§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prosecutions have been made by the police since 1980 under section 70 of the Race Relations Act 1976 in respect of written material likely to incite racial hatred;
(2) how many requests have been made to the police since 1980 under section 70 of the Race Relations Act 1976 in respect of written material likely to incite racial hatred but where the police have taken no notice concerning the request.
§ Mr. Peter LloydProsecutions in respect of written material likely to incite racial hatred are brought by or with the consent of the Attorney-General. Since 1980 there have been 60 such prosecutions. These have been under section 5A of the Public Order Act 1936 introduced by section 70 of the Race Relations Act 1976, section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, which replaced section 5A of the Public Order Act 1936 with regard to the publication or distribution of written material, or section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, which relates to conspiracy to commit offences.
Information on the number of complaints that have been made to the police since 1980 about material likely to incite racial hatred or the ensuing prosecutions is not centrally available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.