Ard, up to 69 the Brit government may have known what went on under Stourment, but most of us did not.
I recall us folkies singimg the songs of the US Civil Rights movement to show our solidarity, and being shocked and outraged when a Civil Rights movement with legitimate grievances emerged in a part of UK.
We will never know, and I know I am an outsider, but I am sure the discrimination that went on would not have been tolerated. I suspect that without the armed struggle, the Civil Rights movement would have shamed us into the settlement we are seeking now, years ago.
Keith.