WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:03.359 At the end of the nineteen eighties, after having largely 2 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:07.480 defeated the working class movement in Britain, Margaret Thatcher's Conservative 3 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:10.279 government planned to crown their victory with a new way 4 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:13.800 of charging people for local government services, which became known 5 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:17.359 as the poll Tax. Instead, they found themselves faced with 6 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:21.199 perhaps the biggest mass movement in British history, with millions 7 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:25.280 of people refusing to pay, the courts, full local councils, 8 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:30.640 overwhelmed and disruptive street protests across the country. First, Thatcher 9 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:35.000 herself was brought down and the tax soon followed. This 10 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:36.640 is working class. 11 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:51.200 History Alamatina A penal sat or the larger bell larger 12 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:59.119 their larger chichi Alamatina. 13 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:01.320 Before we get to start, we just wanted to remind 14 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:03.560 you that our podcast is brought to you by our 15 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:07.640 patron supporters. Our supporters fund our work and in return 16 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:11.079 they get exclusive early access to podcast episodes without ads, 17 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:14.640 a bonus episodes every month, as well as free discounted 18 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:18.319 merch and other content. So our supporters can listen to 19 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:21.120 both parts of this double episode now, as well as 20 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:25.480 an exclusive bonus episode with more information and context. So 21 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:28.519 if you can, please join us and help us preserve 22 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:32.239 and promote our history of collective struggle. Sign up and 23 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:36.120 listen today at patreon dot com slash working class history 24 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:41.319 link in the show notes. For many workers, activists and radicals, 25 00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:44.400 the nineteen eighties in Britain were a deeply depressing time. 26 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:48.040 The wave of workers militancy, which grew through the nineteen 27 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:51.719 sixties and seventies and was boosted by struggles of working 28 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:56.200 class women, LGBT plus people, Black Asian and other people 29 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:58.760 of color, had come to a crashing hall against the 30 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:02.879 neoliberal counter effect of Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative government. 31 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:07.879 Years of rising wages and living standards won by workers 32 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:11.280 organizing and taking action on the job started to be 33 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:17.319 replaced by widespread layoffs, deteriorating conditions, and mass unemployment. This 34 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:20.680 reserve army of unemployed workers was then a powerful weapon 35 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:23.879 to be wielded against anyone still in employment who wanted 36 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:26.560 to fight things like pay cups, because they could just 37 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:29.199 be fired and replaced by one of the many unemployed. 38 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:33.639 One of these unemployed workers with Dave morris So. 39 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:37.199 In the nineteen seventies, I was a postman postal worker 40 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:39.319 in Islington, North London. 41 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:42.039 In the nineteen eighties, I was unemployed. 42 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:46.520 Most significantly, I think I was helping to build a 43 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:52.199 claimants union was the Union of Unwaged Unemployed People in Tottenham, 44 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:55.879 where I lived in North London, which was very active 45 00:02:56.039 --> 00:03:00.360 throughout the nineteen eighties and it helped people with you know, 46 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:02.919 their claims for benefits. 47 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:05.159 We fought for people's housing. 48 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:09.159 We were a social network as well, and I think 49 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:11.000 in some ways that was a good lead up to 50 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:12.520 the introduction of the bull tax. 51 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:15.120 Wondering if he wanted to spend the rest of his 52 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:18.159 life working at the raw Male, like many postal workers 53 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:20.680 ended up doing, Dave fancied a bit of a break, 54 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:23.639 so he decided to quit to take some time off, 55 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:26.919 during which he traveled abroad and mingled with activists in 56 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:30.479 places like Amsterdam, Berlin and Poland. He then got to 57 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:32.840 thinking about how to apply the lessons he learned from 58 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:34.080 them back in the UK. 59 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:39.240 So the nineteen eighties was a very significant decade in 60 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:43.599 British history. Up to the end of the seventies, there 61 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:46.800 was a kind of post World War Two consensus that 62 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:50.719 the ruling class in Britain was quite shocked about what 63 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:53.919 had happened during the Second World War. The rise of fascism, 64 00:03:54.360 --> 00:03:58.400 the rise of communism, communist governments as well, and after 65 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:01.080 the war, I think there was a general census amongst 66 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:08.719 all key political parties that the welfare states, stability, increasing 67 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:12.599 kind of material possessions was the way to kind of 68 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:15.000 keep people happy, to keep people quiet. 