Gerry Gable

Background

In 1962, after 10 years' membership, he left the Communist Party to "concentrate on anti-fascist work and because the party had begun to adopt an anti-Israel line". He was involved in the formation of the miltant anti-fascist organisation, the 62 Group.

In November 1963, Gable was arrested and held at Hornsey police station following an attempt to enter the Mayfair flat of far right activist David Irving. On January 14 1964, he admitted burglary with intent to steal private papers, for which he was fined £28. At his trial, counsel for the defence told the court, "they hoped to find material they could take to Special Branch".

Gable was involved in the formation of the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight in the mid-1960s, along with Reg Freeson, Joan Lestor, Maurice Ludmer and others. Gable and Ludmer remained active in Searchlight Associates and re-launched the magazine in 1975.

BBC libel litigation

The claims by Gable that two Conservative party figures, Neil Hamilton and Gerald Howarth, were secret extremist Nazi supporters was met with libel action against the BBC. The programme had alleged (not admitted as evidence in court) that Hamilton gave a Nazi salute in Berlin while 'messing around' on a Parliamentary visit in August 1983.

The BBC capitulated on 21 October and paid the pair's legal costs from the publicly funded license fee. Hamilton and Howarth were awarded £20,000 each and in the next edition of Panorama on 27 October, the BBC made an unreserved apology to both. The total cost of the trial, including the remedy awarded to the claimants, reached £1 million.

Searchlight magazine

References

External links

Category:Living people Category:1937 births Category:British communists Category:British criminals Category:Communist Party of Great Britain members