George Lansbury, committed pacifist and leader of the Labour Party
Courtesy of Peace Pledge Union
In 1933 the National Joint Council, with representatives from the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Labour Party and the Co-operative Movement, launched an anti-fascist campaign. Nearly 10,000 people attended a mass meeting held on Wednesday 12 April in the Albert Hall in London. Mr A. J. Walkden of the TUC presided. He declared that the trade union movement would fight ‘dictatorship…with all its strength.’
Mr George Lansbury, leader of the Labour Party, ended the speeches with a call for international solidarity against fascism. He said, ‘We have met to join up in the world wide protest which is surging up from all lands against the outrages and crimes committed by Governments organised and controlled by fascists.’ The campaign went on to organise demonstrations and a call was made to ban German goods.
References/Further Reading:
Daily Herald, 13 April 1933.
M. Davis, TUC History Online Timeline, 1918-1939.