69 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:18.959 What Dave's describing here is sometimes known as the post 70 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:23.399 war consensus, whereby following the devastation reaped by the war, 71 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:28.240 powerful working class movements pressured governments into offering huge concessions. 72 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.120 This resulted in the development of modern welfare states across 73 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:35.600 much of the developed world, with things like unemployment benefits, 74 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:39.759 public housing, universal healthcare, old age pensions, workers' rights and 75 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:43.920 so on. These movements would grow over the coming decades. 76 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:47.800 But in the sixties there was a growth in new 77 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:51.600 movements that were looking far beyond that. They wanted to 78 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:55.279 be free, they wanted to protect the environment, they wanted, 79 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:58.800 you know, to have control over their lives, and that 80 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:01.560 code on. Throughout the ninet in seventies, there were the 81 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:05.879 labor movement was strong and growing. There were major strikes 82 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:10.319 in the nineteen seventies. There was a growth of movement 83 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:15.720 to end homelessness by occupying empty houses, and it looked 84 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:18.959 as far as like the ruling elite were concerned, it 85 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:22.480 looked like the post war consensus wasn't doing enough to 86 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:26.279 kind of gig people in their place. And Margaret Thatcher, 87 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:29.600 who is a name you don't say in public in 88 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:35.040 this country except special circumstances, was elected as Prime Minister 89 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:40.319 in nineteen seventy nine. And basically the Conservative Party had 90 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:44.040 planned for years to get back in power and to 91 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:48.079 start cracking down, which they did on the trade unions. 92 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.560 They brought in new laws against the protests. They started 93 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:59.040 privatizing the previously nationalized industries, the gas and electric, postal service, 94 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:05.920 the coal industry, and basically rolling back the gains that 95 00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:09.480 working class people had made since the Second World War. 96 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:12.759 So that was the kind of political backdrop. 97 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:16.199 The other thing that the Conservatives were very keen to 98 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:21.279 do was to ensure massive unemployment. Throughout the nineteen eighties. 99 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:24.480 I think we had something like three million people unemployed. 100 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:28.199 The claimants union movement had been built over the last 101 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:31.720 fifteen twenty years, and we were fighting for more rights 102 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:36.199 for claimants, for benefits and so on. The government was 103 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:39.000 kind of cracking down all round, and they would begin 104 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:42.680 to sell off council houses, social housing and so on, 105 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:45.680 so that was the kind of political backdrop. There'd been 106 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:49.920 some major defeats in the nineteen eighties. First there was 107 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:53.759 the year long minor strike, which was a colossal struggle 108 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:55.720 the government treated as a war. 109 00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:59.439 The minor strike was a pivotal moment in the history 110 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:02.160 of the worker movement in Britain. We've got a whole 111 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:04.439 series of episodes about it which you can check out 112 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:06.560 to learn more, and we've got a mini series with 113 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:08.240 striking miners coming soon. 114 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:13.079 They basically declared war on mining communities and were determined 115 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:16.680 to close down the mining industry if they couldn't control it, 116 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:20.920 close it down in this country. That was inspiring and 117 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:26.040 heroic struggle, but unfortunately it was unsuccessful, which was followed 118 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:28.560 by some other major strikes which were all lost. 119 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:32.399 Another key dispute here was the year long struggle of 120 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:36.600 print workers at Whopping, East London against Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. 