The British Government gave assurances last night that stronger measures would be used in the future against the kind of pro-Hitler and anti-Jewish agitation which sparked a riot in Trafalgar Square Sunday during a meeting of the British National Socialist movement.
The assurance was given in the House of Commons by R.A. Butler, Home Secretary, as demands rose for the dismissal of the party’s leader, Colin Jordan, from his teaching job in Coventry. The Home Secretary Said police had not expected the violence that erupted in response to the anti-Semitic speeches at the meeting.
He said in the future police would act more strictly in such situations and that there was a possibility that the Nazi speakers would be charged with violation of the Public Order Act. Twenty persons, including a number of Jews, were arrested and fined for breaking through police lines at the riotous meeting.
As press condemnation grew against the inflammatory speeches voiced at the meeting, other Government officials indicated that the British Nazi group probably would not be given permission again to hold public rallies. Government spokesmen had consistently argued, in response to complaints in parliament prior to the meeting, that barring it would be a violation of free speech.
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.
