. Alfred Morris, who has been responsible for more than one Bill which has cone before your Lordships' House. His own sponsorship and support has been valuable, and I congratulate him particularly on picking a great expert in my noble friend Lord Willis.

§ BARONESS YOUNG
My Lords, on behalf of Her Majesty's Government I should like to welcome this Bill and to thank the noble Lord, Lord Willis, for introducing it. It is a Bill which has the support of the Government. The Police Act 1919 made provision in Section 1 for the introduction of the Police Federation, later split into a Federation for England and Wales and one for Scotland. As the noble Lord, Lord Willis, said, in the years immediately preceding the 1919 Act industrial relations in the Police Service had deteriorated to the extent that there was a strike over the right of the police to form a trade union. The 1919 Act was designed to provide for adequate representation while at the same time preserving the impartiality of the Service and ensuring that it should not be a party to any industrial dispute. Section 2 of the Act barred members of police forces, with minor exceptions, from trade union membership; and Section 3 487 made an offence any attempt by persons inside or outside the Service to cause disaffection. Section 1(2) of the 1919 Act provided that: The Police Federation and every branch thereof shall be entirely independent of and unassociated with any body or person outside the police service. Essentially the same provision is repeated in Section 44(2) of the current Police Act 1964 with which the present Bill is concerned.
The Police Federations made representations to the previous Government that Section 44(2) was unnecessarily restrictive. These representations resulted in an undertaking to amend the Act at a suitable opportunity, and that undertaking was repeated by the present Government on assuming office. The Bill has the support of both sides of this House and the Secretary of State for Scotland has also indicated his support of the Bill. In the view of the Federations, Section 44(2) debars them from links with eminently respectable and responsible bodies; and the noble Lord, Lord Willis, has given examples such as the National Association of Retired Police Officers and certain international or European police bodies. The Federations have not asked for any amendment of Section 47 of the 1964 Act which bars membership of trade unions and similar associations. The Bill does not offer unrestricted freedom to the Federations. It empowers the Secretary of State to authorise either a federation at national level or a branch at police force level to be associated with a specified body or person outside the Service. It also empowers him to impose such conditions as he may see fit and to restore or modify any authorisation previously given. He therefore has full power to safeguard the public interest.
In conclusion, my Lords, I would say that this gives us all an opportunity to say how grateful we are for the work the police do, often in difficult and dangerous circumstances. We are very glad to have this opportunity of showing our appreciation publicly and of being able 488 to say so at this time. The Police Federations have always been responsible organisations and it seems eminently reasonable that the House should approve the small concession to their wishes which the Bill represents. I am very happy to support this Second Reading.

§ LORD WILLIS
My Lords, I should like briefly to thank the noble Baroness for what she has just said and also to thank the Government, the Home Secretary and members of the Home Secretary's Department for the help they have given to the Federation in the drafting of this Bill and in the discussions that led up to it. As we all know, it is a small measure but it will help the Police Federation to do its job better, and make for a happier policeman, and that, after all, is what we are all looking for. I thank your Lordships very much.