COMMUNIST IN BRITAIN MOBBED BY ANGRY CROWDS

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 April 1949, Page 3

COMMUNIST IN BRITAIN MOBBED BY ANGRY CROWDS

■ ’ LONDON, April 24. The secretary of the British Communist Party (Mr Harry Pollitt) was struck by a light metal chair hurled, at the platform, at a meeting at Plymouth today, when he-attempted to speak of the shelling of British warships on the Yangtse river." The platform was rushed by angry sailors in the audience. One sailor caught Mr Pollitt by a lapel of his coat, and shook him, before being dragged off by the police, who immediately declared the meeting closed, and shepherded Mr Pbllitt to a cloak-room in the hall; During the demonstration, crowds outside hurled stones through the windows of the hall. In his speech, Mr Pollitt said there was not yet sufficient evidence tp enable people to give a balanced judgment on the tragic occurrences on the Yangtse. Every newspaper in Britain, whatever its politics, had demanded the fullest; investigation- into how. it came about that British ships were placed in a situation' where everyone knew that a full-scale offensive was about to start.

J' Earlier, Mr Pollitt-. accused members’of the Conservative Party of “arranging” incidents which had interrupted speeches which Mr Pollitt made in Devonshire last week. 1 Mr Pollitt added: “TJirae. will tell who is right, but one thing is clear; the blame for the death of splendid British lads on the Yangtse will be placed at the door of the Government. The police smuggled Mr Pollitt out of the. Plymouth Corn Exchange by a trap-door after a large crowd, including sailors, had besieged the hall for three hours. Mr Pollitt was taken, in a car to a friend’s house at Plymstock, five miles from / Plymouth, while police kept back the demonstrators, who had dwindled to about 500 persons. The police arrested six of the demonstrators. The police later escorted Mr Pollitt to the station, where he joined a midnight train for London.