The National Council for Civil Liberties and the Policing of Interwar Politics

Public interest is no less exercised in the twenty-first century by civil liberties, police powers and the policing of public order than it was in the 1930s, or indeed a century earlier. The National Council for Civil Liberties (the precursor to civil rights organization Liberty) emerged in 1934 in protest at the policing of political expression. Historians have written extensively about public order, political extremism and the authorities and subversion in the interwar period but hitherto missing from this discourse is the account of the NCCL's role. Janet Clark explores the origins of the NCCL, its political orientation, and the political and personal agendas of its supporters. She argues that changing forms of political expression and divisive party politics played a noteworthy role in the momentum for a civil liberties pressure group. At the same time, the narrative deals with police attempts to discredit the NCCL and the use of surveillance and intelligence in perpetuating a view of the organisation as a front for the communist party. Distinctly, it examines the response of the state to this organised criticism of police methods and to the emergence of a civil rights movement. A concise account of the development of civil liberties in Britain, this book is essential reading for students and lecturers in the study of British social history, the historical development of civil liberties and of policing in Britain as well as anyone interested in this enduring topic. Included is a foreword by Clive Emsley, Emeritus Professor in History at the Open University, and widely regarded as the doyen of police history.