Sedition Bill

As soon as Liberty (or the National Council of Civil Liberties as it was then) was formed, it launched its first major campaign. Under the proposed ‘Sedition Bill’ it would have been  a criminal offence to possess pacifist literature, for example anti-war pamphlets. Although the Bill became law, Liberty succeeded in watering it down.

Censorship

Liberty also won a case against the Home Office over censorship rules that allowed local authorities to refuse licenses to cinemas showing films that might endanger public safety. Until Liberty’s intervention, the authorities had often interpreted this as including films of a sexual or political nature.

Fascism

Oswald Moseley’s fascist ‘Blackshirts’ kept Liberty busy organising opposing rallies and marches and dealing with police bias against anti-fascist groups.

Harworth Miners' Strike

Liberty also investigated the arrest and heavy sentencing of the leaders of the miners’ strike at Harworth Colliery, exposing bias against the strikers from members of the police and judiciary.

Spies

These activities draw the attention of the authorities and Special Branch opens files on Liberty personnel, correspondence is intercepted and spies are planted within the organisation (as revealed by documents in the National Archives).