Liberty turns 90

Posted: 28th February 2024

This week marks 90 years of Liberty.  

In 1934, Ronald Kidd founded the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), prompted by police brutality towards peaceful protesters during the Hunger Marches.

And for almost a century, we have fought injustice wherever we’ve seen it.

But our first President, EM Forster, described Liberty’s work as “the fight that is never done”. So here we are 90 years later – my Liberty colleagues and our hundreds of thousands of supporters still campaigning tirelessly for a society where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  

And now faced with mass surveillance, crackdowns on protests, ever more attempts to strip our human rights away, and politicians who think the rules don’t apply to them, we need your support more than ever.  

To celebrate our birthday, we wanted to share just a few highlights from the past nine decades:

1968 – RACE RELATIONS ACT

The first Race Relations Act is passed, after lobbying by the NCCL and others. An emergency Speak Out On Race meeting is organised following Conservative MP Enoch Powell’s infamous “rivers of blood” speech, and an NCCL petition is presented to the Prime Minister.

1984 – GAY’S THE WORD

Customs and Excise officers seize the stock of Gay’s the Word bookshop. The NCCL offers support and representation, and all charges are dropped in 1986.

2004 – KATHERINE GUN

Government whistleblower Katharine Gun is successfully defended by Liberty. In the lead-up to the Iraq war, Gun was accused of disclosing to the media that the US had requested assistance from British intelligence to tap the telephones of members of the UN Security Council. Gun argued she acted out of necessity to prevent the deaths of Iraqis and British forces in an “illegal war”.

2013 – “GO HOME” VANS

The UK Government targets ethnically diverse areas of London with mobile billboards carrying the slogan “In the UK illegally? Go Home or face arrest”. Liberty responds with an alternative van. The “Go Home” vans are subsequently scrapped.

2024 – LEGAL ACTION AGAINST HOME SECRETARY

Liberty takes the Government to court after former Home Secretary Suella Braverman ignored parliament, creating new laws that changed the definition of ‘serious disruption’ at a protest to ‘more than minor’ – giving police almost unlimited power to crack down on protests and arrest demonstrators.

Become a Liberty member today, and be a part of what we will achieve together in the decades to come.

In celebration,

Akiko Hart

Director