ABSTRACT
To many the 1930s appeared a violent decade in which the traditional procedures of parliamentary politics were threatened in one country after another by the challenge of extremist politics. Although
the swing towards violence in Britain can be exaggerated, the government
was seriously alarmed by the threat to public order offered by organisations
such as the N.U.W.M. and the B.U.F. Two major pieces of legislation, the
Incitement to Disaffection Act of 1934 and the Public Order Act of 1936,
marked attempts by the government to assert its control over the threat
from extra-parliamentary movements and preserve its authority in the face
of possible civil disorder. Both Acts involved an incursion into individual
liberty, but were seen as necessary to contain the challenge presented by
hunger marches and fascist meetings. Public order became an issue in the
1930s with accusations from the Left of brutality and discrimination on the
part of the police. With the public records now at our disposal it is possible
to assess the attitude of the government and its agents towards the various
organisations with which it was dealing and the principles which guided its
actions during the thirties.
