The National League of Young Liberals (YL) was the official youth wing of the Liberal Party, the precursor to the Liberal Democrats, from 1903 until 1990.
YL was reported on across an extended period, between 1968 and 1983, by Special Branch. They were more closely monitored via the infiltration of SDS officer HN298 'Michael Scott' between 1972 and 1975.HN298 'Michael Scott'‘Michael Scott’ is the assumed name of a former SDS undercover officer who infiltrated the Putney branch of the Young Liberals, Croydon anarchist group Commitment, the Little Ilford branch of the Workers Revolutionary Party and the central London branch of the Anti-Internment League between 1972 and 1976. In 1972, he did not reveal his true identity to the court when convicted alongside three anti-apartheid activists, leading to their convictions being overturned in 2024. The reliability of his testimony about the Young Liberals was challenged in the Inquiry by core participant Peter Hain.Full page: HN298 'Michael Scott'
Despite their links with the Liberal Party, members of the YL considered themselves to be socialists, appropriating for themselves the name 'Red Guards' from Mao's Cultural Revolution.
According to Peter Hain, former President and leading activist for the YL, they were just as opposed to capitalism as to Stalinism: 'Neither Washington nor Moscow' was their slogan for a 'bottom-up' socialism rather than a 'top-down' one. Peter Hain, Outside In. , Biteback Publishing, 2012.
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Some Young Liberals were involved in disrupting the 1969-70 South African Rugby Tour,
As a group, the YL frequently employed Non-Violent Direct Action (NVDA), including blocking main roads in protest of the 1971 Immigration Bill, the public burning of Census forms, and proposals to divert effluent-ridden river water back into the factories that had polluted it. The YL were heavily involved in the anti-apartheid Stop the Seventy TourStop The Seventy Tour (STST)Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) was an anti-apartheid group active from 1969 to late 1970, specifically aimed at preventing or disrupting a South African cricketers’ tour of England. It was started by members of other anti-apartheid campaigns, including Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC) and the Reading Joint Anti-Apartheid Committee. STST was spied on by HN135 Michael Ferguson, HN298 'Michael Scott', HN336 'Dick Epps', and HN346 Jill Mosdell.Full page: Stop The Seventy Tour (STST) against the South African rugby team's tour of Britain.
Sources
Peter Hain. Radical Regeneration: Protest, Direct Action and Community Politics. Peter Hain, Peter Hain. Radical Regeneration: Protest, Direct Action and Community Politics., Quartet Books, 1975.
Peter Hain. Outside In. Peter Hain, Outside In. , Biteback Publishing, 2012.
First Witness Statement of The Right Honourable Lord Peter Hain of Neath.First Witness Statement of Lord Peter Hain, given in the UCPI, Tranche 1, Phase 2, 3 Mar 2020.View Document
Report that Tariq Ali will be addressing Havering Young Liberals on 'Will Britain see a Revolution?', to be held at 1A Westland Avenue, Hornchurch on 21 May 1968
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Report that a member of the National Executive of Young Liberals is secretly working for International Socialists and trying to get YL to support the VSC ‘Autumn Offensive’ demo on Oct 27
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Telegram on meeting of the National Ad Hoc Committee of the VSC making plans for the Oct 27 Vietnam march, held at Conway Hall on 22 Oct 1968
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Report on meeting of Havering International Socialists reviewing the 27 Oct Vietnam War demo, held at Edwin Lambert Hall, Romford on 29 Oct 1968
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Report on meeting of Havering International Socialists having ‘post-mortem’ of Oct 27 Vietnam demo, hled at Edwin Lambert Hall, Romford on 29 Oct 1968
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Report on a private meeting of the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign discussing an upcoming NICRA demo of 22 June 1969, held at the Grafton Arms NW3 on 4 June 1969
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Report on a meeting of Putney Young Liberals which accepted a motion on a forthcoming environmental conference, held at the parental home of Peter Hain on 13 Jan 1972
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Special Branch letter to MI5 enclosing minutes of meeting of MI5, Commander Rodger, Dixon, Saunders, HN294 and DS Smith to discuss coverage and overlap, inc names of targeted groups and problem areas, held at New Scotland Yard on 13 Jan 1972
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Report on general meeting of Putney Young Liberals in which attendees elected members to executive posts inc HN298 as Membership Secretary, held at 90 Fawe Park Road SW15 on 20 Jan 1972
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Report on meeting of the West Cross Action Group (comprised of members of the Young Liberals), held at 90 Fawe Park Road SW15 on 11 June 1972
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Report on the West Cross Action Group demo from Shepherd's Bush roundabout along the proposed route of an urban motorway, 24 June 1972, inc leaflet with map
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Report on a meeting of the West Cross Action Group discussing leafleting of proposed motorway route, held at redacted’s home on 25 June 1972
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Report listing people elected to executive positions during the 1973 Young Liberals annual conference, held at Great Malvern, Worcs in April 73
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Report on a Council meeting of the Young Liberal Movement inc resolution on death of Kevin Gately, held in Birmingham on 22-23 June 1974
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Report on the possible use of stink bombs by members of the Anarchist Workers Association at a Young Liberals counter-demo against Royal Navy recruitment, to be held in Kingston on 20/21 Sept 1975
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Report listing participants (7 pages, almost entirely redacted) in a demo commemorating 10 years of British troops in Ireland organised by the National League of Young Liberals, held at Speakers Corner on 12 Aug 1979
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Report on 'Voices for Withdrawal Forum on Northern Ireland' held by Liberal Party's Committee for Withdrawal from Ireland, held at Conway Hall on 14 June 1980
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Detailed report on Anti-Nuclear Campaign's first AGM, held at Digbeth Civic Hall, Birmingham on 14-15 June 1980, inc leaflets (attached)
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