HN1742 Anthony Speed

Anthony 'Tony' Speed joined the Metropolitan Police in 1957. His written statement to the Inquiry on 10 August 2022 outlined that much of his career from 1970 to 1999 was spent in the Metropolitan Police's public order unit- 'A8'. Speed, as a public order officer, was involved in many significant public order incidents in London between the early 1970s and late 1990s. 

These included being involved in the 'Red Lion Square' Inquiry (1974) Red Lion Square & the Killing of Kevin Gately In 1974, anti-fascist protesters, including members of the International Marxist Group and the Communist Party of England (M-L), mobilised to challenge a National Front march through central London that demanded compulsory repatriation of migrants, that was due to end at Conway Hall in Red Lion Square, Holborn. When police tried to prevent counter-protesters reaching Conway Hall, there were clashes and mathematics student Kevin Gately died. The 1975 public inquiry chaired by Lord Scarman criticised policing on the day but found ‘no evidence that [Gately] was struck any blow by any policeman or injured in any way by a police horse’. , the Battle of Lewisham (1977) The Battle of Lewisham 'The Battle of Lewisham' refers to the anti-fascist mobilisation against the fascist National Front's (NF) march through the ethically diverse and working-class area of Lewisham on 13 August 1977. Some 4000 people were involved in resistance to the NF and the Metropolitan Police's attempt to force the march through. A number of SDS officers attended the march and meetings prior to it. Full page: The Battle of Lewisham , 'The Battle of Southall The Battle of Southall (part one): Background On 23 April 1979, a National Front election meeting was held at Southall Town Hall in west London. Southall was, and still is, known for having a relatively large number of migrants, particularly from India. The meeting was intended to be - and was seen as a provocation. There were large counter-demonstrations on the day, but aggressive police tactics resulted in 345 arrests. Blair Peach was attacked by members of the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group and died as a result of head injuries from baton blows. His partner, Celia Stubbs, was key to the justice campaign that continued for decades afterwards, the Friends of Blair Peach, which was spied upon by the SDS. Full page: The Battle of Southall (part one): Background  and the Brixton Riots' (1981) and as Assistant Commissioner at the protest against the Criminal Justice Bill (1994), labelled the 'Park Lane riot'. 

Speed said he was not aware of the existence of the SDS in his written evidence, though he gave an account of how the Special Branch provided information to A8. Speed retired in 1999 at the rank of Assistant Commissioner. First Witness Statement of Anthony Speed, given in the UCPI, Tranche 1, Phase 3, 20 Feb 2023.View Document