Council for Civil Liberties' birth announced in letter to Manchester Guardian at height of 1930s hunger marches
Eighty years ago in the depths of the 1930s economic depression, Ronald Kidd, a journalist, found himself in the middle of Trafalgar Square witnessing bloody clashes between thousands of police and newly arrived hunger marchers and their supporters.
He was particularly angered by the actions of police agent provocateurs who, dressed as ordinary workmen, attempted to incite violence among the peaceful protestors. Seventy five protestors were badly injured that day in October 1932 when the largest of a series of national hunger marches reached London.
Kidd was so shocked by what he saw that he went on to become a founding figure in what is now Britain's oldest human rights campaign.
Kidd was to be the first general secretary of the Council for Civil Liberties, the forerunner of Liberty, the cross-party organisation which was founded to protect civil liberties and promote human rights. Its birth was announced 80 years ago on Monday in a letter to the Manchester Guardian published on 24 February, 1934.
The signatories raised fears that a similar bloody reception was being prepared by the Metropolitan police for the next national hunger march to arrive in the capital. The letter was signed by HG Wells, Vera Brittain, Dr Edith Summerskill, Clement Atlee and Professor Harold Laski and a further nine of the most prominent supporters of what was then known as the Council for Civil Liberties. They promised to "maintain a vigilant observation over the next few days" of the treatment of the hunger marchers by acting as responsible and neutral, legal observers.
Kidd's friend, EM Forster, along with AP Herbert and HGWells, were among those who joined him and his partner, Sylvia Scaffardi who were present at that second march watching out for police agent provocateurs.
A letter marking that 80th anniversary is published by the Guardian highlighting the organisation's early history and signed by Liberty director, Shami Chakrabarti, Labour leader Ed Miliband, Doreen Lawrence, actor Vanessa Redgrave, the former Conservative chief whip, Andrew Mitchell MP, the children's laureate, Malorie Blackman, the human rights lawyer, Gareth Peirce and Green party MP, Caroline Lucas among others.
The letter also highlights Kidd's role, in October 1932 when he was amongst the 100,000 strong crowd who had greeted the hunger marchers with their one million strong petition to parliament. Thousands of police had been mobilised and the march was blocked from reaching Westminster with the worst violence breaking out around Trafalgar Square where Kidd witnessed the bloodshed first hand.
Before the next planned hunger march in February 1934, he was determined to gather support across the political spectrum, from lawyers, artists and scientists to raise the alarm over the threat to peaceful protest. On 22 February 1934, the Council for Civil Liberties was formed at a meeting in the crypt of St Martin's-in-the-Field church on Trafalgar Square, where an 80th anniversary exhibition is underway. Those attending vowed to defend not just peaceful protest but also the "whole spirit of British freedom". Forster was the first president, and other early supporters included AA Milne, who was a vice-president, George Bernard Shaw, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and JB Priestley.
The letter to the Manchester Guardian published two days after the founding meeting noted that the attorney-general had hinted at the possibility of bloodshed at the forthcoming arrival of the hunger marchers, and that some of the preparations, including instructing shopkeepers to barricade their windows could not but create an unjustified and dangerous atmosphere of misgiving.
"In view of the general and alarming tendency to encroachment on the liberty of the citizen, there has recently been formed a Council for Civil Liberties," they announced in their Manchester Guardian letter. "Relevant and well-authenticated reports by responsible persons will be welcomed and investigated by the council," it promised.
Thousands of protestors again gathered in Hyde Park when the 1934 hunger march arrived in London alongside a heavy police presence. The new observers confirmed the presence once again of police agent provocateurs. But the official predictions of bloodshed were proved wrong and this time the rally passed off peacefully. Kidd's initiative went on to ensure that a permanent body of observers was established.
Forster wrote a tribute to Kidd when he died in 1942 which is carved on a plaque that still hangs in Liberty's offices: "Passionate in his hatred of injustice, wise in judgement, fearless in action, he championed the liberties of the people in the fight that is never done", it reads.
Chakrabarti, Liberty's director, said: "Our founders could hardly have envisaged that, 80 years on, Liberty would be needed more than ever with blanket surveillance, toxic immigration policies and direct attacks on the very idea of human rights and the rule of law.
