HC Deb 19 November 1953 vol 520 cc187-8W
106. Mr. Houghton

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the action taken by the Metropolitan Police in connection with the disorderly behaviour of students on 5th November.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

On the afternoon and evening of 5th November, the Metropolitan Police were obliged to disperse unruly groups of students at various points, including the Strand, Parliament Square, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly. The police acted in accordance with their duties of preventing obstruction of the highway and maintaining public order and also in pursuance of their obligations under the terms of the Sessional Order. One hundred and forty-seven arrests were made. The Commissioner of Police tells me that the behaviour of these young men and women can be described only as hooliganism.