On 23rd July 1866 the ‘Reform League’ attempted to meet in Hyde Park to demand the extension of the franchise. The Government declared the meeting illegal, closed the park and placed over 1000 police officers at the Marble Arch entrance in an attempt to stop the meeting. The police failed to stop them, the protestors entered the park, and three days of ‘skirmishes’ followed. That … Continue reading The Speakers Corner terror attack – was a knife in British democracy