SHORT TOUR FOR S. AFRICANS Police Unsure They Can Handle Incidents

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32222, 14 February 1970, Page 13

SHORT TOUR FOR S. AFRICANS Police Unsure They Can Handle Incidents

(N Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON. The chairman of Britain’s Police Federation, Inspector R. Gale, yesterday said he did not know if the police could handle this summer’s anti-apartheid demonstrations during the South African cricket tour.

But, he added, no matter what happens, it was going to cost money—possibly £5OOO ($10,700) a day.

Inspector Gale made his comments on television after it was announced that the South African tour would go on. although shortened ; from the scheduled five | months to about 11 ij weeks. 1 The fixture list was pruned 1 from 28 to 12 matches—all to i be played on grounds which can be easily fortified. h “Extra Incentive” h Nevertheless, it was still a ‘ “declaration of war” to the/ anti-apartheid campaigners / Mr Peter Hain, leader of the/ “Stop the 70 Tour” commit / tee. which has mobilised oppo-[ sition to an all-white South! African team, said it would' be “an extra incentive for us!; to really hammer them." The decision to go ahead j, with the mini-tour was! thrashed out at meetings of/ the two governing bodies—l< the test and county cricket/ board and the English Cricket') Council. ii The council ratified the un-; animous recommendation of f the board to proceed with the/ tour on a revised itinerary. r which has the South Africans ( due to arrive on June 1. t The council secretary, Mr t S. C. Griffith, making the an- f nouncement to an assembly/ of 50 newspaper reporters.! said: “The council has noh hesitation in re-affirming its | < decision to welcome the South! ( African team. i< “It believes that the sever- h ance of sporting contact] would achieve nothing in;i terms of progress towards multi-racial sport. On the con-[ ] trary, it would have precisely: 1 the opposite effect" [1 Artificial Pitches [i Mr Griffith added that the I counties were also unanimous 1 the tour should go ahead, al-i, though some were disappointed they would lose their c fixtures against the South’ Africans under the restricted' itinerary. The cricket officials refused c to give away much of their/

"beat-the-demonstrators” plan, submitted by a special subcommittee to make the tour a ! practical proposition. “For obvious reasons we are not able to say much about our security plans,” Mr Griffith said. But he gave a hint that they were preparing for any contingency, even to the extent of providing artificial pitches in case the turf pitches are damaged before or during matches. In the House of Commons, 'the Home Secretary (Mr 'James Callaghan), the Minister in charge of police, gave a stern warning to militant demonstrators. He said he 'would try to discourage anyone violently attempting to [disrupt the games. Police Costs But Mr Hain persisted with a threat that demonstrators , would disrupt “every day of | every match.” I “We got involved in the !Springbok Rugby tour as a! |side show. We have learned! lour lessons and know the tac-j 'tics that will be used against' I us,” he said Mr Callaghan added that the total extra cost of providjing police at the Springbok ■ matches was £63.000 ($135,010) and that Rugby dubs in England and Wales have been asked to pay £10.589 (522.626) towards [this. The shortened tour, far from being the usual moneyspinner, will almost certainly ! cost the counties money they ‘can ill-afford. Unofficial estimates set the massive cost of police protection at close to £200.000 (3428.600). But there was a ray of hope for the county elubs in the guarded comment from! Mr Griffith that a sub-com-1 mittee would look into possibility of setting up a| public fund to help defray | the police bill. “We have already received! hundreds of offers of fin an- ! cial support.” he said I Protected Grounds Six of the eight grounds : chosen for matches are wellprotected regular test

grounds—Lord’s and the Oval, London, Trent Bridge, Nottingham, Old Trafford, Manchester, Edgbaston. Birmingham, and Headingley, Leeds. The other two venues are Sheffield and Swansea. On television. Inspector Gale was asked to comment on the great strain the cricket tour would put on police resources. He said :“A Rugby match of just over an hour has taken a big enough strain on us and what we’re going to do to cope with this sort of thing over three days or more, both inside and outside the ground. I just don’t know."

Two British newspapers—- “ The Times” and the "Daily Telegraph”—said that the tour could end in chaos. “The Times” said this would be disturbing for two reasons. There would be another case of physical force proving more effective than argument, and that ‘reaction among the British public will be much more hostile if play is prevented simply by a collection of high-principled enthusiasts’." Less Attraction “There is the real danger that public anger would be directed without discrimina-| tion towards those with a' liberal attitude to race and' perhaps towards coloured people as well." The “Daily Telegraph” said the decision to curtail the tour took away a lot of its attraction, and asked: “How far will fans be prepared to travel and will a county match not lose much of its meaning if played ’away’ in such circumstances?"