SOCIALIST UNITY

OPEN LETTER TO THE HOME SECRETARY AND THE COMMISSIONER OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE

On April 23rd 1979 at a demonstration against the presence of the far right National Front in Southall a friend of mine, Blair Peach, was struck over the head by an, as yet, still unidentified member of the Special Patrol Group and died the next day from injuries sustained from the blow.

A subsequent enquiry into the events of that day by Commander Cass has never been released in full but we are able to say that a number of things have been established. When the lockers of three of the named officers were opened and the home of another was searched the following items were found.

PC White: crowbar, small metal cosh, whip handle, whip, brass handle.

PC Woodcock: US type truncheon, two knives.

Inspector Hopkins: wooden truncheon.

PC Bint’s house revealed bayonets, swords, a cosh and Nazi memorabilia.

All of these things, but especially the Nazi memorabilia found in the home of PC Bint, should have given rise to the greatest of concern about the political orientation of at least some of the members of the SPG. The investigation conducted by Commander Cass at the time has never been made fully public but it believed that he recommended that at least six officers should have been prosecuted for, amongst other things, murder and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Although an early day motion was signed shortly in 1980 by nearly 150 MPs demanding a public enquiry, none was ever conducted. One of the MPs who signed was Jack Straw who, when he became Home Secretary, refused to conduct the very investigation he had asked for nearly two decades earlier.

Various ruses have been used by the Metropolitan Police over the years to prevent the publication of the report. The latest is a refusal under the Freedom of Information Act on the grounds that it ” would affect the immediate family and friends of Blair Peach, owing to the circumstances of the death and the information contained within the report”. As far as is known, the family has never been consulted about this and someone has taken the decision on their behalf.

It is highly unlikely that, had the inquest taken place today, the jury would have returned a verdict of misadventure. A number of factors effecting the original decision of death by misadventure would not have applied. The press and the political establishment almost uniformly blamed the anti fascists for the violence. Press cuttings of the time describe a race riot which it most certainly was not. It was a riot by police officers, which could have been prevented by the Metropolitan Police asking the Home Secretary to ban the march.

The Met themselves must take a great deal of responsibility for the events, not only of that day, but for several years of provocative National Front matches, many of them through areas with high proportions of ethnic minorities, with easily predictable results: vilence, arrests and convictions, damage to property and finally death.

There is no longer any excuse for the Cass report not to be released in full and the longer it is not, the more it looks as if the police are covering up another shameful page in their history. This is not an exercise in retribution or revenge, simply an attempt to get justice for Blair and to establish the fact that people have right to protest peacefully without the risk of injury or death from those whose job it is to preserve the conditions for peaceful protest.

I look forward to hearing from you both.

The Friends of Blair Peach
29 St Agnes Close
London E9 7HS
E-mail southall79@googlemail.com

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