1939–45

Abstract

Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939. Even before this, however, in August, Parliament had passed the Emergency Powers Act, under which the government was able to introduce a whole series of Defence Regulations (DRs). Because they affected all the areas which NCCL dealt with, it is hardly surprising that most of the Council’s efforts during the six years of war were directed at attempting to mitigate the injustices frequently caused by these regulations. Very often, however, the authorities stayed with the more ‘traditional’ methods of harassing their opponents, such as the use of ‘obstruction’ or ‘insulting behaviour’ charges.