Red Lion Square disorders
Encyclopedia
The Red Lion Square disorders were an event in 1974.
On 15 June that year, the National Front
marched through London's West End; their march was to finish with a meeting in Conway Hall, Red Lion Square
. The London Area Council for Liberation conducted a counter demonstration which consisted of a march through London ending with a public meeting in Red Lion Square. Warwick
student Kevin Gately
was killed during the demonstrations and a public enquiry was conducted by Lord Scarman into the disorders at Red Lion Square.
booked Conway Hall in Red Lion Square
for a meeting to take place on 15 June 1974. A counter-demonstration was called by the London Area Council of Liberation (formerly the Movement for Colonial Freedom). This counter-demonstration attracted support from groups not directly under the control of Liberation, including the International Marxist Group
(IMG), the Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist) and the International Socialists
(later the Socialist Workers Party
). The counter-demonstration assembled on the Embankment
and marched to Red Lion Square without incident. They planned to hold an open-air meeting on the north side of the Square, away from Conway Hall.
A substantial number of marchers passed this cordon peacefully and assembled in front of the platform where the Labour MP for Southall Syd Bidwell
was to address them.
The cordon was then charged by the larger contingent from the IMG who were closely followed by the smaller CPE(M-L) contingent . Several minutes of pushing and scuffling followed. There were several charges and counter-charges. The police cordon was reinforced by members of the Special Patrol Group
and by mounted police who eventually succeeded in forcing the demonstrators back. Photos show the use of truncheons by some police officers. At least one demonstrator reported being knocked to the ground and trampled by a police horse. Many demonstrators were forced back up Old North Street but a few retreated into the square.
The police then forcibly cleared all remaining demonstrators from the square whether they had taken part in the original confrontation or not. A large number of demonstrators had passed the police cordon peacefully before the charge. Demonstrators from the International Socialists
were specifically instructed by their stewards to withdraw from the area of fighting. Nonetheless, the police aggressively forced all the Liberation marchers from the square, in spite of the remonstrations of Syd Bidwell
MP.
where they were held back by a police cordon on the east side.
The National Front, accompanied by an Orange fife and drum band, marched down Bloomsbury Way to the west side of Southampton Row where another police cordon stopped them. Neither side attempted to breach the cordons that separated them. After a few minutes mounted police came up Southampton Row from Red Lion Square and moved straight into the Liberation crowd without warning. Supported by foot police, they used truncheons on demonstrators in an apparently indiscriminate manner. Another police cordon behind the crowd effectively prevented their escape and a large number of arrests were made.
A large number of demonstrators were arrested. Photos show that many who were arrested had their hair pulled or were otherwise treated with what appeared to be excessive force by police.
While this was happening the National Front were allowed to turn right into Southampton Row and escorted round the south side of Red Lion Square into Conway Hall.
This incident was overlooked in most of the media coverage but was reported in the following week's edition of Time Out.
was a student at Warwick University who accompanied fellow students to the counter-demonstration. Gately was not a member of a political group and had never been on a demonstration before. As some of the Warwick students were supporters of the IMG, all of them marched with the IMG contingent and were caught up in the initial clash in Red Lion Square. Photos show Gately moving through the crowd, possibly trying to escape from the tight press of bodies during the pushing at the police cordon. His unconscious body was found by police after the crowd was driven back and taken in an ambulance to University College Hospital
.
Gately's fellow students only realised that he was missing when they met after the demonstration ended. A student who enquired at University College Hospital was shown Gately's body and asked to identify him.
A coroner's inquest at St Pancras Coroner's Court concluded that Gately's death was the result of a blow to the head from a blunt instrument. Left wing newspapers at the time blamed his death on the mounted police though this was based on supposition and conclusive evidence has not been forthcoming.
Kevin Gately
was the first demonstrator to be killed in Britain for 55 years.
Warwick University students held a march and vigil in Coventry during the following week.
The next Saturday, 22 June 1974, a silent march retraced the route of the Liberation counter-demonstration from the embankment to Red Lion Square. The march was led by personal friends of Kevin Gately
, followed by University of Warwick students and then by students from many other universities and colleges as well as contingents from many of the left wing groups that had taken part in the original march. This march also received widespread media coverage.
The Inquest into Kevin Gately's death was followed by a public enquiry headed by Lord Scarman which considered a wide range of evidence from police and marchers. The International Marxist Group
leaders on 15 June - Brian Heron and David Bailey - initially denied charging the first police cordon but later admitted doing so to the Scarman tribunal.
The sabbatical officers of University of Warwick Students' Union
commissioned a Kevin Gately
memorial painting which still hangs in the student union building. It was restored in 2004.
