Swift, decisive action to suppress Fascist provocations in London’s East End was demanded of the Government today by Herbert Morrison, leader of the London County Council, speaking in the name of labor deputies and municipal councillors.
In a letter to Home Secretary Sir John Simon, Mr. Morrison warned that “social disaster and political chaos” will result unless such action is taken at once.
“We feel bound to warn the Government,” he said, “that unless rapid, decisive action is taken, a situation may evolve making futile every desire to promote harmony in the social and economic life of East London.”
Branding Fascist actions in that thickly-populated Jewish quarter as “calculated to produce social disorders, racial hatred and strife contrary to British traditions,” Mr. Morrison demanded the Government receive a deputation from the executive of the London Socialist Party and that a Government subcommittee which has been named to deal with the disorders receive a similar deputation.
Mr. Morrison asserted that thousands of East End residents fear for their safety and that the tension is affecting children and may “poison happy school life in the East End.”
He urged the Government to accept the “full responsibility of government” and to take immediate steps to control a situation which, if uncontrolled, will lead to “social disaster and political chaos.”
The deputation would insist on the following measures, according to the Morrison letter;
“1–That military uniforms and quasi-military training should be prohibited in connection with political parties.
“2–That the Secretary of State and the chief officers of the police should have the power to divert or deal with processions and street demonstrations of such a character that they are likely to lead to civil disorders or racial strife.
“3–That the police take records of the speeches made at meetings with a view to possible subsequent proceedings — a practice which has been common in regard to Socialist and Communist meetings and which also should be applied to Fascist gatherings.”
UNITED JEWISH RESISTANCE URGED
The Jewish Chronicle appealed today for Jewish unity against Fascism, asking the Board of Deputies of British Jews to designate a full-time official with whom would rest final decisions on questions concerning the campaign against the Blackshirts.
“Is there sufficient goodwill as well as sense of responsibility and discipline among us to ensure that this would be done, or must we repeat the old experience of the divided house in the face of the enemy?” asked the weekly.
Warning that the hour is serious for the Jews, the editorial called on them to stand together “to repel the common danger.”
“KEEP CLEAR OF BRAWLING,” CHURCHILL ADVISES JEWS
Writing in the Evening Standard on the recent disorders in London’s East End, Winston Churchill, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, advised Jews to keep “clear of this brawling.”
“It is especially important,” he declared, “that British Jewry should keep itself absolutely clear of this brawling. In Great Britain, the law-abiding Jew need not look to the Communist for protection. He will get that as his right from the constable.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
