HC Deb 14 July 1977 vol 935 cc206-7W
31. Mr. Hoyle

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice he has given to the police on allowing pickets the right to speak to people and drivers of vehicles entering factories that they are picketing.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

Enforcement of the law on picketing is a matter for the police, and it would not be appropriate for me to intervene in police operational matters. The law entitles pickets to seek to speak to people, including drivers of vehicles, entering factories they are picketing, but it does not require anyone who does not want to stop or listen to do so; nor does it require the police to make them stop or listen.

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