On 15 June that year, the National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
marched through London's West End; their march was to finish with a meeting in Conway Hall, Red Lion Square
Red Lion Square
Red Lion Square is a small square on the boundary of Bloomsbury and Holborn in London. The square was laid out in 1698 by Nicholas Barbon, taking its name from the Red Lion Inn. According to some sources the bodies of three regicides - Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton - were placed...
. The London Area Council for Liberation conducted a counter demonstration which consisted of a march through London ending with a public meeting in Red Lion Square. Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
student Kevin Gately
Kevin Gately
Kevin Gately was a second year student of mathematics at the University of Warwick who died as a result of injuries received in the Red Lion Square disorders in London on 15 June 1974...
was killed during the demonstrations and a public enquiry was conducted by Lord Scarman into the disorders at Red Lion Square.
Introduction
The British far-right organisation, the National FrontBritish National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
booked Conway Hall in Red Lion Square
Red Lion Square
Red Lion Square is a small square on the boundary of Bloomsbury and Holborn in London. The square was laid out in 1698 by Nicholas Barbon, taking its name from the Red Lion Inn. According to some sources the bodies of three regicides - Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton - were placed...
for a meeting to take place on 15 June 1974. A counter-demonstration was called by the London Area Council of Liberation (formerly the Movement for Colonial Freedom). This counter-demonstration attracted support from groups not directly under the control of Liberation, including the International Marxist Group
International Marxist Group
The International Marxist Group was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It and its youth organisation had had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s...
(IMG), the Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist) and the International Socialists
International Socialists
International Socialists is the name of a number of Trotskyist organizations.Most organisations using this name are in the International Socialist Tendency...
(later the Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
). The counter-demonstration assembled on the Embankment
Thames Embankment
The Thames Embankment is a major feat of 19th century civil engineering designed to reclaim marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It consists of the Victoria and Chelsea Embankment....
and marched to Red Lion Square without incident. They planned to hold an open-air meeting on the north side of the Square, away from Conway Hall.
Clash in Red Lion Square
The front of the Liberation march came westwards along Theobald's Road and entered Red Lion Square by Old North Street before turning right where a platform was set up for the meeting. A police cordon blocked the square to the left of Old North Street.A substantial number of marchers passed this cordon peacefully and assembled in front of the platform where the Labour MP for Southall Syd Bidwell
Syd Bidwell
Sydney James Bidwell was a British Labour politician.Bidwell was a railway worker on the Great Western Railway and became a tutor and organiser for the National Council of Labour Colleges. He went on to become the London Regional Education Officer for the TUC...
was to address them.
The cordon was then charged by the larger contingent from the IMG who were closely followed by the smaller CPE(M-L) contingent . Several minutes of pushing and scuffling followed. There were several charges and counter-charges. The police cordon was reinforced by members of the Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group
The Special Patrol Group was a unit of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for providing a centrally-based mobile capability for combating serious public disorder and crime that could not be dealt with by local divisions....
and by mounted police who eventually succeeded in forcing the demonstrators back. Photos show the use of truncheons by some police officers. At least one demonstrator reported being knocked to the ground and trampled by a police horse. Many demonstrators were forced back up Old North Street but a few retreated into the square.
The police then forcibly cleared all remaining demonstrators from the square whether they had taken part in the original confrontation or not. A large number of demonstrators had passed the police cordon peacefully before the charge. Demonstrators from the International Socialists
International Socialists
International Socialists is the name of a number of Trotskyist organizations.Most organisations using this name are in the International Socialist Tendency...
were specifically instructed by their stewards to withdraw from the area of fighting. Nonetheless, the police aggressively forced all the Liberation marchers from the square, in spite of the remonstrations of Syd Bidwell
Syd Bidwell
Sydney James Bidwell was a British Labour politician.Bidwell was a railway worker on the Great Western Railway and became a tutor and organiser for the National Council of Labour Colleges. He went on to become the London Regional Education Officer for the TUC...
MP.
Clash in Vernon Place
Soon after this, word spread among the Liberation demonstrators that the National Front were approaching. Many demonstrators regrouped at the junction of Vernon Place and Southampton RowSouthampton Row
Southampton Row is major thoroughfare running northwest-southeast in Bloomsbury, Camden, central London, England. The road is designated as part of the A4200.- Location :To the north, Southampton Row adjoins the southeast corner of Russell Square...
where they were held back by a police cordon on the east side.
