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Fill the Jails': Identity, Structure and Method in the Committee of 100, 1960 – 1968

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Fill the Jails': Identity, Structure and Method in the Committee of 100, 1960 – 1968 A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details 'Fill the Jails': Identity, Structure and Method in the Committee of 100, 1960 – 1968. Thesis submitted by Samantha Jane Carroll D. Phil. in Life History Research University of Sussex September 2010 I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature:........................................... Contents. Summary. Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1 Chapter One: Methodology. 29 Chapter Two: Middle-Class Radicals? Make-up and Motivations. 67 Chapter Three: Non-Violent Direct Action. A Contentious Issue. 98 Chapter Four: 'Fill the Jails'. Committee of 100 in Action. 122 Chapter Five: Imprisonment. Gender, Class and Entitlement. 158 Chapter Six: A Libertarian Spirit? Organisation and Values. 182 Conclusion. 213 Bibliography. 222 Appendices. 232 UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX D.PHIL. IN LIFE HISTORY RESEARCH 'FILL THE JAILS': IDENTITY, STRUCTURE AND METHOD IN THE COMMITTEE OF 100, 1960 – 1968. SUMMARY The Committee of 100 (C100) (1960 – 68) were a British anti-nuclear protest group who campaigned for mass non-violent direct action (NVDA) in an effort to force the government to revise its defence policy. The formation of C100 created tensions with the already-established Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), whose leaders objected to C100's commitment to civil disobedience. The two anti-nuclear campaigns had some membership overlap but always remained separate. Until now, any investigation of C100 has been incorporated within wider studies of CND or has been quantitative in method. This thesis therefore addresses a historical gap by employing a life history approach to examine C100 as a distinct group. Drawing upon oral history interviews with twenty-four C100 members the resulting analysis reveals new aspects of C100's innovative structure and method, and identifies the particular nature of those who joined the campaign. A new image of first wave anti-nuclear activists emerges when focusing on C100 protestors. The respondents reveal motivations for campaign engagement that contrast with those of earlier representations of CND supporters. They were inspired by a common interest in global civil rights concerning human health and survival and a need to actively challenge rather than merely petition the authorities. Significantly, many C100 members came from left-wing, progressive or anarchist backgrounds. They were an erudite group with regard for knowledge, despite many putting conventional education on hold to fully engage in the campaign. This thesis examines C100's libertarian nature, and the extent to which its membership managed to be anti-hierarchical in structure, ethos and policy. It explores tensions within C100 concerning limits and definitions of NVDA that changed over time and came to radicalise the campaign. A biographical approach also reveals significant factors around C100 prison experience concerning issues of class and gender. This thesis serves to situate C100 for the first time in its own right on the socio-political map, both historically and globally. Acknowledgements. There are many individuals who have proved invaluable in completing this thesis. I would first of all like to thank my supervisors Claire Langhamer and Gerry Holloway for their enthusiasm and continual expert guidance. I am greatly indebted to friend and fellow researcher Jenna Bailey, for her unceasing interest, generosity of time and remarkable attention to structure and argument. I am particularly thankful for her knowledge of when to act as a sounding board and when to impart criticisms and ideas. Thanks are also due to my friends from across the university, especially to my office mate River Jones who rooted for me along the way and took care to proof read on top of a busy schedule. Also to Johanne Myghind and Sandra KoaWing who were ever-eager to listen to my embryonic ideas. I would like to dedicate this thesis to Sandra's memory. Outside of the university, there are some particular people who require acknowledgement. I am very grateful to John and Clare Sanders who convinced me to return to university after such a long break. I would also like to thank my good friends, in particular Sacha McGann and Gina Simmonds who have supported me over the years through listening, childcare and keeping me going. My large and wonderful family deserve a special mention, especially Lynn and George Hoare who brought me up to believe in the importance of education and encouraged me on to postgraduate study. I am indebted to my three children Max, Izzy and Joy for their patience and effort to keep quiet around an often distracted mother, and also my beloved husband Ben for his dedicated support at every level of this venture. A final word of thanks goes to the C100 members who allowed me to interview them and were trusting enough to lend me documents from their personal archives. Without them there would be no thesis. The kindness I encountered from these respondents was exceptional and I am extremely grateful for their time, knowledge and openness. I am inspired to have met such an interesting and public-spirited group of people and am pleased to have made some new friends, especially Michael Randle, Anne Randle and Jay Ginn. From the outset, Jay's assistance was essential. Her generous engagement opened doors for me and it is to her that I would like to pass on my ultimate thanks. Introduction. The Committee of 100 (C100) was a British anti-nuclear protest group designed to promote mass non-violent direct action (NVDA) in order to push for nuclear disarmament. They campaigned for eight years (1960-1968), during which, due to their creative ideas and illegal approach, they attracted considerable media attention. Until now, however, there has been minimal historical interest in C100 as a distinct campaign. Examinations of this protest group are mostly subsumed within research concerned with the wider peace movement, particularly the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). A thorough analysis of the distinctive nature of C100, especially in terms of protestor identity and motivation, has been neglected. To attend to this omission, I have collected a total of twenty-four C100 oral history interviews, and my analysis makes use of them alongside already established resources to reveal valuable new insights into this innovative protest group. My thesis delivers an interpretative evaluation of identity within C100, and how this was affected by tensions within and beyond the campaign, and its evolving structure and method. Drawing on common themes that have emerged from the collected narratives, a new image of the C100 protestor surfaces. This qualitative analysis of C100 is significant, not only because it is structured within the group's parameters, but also because, in taking a life history research approach, it draws upon the memories and experiences of those that directly participated in the campaign. An assessment of these factors demonstrates why C100 should be regarded in its own right and positioned as such on the historical political map. I will begin this introduction with a summary of C100 and explain its influences, purpose and method in order to acquaint the reader with their campaign. To demonstrate the context from which C100 emerged, a brief analysis of the postwar British political and cultural climate follows. From here, I will assess the secondary literature that, until now, has informed us about C100's method of protest and structure and how this developed. A discussion of this clarifies the need for a new biographical approach that elicits the particular characteristics and perspectives of those involved while they are 1 still around to interview. Finally, in order to maintain a reflexive position of inquiry, I will explain my own interests in C100's campaign and my reasons for undertaking this research. The Committee of 100: An overview. Influences and Inspiration. The end of the Second World War was negotiated following the first ever use of atomic weapons over two Japanese cities in early August 1945. It was initially a cause for mass victory celebrations, and yet, as the news of the devastation faced by the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki filtered through, questions began to surface about the international moral implications of the atom bomb, and whether there could ever be any justification for inflicting such destruction anywhere.1 The Peace Pledge Union (PPU), a pacifist organisation founded in the 1930s, had narrowly survived the war as the Nazi threat had taken its toll on pacifist ideology. The new horrors faced by atomic weaponry gave the peace movement fresh impetus, however, and by 1949 a small group had re- banded and organised a conference in London entitled 'Steps to Peace'. It was during this meeting that the idea of adopting the Gandhian principals of Satyagraha and the method of NVDA was first introduced, and over the next couple of years the small PPU group deliberated over this philosophy and the significance of such a direction.2 Then, at a meeting on 12 December 1951, Peace News editor Hugh Brock proposed to launch Operation Gandhi, a campaign with four main aims. These were: The withdrawal of American forces at present in this country. The stopping of the manufacture of atomic weapons in Britain.
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