Fascist violence and the politics of public order in inter-war Britain: the Olympia debate revisited*

Abstract

Abstract This article uses press reports, pamphlet literature, politicians' diaries, parliamentary debates and Home Office/police papers at the Public Record Office to sustain two main arguments. Firstly, that contrary to recent revisionist accounts, revulsion at fascist violence played an important part in the failure of Mosley and British fascism. It is shown that the furore over blackshirt violence at Olympia in 1934 served to alienate Conservative opinion from fascist ‘extremism’ both in parliament and in the press, and also convinced both British Union of Fascists and communist leaders that they must dissociate themselves from responsibility for the organization of violence. Secondly, the article suggests that debates about Olympia highlighted profound disagreements over the legitimacy of dissent and protest in public politics, and over the proper role for the police and the law at indoor political meetings. Ultimately the reaction against fascist violence led to a significant increase in the state's role in this traditionally private sphere of political life.