121 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.920 This ended with the effective destruction of the powerful organization 122 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:43.160 of newspaper print workers in the UK. 123 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:49.000 And there were other conflicts and disputes and campaigns that 124 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:53.639 struggled to make Eddie headway against the government. So that 125 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:57.000 was again and the other backdropped to when the government 126 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.160 brought in the poll tax. They didn't call it the 127 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:02.879 poll tax, they called it the community charge. Made it 128 00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:06.160 sound like something really fluffy that nobody could object to, 129 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:11.120 and it was really It wasn't just an unfair tax 130 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:17.879 because previously local government was financed by households. What each 131 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:24.560 household paid depending on the value of their home notional 132 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:26.199 value or actual value. 133 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:29.680 But instead of a tax based on home values, the 134 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:33.080 new tax would be a flat rate paid per adult person. 135 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.919 So for example, the Duke of Westminster, one of the 136 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:40.000 richest people in the country, used to pay over ten 137 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:43.320 thousand pounds a year on his old estate, but with 138 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:45.759 the poll tax, he would only have to pay four 139 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:48.519 hundred and seventeen pounds. 140 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:52.480 And people that were working or living on his estate, 141 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:57.200 like his butler and his chef and whatever cleaners, who 142 00:08:57.240 --> 00:08:59.840 weren't paying previously, was suddenly having to pay the same. 143 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:04.879 Now for most people, this just seems blatantly unfair. However, 144 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.320 this points to the drastic extent to which the Tories 145 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:12.960 wanted to remake the UK. Their Environment Secretary Nicholas Ridley 146 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:16.960 said the following quote, why should a Duke pay more 147 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:20.440 than a dustman. It's only because we have been subjected 148 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:23.799 to socialist ideas for the last fifty years that people 149 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:27.559 think this is fair end quote. And while up until 150 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:30.759 this point the Tories had largely been successful in making 151 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:33.799 the changes they wanted to in the UK, this was 152 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.399 the crucial juncture in terms of how far they'd be 153 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:39.440 able to push and would they be able to reshape 154 00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:43.080 the very concept of fairness, which is often thought about 155 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:45.919 as a central feature of British national identity. 156 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:50.879 So it was a colossally unfair tex but it was 157 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:56.360 also an instrument of social control because then everybody, every 158 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.559 adult would have to register and be. 159 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:02.080 Followed around wherever they live and be. 160 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:06.159 In some kind of regime where they could be forced 161 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:07.200 to pay this tax. 162 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:10.600 The poll tax register was also going to be compiled 163 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:13.759 from the electoral register, so the tax was also a 164 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:17.840 pretty obvious vote grab by the Conservatives. The people least 165 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:20.000 likely to be able to pay the tax for the poorest, 166 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:22.960 who were much more likely to vote labor, and so 167 00:10:23.240 --> 00:10:25.519 if people tried to avoid the tax by dropping off 168 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:28.799 the electoral role, then that would also mean potential labor 169 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:30.000 votes disappearing. 170 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:31.840 So the Tory. 171 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:37.759 Government hoped that most local authorities were Labor Party run 172 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:41.039 and they hoped that the local authorities who had to 173 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:44.360 implement the tax would get all the grief from the 174 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:49.720 public because inevitably the community charge would be higher in 175 00:10:49.799 --> 00:10:52.559 those areas which had to raise more money for their 176 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:57.159 local services, which were basically working class areas rather. 177 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:58.799 Than leafy rural areas. 178 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:04.000 So it was a political gambol which because they had 179 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:08.240 won so many battles the Conservative Party, the Tory government, 180 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:10.120 they thought they could pull this off. 181 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.679 The tax was the brainchild of the right wing think tank, 182 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:17.240 the Adam Smith Institute, which is a little ironic because 183 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:22.559 Adam Smith himself rejected pole taxes. But the Conservatives felt 184 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:24.679 so invincible that they were going to try to do 185 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:28.440 something which no British government had attempted in centuries. 