§ 66. Mr. Parkinasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what injuries were caused by horses to police on foot outside the Palace of Westminster on 25th January and in what circum stances; and what extra pay, compensation or allowances are being paid.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThree constables each had a foot trodden on by a police horse. Two suffered some injury, one of them being absent from duty for five days. The only damage sustained by the third officer was to his boot and only he has submitted a claim for compensation, which is being met in full.
§ 67. Mr. Parkinasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what time on 25th January police under the control of his Department were informed that only people with appointments with a Member of Parliament were to be allowed into the Palace of Westminster; at what later time the police were in formed that those carrying a letter of appointment were not to be admitted; and how this decision was communicated to those who had been waiting.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeI am informed by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that at no time on 25th January were instructions given to the police either that only people having appointments with a Member of Parliament were to be allowed into the Palace of Westminster, or that those carrying a letter of appointment were not to be admitted.
§ Mr. Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) why, on 25th January, mounted police charged members of the public standing on the pavement and in shop doorways in Charing Cross Road and Oxford Street; 74W why, at 9 p.m. on that date, two constituents of the hon. Member for West Ham, North, who were sheltering in a shop doorway in Oxford Street, were threatened by a mounted policeman that he would come in and get them unless they came out; and by what authority the police shift persons off private property when the owner makes no complaint and when no disturbance is being caused;
(2) whether he is aware that, on 25th January, mounted policemen charged shopkeepers and their assistants out of their shop doorways in Charing Cross Road and Oxford Street; what authority the police have to inform owners of shop premises, standing on their own shop fronts, that they should clear off; and whether he will cause investigations to be made into these incidents.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThe Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that at about 8.30 p.m. on 25th January a large crowd gathered in the southern part of Charing Cross Road. As traffic was obstructed, and as it appeared that the intention was to form a procession and march down Whitehall, it was necessary for the police to disperse the crowd in pursuance of their duties under the general law and under the Sessional Order. In the course of so doing it was necessary for some of the mounted police officers to goon to the footpath. Subsequently mounted police shepherded an orderly procession by way of Shaftes-bury Avenue and across Oxford Street to Montague Place. The thorough investigations made by the Commissioner have brought to light no evidence that mounted police removed members of the public or shopkeepers from shop doorways in Charing Cross Road or Oxford Street. If the hon. Member would care to let me have particulars of the complaints to which he refers, I will have them looked into.
§ Mr. Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the complaints made concerning the activities of the police in London on 25th January and in view of the fact that some Members of Parliament, in addition to many members of the public, witnessed incidents, he will appoint an independent committee of inquiry' to make a public investigation into the incidents that took place on 25th January.
75W
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeSuch complaints as have reached me do not in my opinion justify the course suggested by the hon. Member.