Press, Politics and the ‘Police and Public’ Debates in Late 1920s Britain

Abstract

This article considers a series of scandals centred on London’s Metropolitan Police between 1927 and 1929. Although based on various issues – such as accusations of perjured testimony, harsh interrogation methods and corruption – these overlapping events added up to a serious crisis in what was commonly argued to be the ‘best police in the world’. There was a significant element of party politics in the ‘police and public’ debates. The Labour Party in particular used the scandals to attack the Conservative government and push for in-depth inquiries and reforms ; however, discontent with policing was also apparent in the Tory-leaning press. Nevertheless, ultimately politics had little concrete impact on the procedural framework of policing.