The Defense Regulation 18B and the Fifth Column

Published December 4, 1940

Defense regulation18B was implemented this past May to protect Britain from possible traitors and spies residing there. For those who are unfamiliar with this legislation, it is used to take a person into custody on grounds of association or participation with a threat to the state, without a trial. Only days after the Defense Regulation 18B was put in place, the British Union of Fascists was stripped of its influence because of a number of arrests. The party was put under close observation after it released an advertisement aimed at recruiting teachers. The stated purpose for this regulation was well intended, but eventually paranoid officials used the regulation as grounds to arrest people that should not have been detained. A schoolteacher this past June was taken into custody after discussing with her students the tragic potential of a Nazi world, one in which British families might even feed on household pets. A harsh reprimand seemed appropriate punishment, while imprisonment seemed unnecessarily harsh. In August it was determined that more than 1,600 people were being detained without trial under the Defense Regulation. The numbers swelled because of the Fifth Column, a system in which anyone associated with a group that was known to have aided enemies could be imprisoned. Although it could be argued that Britain had no moral right to arrest people according to their political beliefs, this was a measure of precaution that the Secretary of State thought would better protect Britain. The Nazis engendered a certain fear in the British government, like feeling there was a tick on your skin after someone else has found one. However, there should be a limit to the power government has with which to govern especially in trying times because otherwise anxiety can undermine the need for trust.