Are Police Records Private ?
Certain letters read by Mr. Justice Luxmoore last Friday, in the course of a judgement on an application for an injunc- tion restraining the publication of further letters of the same kind, suggests the need for a searching enquiry into the relations between the police force in Manchester and a private political body, the Economic League. The letters quoted by the Judge passed between two officials of the Economic League and contained such passages as the follow- ing : " I had the Manchester police in here yesterday and found them extremely helpful, and have now arranged to work in closest co-operation with them. Among other things they promised to give me as long as I like, to look over, their Communist industrial file in their office." Sir Fairfax Luxmoore may be quite right in saying that he finds nothing here that can be construed as admission of a criminal offence, and the Economic League may be an admirable body, but the idea that police records—whether regarding Communists or Fascists, Conservatives or Socialists—may be handed over for inspection to a political, social or religious body is suffici- ently disturbing to make a full enquiry into the action of the police imperative. They may have a full and adequate explanation of their alleged attitude to give. If so there is all -the more reason why in their own interest they should have an opportunity of giving it.
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