The House of Commons in effect has reproved the authorities by whose order police yesterday visited Jewish shopkeepers of the Whitechapel district with demands that anti-German boycott posters be removed.
The issue was raised in the Commons by Major Attlee, who was supported by Winston Churchill, Major Nathan, Barnett Janner and Godfrey Locker-Lampson, among others.
John Gilmour, the Home Secretary, finally asserted that Jewish shopkeepers who prefer to restore their posters have a right to do so, and stressed the fact that ### police were using their own ### with no other intention than to maintain the peace. The Home Office, he said, was not moved to act by the representations of members of Hitler’s mission.
To Churchill’s pointed question as to the quarter from which the Home Office feared a disturbance of the peace in the ### that the posters were not removed, an evasive answer was given Pressed further by Mr. Churchill, the Home Secretary promised to make it clear the Government intends to allow all reasonable freedom of expression.
Actually the police orders against the posters had already been withdrawn before the debate, whereupon new posters appeared in even greater quantities in Jewish shops.
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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.