186 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:34.440 People were aware that the last time the British governor 187 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:37.879 the English government had tried to introduce a poll tax, 188 00:11:38.519 --> 00:11:42.480 which was called poll tax, was thirteen eighty one. It 189 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:48.879 lives in the collective unconscious of this country, inspiring what 190 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:53.000 was called the Peasants Revolts. There was a mass uprising 191 00:11:53.159 --> 00:11:57.039 against what was dubbed the poll tax in thirteen eighty one, 192 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:01.480 which ultimately resulted in that pul tax being scrapped. 193 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:04.919 A long story which I won't go into, but it went. 194 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:09.519 Down history and no government since for the previous six 195 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:15.600 hundred years had introduced this tax on existence, not tax 196 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:19.720 on households or homes for raising money for local services, 197 00:12:19.799 --> 00:12:22.720 guide to local services. So a lot of people were saying, 198 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.399 wait a minute, that's the pull tax. Why they called 199 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:30.399 it community charge? So everybody started calling it the poll tax. 200 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.000 The government said no, this community charge lot of pul tax. 201 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:35.879 Only one other country in the world about time had 202 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:39.080 a poll tax, Papa New Guinea, but it was already 203 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:42.039 in the process of abolishing it in the UK though, 204 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:46.000 rather than introduced to tax nationwide, the government planned to 205 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:50.080 introduce it first just in Scotland in April nineteen eighty nine, 206 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:53.759 then introduced it to England and Wales a year later. 207 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:57.679 So at the time this was about nineteen eighty seven, 208 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:00.960 I was involved with the Claimants Union movement and we 209 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:02.960 had a Federation of Claimants Union. 210 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:07.799 Claimants unions were self organized groups of claimants of state benefits, 211 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.879 things like unemployment also known as the doll, as well 212 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:16.120 as old age pensions, disability benefits and so on. Members 213 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:19.399 of claimants unions would support each other with claims issues, 214 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:23.679 with nonpayment, withdraws of benefits and so on, sometimes using 215 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:27.720 direct action like building occupations. They would also take on 216 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:31.799 other activities like putting on social events and supporting striking 217 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:35.519 workers on picket lines and providing them with advice on benefits. 218 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:38.879 There was about one hundred and fifty local claimants unions 219 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.879 all over the UK and we used to have national 220 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:45.200 meetings and holidays and all kinds of stuff that we 221 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:50.320 organized for claimants conferences. And we had quite good relations 222 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:54.600 in the Tottenham Claimants Union with a similar claimants union 223 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:59.480 in Edinburgh, and I remember I think it must have 224 00:13:59.559 --> 00:14:03.799 been an national conference in London of the claimants union movement, 225 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:07.879 the Federation of Claimants Unions. A guy from the Edinburgh 226 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:11.919 Claimants Union was telling me about the struggle in Scotland 227 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:13.639 against the pul tax and. 228 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:16.279 I remember saying to him, you know, I remember these 229 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:16.879 very words. 230 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:21.279 Didn't we beat that in thirteen eighty one and so 231 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:24.600 we had four warning in England and Wales, but there 232 00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:29.919 was growing resistance in Scotland throughout the first year. The 233 00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:34.159 first year in Scotland was all about the government bringing 234 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:39.120 in the registration system. So the first year of its implementation, 235 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:42.440 if you like, was registering everybody. The next year would 236 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:46.720 be setting the rates, each local council setting the rates 237 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:50.159 that everybody was expected to pay, and then the third 238 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:54.159 year would be actually trying to enforce the payment. So 239 00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:58.720 in Scotland, really they pioneered, you know, all the kind 240 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:02.120 of key elements of the resistance. And this guy I 241 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:05.799 knew from Edinburgh Claimants Union said that they'd set up 242 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:09.919 this network called Community Resistance against the poll Tax and 243 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:14.039 they were encouraging the setting up of groups in local neighborhoods, 244 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:18.480 on housing estates in different towns and villages around Scotland. 