On the first day of Parliament in August 1945, with a newly appointed Labour Government on the Front Bench, a Miner Member of Parliament rose and began to sing "The Red Flag"; all the Labour Party MPs, the three ILPers and Willie Gallacher and I rose and joined in, to the consternation of Churchill and the Tories around him. [Preface to the 1978 edition]

In Stepney there were very few who were not aware of the role the police were playing in protecting the fascists who were attempting to terrorise the district. [...] The people of Stepney learnt that if "law and order" were to be maintained they would have to do it themselves, for the police were acting as their enemies. We kept law and order.