The National Front, accompanied by an Orange fife and drum band, marched down Bloomsbury Way to the west side of Southampton Row where another police cordon stopped them. Neither side attempted to breach the cordons that separated them. After a few minutes mounted police came up Southampton Row from Red Lion Square and moved straight into the Liberation crowd without warning. Supported by foot police, they used truncheons on demonstrators in an apparently indiscriminate manner. Another police cordon behind the crowd effectively prevented their escape and a large number of arrests were made.
A large number of demonstrators were arrested. Photos show that many who were arrested had their hair pulled or were otherwise treated with what appeared to be excessive force by police.
While this was happening the National Front were allowed to turn right into Southampton Row and escorted round the south side of Red Lion Square into Conway Hall.
Clash in Boswell Street
A small remnant of the IMG contingent went up Boswell Street in an attempt to disperse. They were followed and trapped by police who detained the group while they were attempting to arrest Brian Heron, one of the IMG leaders. They eventually succeeded but he escaped from them a few minutes later.This incident was overlooked in most of the media coverage but was reported in the following week's edition of Time Out.
Death of Kevin Gately
Kevin GatelyKevin Gately
Kevin Gately was a second year student of mathematics at the University of Warwick who died as a result of injuries received in the Red Lion Square disorders in London on 15 June 1974...
was a student at Warwick University who accompanied fellow students to the counter-demonstration. Gately was not a member of a political group and had never been on a demonstration before. As some of the Warwick students were supporters of the IMG, all of them marched with the IMG contingent and were caught up in the initial clash in Red Lion Square. Photos show Gately moving through the crowd, possibly trying to escape from the tight press of bodies during the pushing at the police cordon. His unconscious body was found by police after the crowd was driven back and taken in an ambulance to University College Hospital
University College Hospital
University College Hospital is a teaching hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London ....
.
Gately's fellow students only realised that he was missing when they met after the demonstration ended. A student who enquired at University College Hospital was shown Gately's body and asked to identify him.
A coroner's inquest at St Pancras Coroner's Court concluded that Gately's death was the result of a blow to the head from a blunt instrument. Left wing newspapers at the time blamed his death on the mounted police though this was based on supposition and conclusive evidence has not been forthcoming.
Kevin Gately
Kevin Gately
Kevin Gately was a second year student of mathematics at the University of Warwick who died as a result of injuries received in the Red Lion Square disorders in London on 15 June 1974...
was the first demonstrator to be killed in Britain for 55 years.
Aftermath
There was widespread press and media coverage of the disorders in Red Lion SquareWarwick University students held a march and vigil in Coventry during the following week.
The next Saturday, 22 June 1974, a silent march retraced the route of the Liberation counter-demonstration from the embankment to Red Lion Square. The march was led by personal friends of Kevin Gately
Kevin Gately
Kevin Gately was a second year student of mathematics at the University of Warwick who died as a result of injuries received in the Red Lion Square disorders in London on 15 June 1974...
, followed by University of Warwick students and then by students from many other universities and colleges as well as contingents from many of the left wing groups that had taken part in the original march. This march also received widespread media coverage.
The Inquest into Kevin Gately's death was followed by a public enquiry headed by Lord Scarman which considered a wide range of evidence from police and marchers. The International Marxist Group
International Marxist Group
The International Marxist Group was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It and its youth organisation had had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s...
leaders on 15 June - Brian Heron and David Bailey - initially denied charging the first police cordon but later admitted doing so to the Scarman tribunal.
The sabbatical officers of University of Warwick Students' Union
University of Warwick Students' Union
Warwick Students' Union, also known as Warwick SU, is the students' union for the University of Warwick, in Coventry, England.-History:The Students' Union developed in tandem with the University and has existed since 1965...
commissioned a Kevin Gately
Kevin Gately
Kevin Gately was a second year student of mathematics at the University of Warwick who died as a result of injuries received in the Red Lion Square disorders in London on 15 June 1974...
memorial painting which still hangs in the student union building. It was restored in 2004.
See also
- The Warwick Boar, 22 June 2004.
- On This Day, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 15 June 1974. - Tony GilbertDavid Tony GilbertDavid "Tony" Gilbert , known to his contemporaries as "Tony," was a British political activist. He is best remembered as the head of the left wing political organization Liberation , during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early years:Tony Gilbert was born in Poplar, London to a large Jewish family in 1914...
, Only One Died: An Account of the Scarman Inquiry into the Events of 15th June 1974, in Red Lion Square, when Kevin Gately Died Opposing Racism and Fascism. London: Kay Beauchamp, 1975. - Martin Walker, The National Front. Fontana Paperbacks, 1977.
- Witness statements and correspondence from the inquest and the Scarman Tribunal, The National Archives, UK.