We owe it as much to previous generations as to those yet to come to keep up 'the fight that is never done'." Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 hours ago.
Eighty years ago in the depths of the 1930s economic depression, Ronald Kidd, a journalist, found himself in the middle of Trafalgar Square witnessing bloody clashes between thousands of police and newly arrived hunger marchers and their supporters.
He was particularly angered by the actions of police agent provocateurs who, dressed as ordinary workmen, attempted to incite violence among the peaceful protestors. Seventy five protestors were badly injured that day in October 1932 when the largest of a series of national hunger marches reached London.
Kidd was so shocked by what he saw that he went on to become a founding figure in what is now Britain's oldest human rights campaign.
Kidd was to be the first general secretary of the Council for Civil Liberties, the forerunner of Liberty, the cross-party organisation which was founded to protect civil liberties and promote human rights. Its birth was announced 80 years ago on Monday in a letter to the Manchester Guardian published on 24 February, 1934.
The signatories raised fears that a similar bloody reception was being prepared by the Metropolitan police for the next national hunger march to arrive in the capital. The letter was signed by HG Wells, Vera Brittain, Dr Edith Summerskill, Clement Atlee and Professor Harold Laski and a further nine of the most prominent supporters of what was then known as the Council for Civil Liberties. They promised to "maintain a vigilant observation over the next few days" of the treatment of the hunger marchers by acting as responsible and neutral, legal observers.
Kidd's friend, EM Forster, along with AP Herbert and HGWells, were among those who joined him and his partner, Sylvia Scaffardi who were present at that second march watching out for police agent provocateurs.
A letter marking that 80th anniversary is published by the Guardian highlighting the organisation's early history and signed by Liberty director, Shami Chakrabarti, Labour leader Ed Miliband, Doreen Lawrence, actor Vanessa Redgrave, the former Conservative chief whip, Andrew Mitchell MP, the children's laureate, Malorie Blackman, the human rights lawyer, Gareth Peirce and Green party MP, Caroline Lucas among others.
The letter also highlights Kidd's role, in October 1932 when he was amongst the 100,000 strong crowd who had greeted the hunger marchers with their one million strong petition to parliament. Thousands of police had been mobilised and the march was blocked from reaching Westminster with the worst violence breaking out around Trafalgar Square where Kidd witnessed the bloodshed first hand.
Before the next planned hunger march in February 1934, he was determined to gather support across the political spectrum, from lawyers, artists and scientists to raise the alarm over the threat to peaceful protest. On 22 February 1934, the Council for Civil Liberties was formed at a meeting in the crypt of St Martin's-in-the-Field church on Trafalgar Square, where an 80th anniversary exhibition is underway. Those attending vowed to defend not just peaceful protest but also the "whole spirit of British freedom". Forster was the first president, and other early supporters included AA Milne, who was a vice-president, George Bernard Shaw, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and JB Priestley.
The letter to the Manchester Guardian published two days after the founding meeting noted that the attorney-general had hinted at the possibility of bloodshed at the forthcoming arrival of the hunger marchers, and that some of the preparations, including instructing shopkeepers to barricade their windows could not but create an unjustified and dangerous atmosphere of misgiving.
"In view of the general and alarming tendency to encroachment on the liberty of the citizen, there has recently been formed a Council for Civil Liberties," they announced in their Manchester Guardian letter. "Relevant and well-authenticated reports by responsible persons will be welcomed and investigated by the council," it promised.
Thousands of protestors again gathered in Hyde Park when the 1934 hunger march arrived in London alongside a heavy police presence. The new observers confirmed the presence once again of police agent provocateurs. But the official predictions of bloodshed were proved wrong and this time the rally passed off peacefully. Kidd's initiative went on to ensure that a permanent body of observers was established.
Forster wrote a tribute to Kidd when he died in 1942 which is carved on a plaque that still hangs in Liberty's offices: "Passionate in his hatred of injustice, wise in judgement, fearless in action, he championed the liberties of the people in the fight that is never done", it reads.
Chakrabarti, Liberty's director, said: "Our founders could hardly have envisaged that, 80 years on, Liberty would be needed more than ever with blanket surveillance, toxic immigration policies and direct attacks on the very idea of human rights and the rule of law.
We owe it as much to previous generations as to those yet to come to keep up 'the fight that is never done'." Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 hours ago.