30 Years On: Poll Tax Riots Revisited

Please mention The Villager and Town Life when responding to adverts 22 Thirty years ago, in March 1990, the ‘poll tax riots’ marked the beginning of the end of Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as Prime Minister. The premise behind the ‘Community Charge’, otherwise known as poll tax, was that it was a flat fee regardless of income. Each person paid a fixed amount set by their local authority, with the idea being that it would replace previously used domestic rates which were levied according to a property’s value. However, this unfairly penalised those worse off in society and very obviously benefited wealthier property owners. The Community Charge was defended on the principle of marginality: that all voters should have to cover the costs of additional council spending, and that those who benefitted from this expenditure should also pay their fair contribution. Despite protest, some from MPs themselves, the poll tax was introduced in Scotland in 1989 and was announced to come into effect in England and Wales in April 1990. This was a deeply unpopular policy which resulted in riots and protests breaking out across the UK. The largest demonstration was attended by 200,000 people who came together on 31st March 1990 in central London. Although mainstream media and politicians condemned these activities, there was widespread support from the public for the protestors. Beginning in Kennington Park, thousands of people headed for Trafalgar Square where they were met with police who tried to prevent them from reaching Downing Street. Mounted riot police were also brought in to clear the protesters from Whitehall, resulting in the majority of the group becoming completely stationary around the area. According to reports, officers then advanced at the crowds at speed, moving protestors back into Trafalgar Square. Contradictory reports exist regarding the nature of the events during the afternoon; some claimed that the mounted police intentionally antagonised protestors and that police riot vans were driven into the crowd, which further escalated the riots. As a consequence, underground stations in the area were closed which also made it harder for people to disperse. The rioting left more than a hundred people hurt and resulted in more than four hundred being arrested. Damage to property was extensive throughout key areas of central London, including Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden. During the day, protestors had thrown debris at police, set fire to a builders’ cabin and climbed scaffolding. By night this had escalated to looting and setting of fires in cafes and wine bars in Covent Garden, with events continuing into the early hours of the next morning. The unpopularity of the Community Charge undoubtedly contributed to Margaret Thatcher’s downfall. When the tax was introduced, 17 million refused to pay. In opinion polls, 78% were opposed to it. For the first time, Thatcher’s popularity as Prime Minister was seriously questioned. As a consequence, Michael Heseltine, who had always been an outspoken critic of the poll tax, triggered a leadership contest in November 1990 from which John Major emerged the winner. Major appointed Heseltine as environment secretary, increased VAT to generate extra cash for councils, announced the abolition of the community charge and introduced its replacement – council tax – in March 1991. Poll Tax Protestors, Picture credit: James Bourne

Islands

1. Which group of 12 large islands and numerous small islands has a name that literally means “twelve islands”? 2. Who sings the first line of the 1983 hit single Islands In The Stream?... Kenny Rogers or Dolly Parton? 3. Which American state was named after the largest of the Channel Islands? 4. In the book Gulliver’s Travels, there are two islands in which the inhabitants are about onetwelfth of the height of a normal human. One of these is called Blefuscu. What is the other island called? 5. On each episode of the radio show Desert Island Discs, how many recordings is a guest allowed to choose when deciding what they would take if they were to be cast away on a desert island?

6. Found in a number of Indonesian islands, including the island it is named after, what is the world’s largest living species of lizard? 7. Behind Great Britain and Ireland, what is name of the third largest island in the British Isles? 8. True or False… the official International Bartenders Association recipe for a Long Island Iced Tea cocktail contains tea? 9. A villa on which island was used as the setting for the TV show Love Island when the show was revived in 2015? 10. What term, that was first created by Sir Thomas More to refer to a fictional island society off the coast of Australia, is now used as a general term for an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect?

1. The Dodecanese . Kenny Rogers 3. New Jersey 4. Lilliput 5. Eight 6. The Komodo dragon 7. Lewis and Harris 8. False 9. Majorca 10. Utopia

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