245 00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:21.519 Now, at the beginning, they'd. 246 00:15:21.240 --> 00:15:25.080 Already had this experience of Claimants Unions, which were autonomous 247 00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:30.480 local groups, you know, of peoples supporting each other, promoting 248 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:33.519 solidarity of mutual aid. So there was a sort of 249 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:37.840 quite a kind of natural progression there. But there were other, 250 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:44.039 if you like, powerful tendencies political tendencies also opposed the 251 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:48.080 poll tax, mainly because they opposed the government, but they 252 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:51.840 weren't necessarily encouraging the kind of movement that would go 253 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:55.960 on to have the success it did, so the Labor 254 00:15:56.039 --> 00:15:59.120 Party they wanted the poll tax to be scrapped. 255 00:15:59.159 --> 00:16:00.799 They didn't want people not to pay it. 256 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:05.159 They just wanted people to go upside petitions and basically 257 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:08.759 wait until the next elections and vote for them. And 258 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:12.080 they wanted the pulp tax actually to still be functioning 259 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:14.840 so that the government if it all started falling apart 260 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:19.679 or was colossally unpopular, the Tory government would. 261 00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:20.080 Get the blame. 262 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:23.639 In nineteen eighty seven, a local anti pol tax union 263 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:27.600 was formed in the Maryhill area of Glasgow. It started 264 00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:30.480 going door to door recruiting people to begin a non 265 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:35.200 payment campaign and signing up members. By January nineteen eighty eight, 266 00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:38.519 two thousand people had joined the group and pledged to 267 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:42.559 refuse to pay. Meanwhile, as well as Labor, other major 268 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:45.639 parties in Scotland also weren't fans of a mass non 269 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:46.600 payment campaign. 270 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:51.840 The SNP, the Scottish Nationalist Party that was campaigning for 271 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:53.320 independence for Scotland. 272 00:16:53.879 --> 00:16:56.159 They took a similar position, but. 273 00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:02.200 They had a more nuanced strategy of encouraging celebrities and 274 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:05.880 people that could pay not to pay as a matter 275 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:10.000 of protests, but not encouraging people on mass not to 276 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:13.079 pay it, because if they wanted to get into government, 277 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:16.799 they of course would be relying on people to obey 278 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:20.359 the law, pay their local taxes and whatever. So at 279 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:22.839 the beginning there was a kind of you know, how 280 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:24.440 is his tax going to be beaten? 281 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:28.079 The SMP made a call for one hundred thousand Scottish 282 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:30.799 people who could afford to pay the tax to pledge 283 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.839 not to pay, in a move that they said would 284 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:36.839 be enough to force the Tories to back down, which 285 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:40.160 of course it wasn't. In the latter part of nineteen 286 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:43.880 eighty seven, other local anti poll tax groups started springing 287 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:48.400 up across Scotland, often started by groups of grassroots activists, 288 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:53.400 revolutionary socialists or anarchists, and these were organizing for direct 289 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:55.559 action in resistance to the tax. 290 00:17:56.279 --> 00:18:01.000 And gradually the whole non payment camp. Well. 291 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:05.720 First of all, non registration, refusing the register, refusing to 292 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:10.839 pay became absolutely the only way the tax was actually 293 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:15.079 effectively opposed, and all the others just basically faded into 294 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:15.839 the background. 295 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:19.400 So, following the pattern of resistance to the tax which 296 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.839 began in Scotland, Dave and others in England and Wales 297 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:24.119 started following suit. 298 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:26.839 So we were one of the first groups in England 299 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:30.599 and Wales the Tottenham against the Pole Tax, and really 300 00:18:30.759 --> 00:18:33.920 it came out of the initiative of the Totten Playment 301 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.319 Studio and we said, oh, we need a big, broad 302 00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:41.319 based campaign committed to non payment, committed to mutual aid, solidarity, 303 00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:45.519 protest and look what they've done in Scotland where the 304 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:50.680 movement was becoming very successful. So gradually lots of local 305 00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:55.720 groups started springing up all over London, all over England 306 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:59.160 and Wales. And once we set up top of against 307 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:01.759 the Poulter, I think we started not so much with 308 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:04.240 a big public meeting, but we called a meeting as 309 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:07.559 I think fifty people attended and it was up and running. 310 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:11.160 The idea was to create a mass campaign, so we 311 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:16.480 started having stalls in the high road every week and 312 00:19:16.519 --> 00:19:18.799 then other groups got set up in my borough, which 313 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:19.759 is called Harringay. 