Rough Time For British Communist

Chronicle (Levin), 26 April 1949, Page 5

Rough Time For British Communist

'Received Monday, 7p.m. LONDON, April 24. Mr Harrv Pollitt, Communist Party secretarv, was struck by a light metal chair hurled at the platform, when he attempted to speak of the Yangtze River shelling, at a meeting at Plymoutli today. Tlie platform was rushcl by angry sailors in the audience. One sailnr cauglit Mr Pollitt l>v the coat lapel and shook him before being dragged olT by the police who immediatelv declared the meeting closed and shepherded Mr Pollitt to the cloakroom in the h all. During the demonstration crowds outside hurled stones through the hall windows.

Mr Pollitt declared there was not yel suffieient evidence to enable the people to give a balanced judgment of the tragic happenings on the Yangtze. ile declared that every newspaper in, Britain, whatever its politics, had de manded the fullest investigation into how it came about, that British ships were placed in a situation when everyone knevv that a f'ull scale oft'ensive was about to start. Earlier Mr Pollitt accused the Conservatives of "arranging" incidents which interrupted the speeches he mad" in Devonshire last week. Mr Pollitt de clared: "Time will tell who is right but one thing is clear — the blame t'or the death of splendid British lads on th.e Yangtze will be pl'aced at the door of the Government."