Assessment for Learning made simple

Source C: Herbert Morrison, member of the Independent Labour Party

I remember an open-air I.L.P. meeting I addressed one Sunday morning. I had told the audience that the involvement of Britain in the First World War was wrong. I spoke amid a great deal of angry heckling. Ultimately I was dragged off the platform and taken by force to the nearby pond. There was some dispute at the edge of the pond, when the police intervened, and although my pince-nez glasses were flung into the water, I was not. This was a common experience among the anti-war speakers, except that some of them did get a ducking.Source D: Phil Ramsell, Poll Tax prisoner. He was sentenced to 28 days imprisonment for not paying his Poll Tax.Other prisoners were quite supportive — though they found it strange that someone had been sent down for a political campaign.

I got tons of mail and support. The coppers who were guarding the cells were amazed at the amount of mail they had to deliver.

I never paid the poll tax. It was not a pleasant experience, but I don’t have any regrets.

How far do sources C and D differ in their opinion of protesters?

Source C was written by a CO during WWI who reflects about his experience during a I.L.P meeting. Morrison explains that his anti-war message received angry heckling and ultimately he was dragged off the podium, this was because the public during WWI was very hostile towards COs. Most significantly, Morris was a socialist and thought that the war was fought by the poor for the rich. By contrast, Source D which was written by a poll tax demonstrator in prison, states that both inmates as well as the police seemed to support him indirectly with positive comments. The poll tax was widely disliked and seen as an unfair taxation as both rich and poor had to pay the same amount, so the fact that inmates and prison wardens were sympathetic towards Ramsell helps to explain this fact. By comparison, Source C’s explanation of public anger reflected the attitude by the vast majority of people during WWI, particularly after the Battle of the Somme, because they felt that everyone ought to do their duty.