314 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:22.359 To give you a bit of an idea, London is 315 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:24.920 made up of thirty two boroughs, most of which have 316 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.400 a population of around a quarter of a million people. 317 00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:31.960 So there were four key groups in my borough, Hornseanwood, 318 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:35.880 Green against the Pole Tax, Crowdchen against the Pole Tax 319 00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:39.839 and Green Lanes against the Pole Tax. And then some 320 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:43.319 of those groups, well all of those groups started setting 321 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:48.279 up Ward based groups. Wards are more localized kind of 322 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:53.200 if you like, political geographic areas, about twenty in Harringay, 323 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:56.039 so we tried to get Ward based groups set up. 324 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.480 This was replicated all over the country. 325 00:19:58.519 --> 00:20:05.559 The idea was to call for non registration, nonpayment, generate 326 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.319 massive amounts of publicity. 327 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:11.519 This was called before the internet, you know. 328 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:15.720 And in Haringey we particularly were obsessive about leaf fitting 329 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:20.480 door to door, so we leafitted all homes in the borough, 330 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:25.720 which is about one hundred thousand homes, four times during 331 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:28.440 a two or three year period of the campaign. 332 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:30.519 And what we did is. 333 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:33.079 That we we did a you know, a kind of advice, 334 00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:35.920 you know, how to disrupt the poll tax, how to 335 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:39.680 support each other, build a movement, how you can get involved. 336 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:44.359 It was all about empowerment and collective action on one 337 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:46.519 side and on the other side. It was a poster, 338 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:52.079 a four sized poster saying pay no poll tax and 339 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:56.359 with the contact details of what became Harrygate Anti Poll 340 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:00.240 Tax Union, which was the kind of federation with did 341 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:03.920 her again and it did say, you know, put this 342 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.759 in your window. By that time, the poll tax was 343 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:10.160 already becoming notorious. People knew they wouldn't be able to 344 00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:14.160 afford to pay it. They knew it was a Tory 345 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:19.759 con Conservative Party Thatcher con, So this poster was really popular. 346 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:24.319 Hundreds and hundreds of boasters went up in people's windows 347 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:26.640 overlooking local streets. 348 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.640 We'll be right back after these messages. If you want 349 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:33.240 to listen to our podcast with our ads, join us 350 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:35.799 on Patreon, where you can listen to both parts of 351 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:39.400 this double episode now, as well as an additional bonus episode. 352 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:42.599 Support from our listeners on Patreon is the only way 353 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:44.880 we're able to devote the time and money it takes 354 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:48.079 to make this podcast. Learn more and join us at 355 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:52.000 patreon dot com slash working Class history link in the 356 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:56.920 show notes. After preparing the groundwork, Dave and other organizers 357 00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:00.759 eventually arranged for a mass meeting open to the publick. 358 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:06.240 Our first big public meeting for the whole borough Harngay. 359 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:09.880 We bought the town hall in part of the borough. 360 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:14.519 A thousand people attended the public meeting. Now, the left 361 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:17.319 wing groups are really really keen on who were the speakers, 362 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:22.279 but the kind of grassroots activists we thought, how can 363 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:25.720 we use this public meeting to build the movement, so 364 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:29.519 who cares about the speakers that much. What we decided 365 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:33.119 was we would sign people up at that meeting to 366 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:37.519 become street reps, so they would represent their streets. 367 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:40.559 They would be the lead person, the condum it for the. 368 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:46.000 Campaign representatives for the campaign for their street or their 369 00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:48.920 block of flats or whatever. And we managed to sign 370 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:52.960 up five hundred street reps at that one event, so 371 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:59.160 then we had the infrastructure for a total borough wide 372 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:05.200 presence and coordination for what needed to be a mass movement. 373 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:09.079 We weren't under any illusions that the authorities would come 374 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:13.039 down hard when push come to shove in trying to 375 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:14.680 enforce this tax. 376 00:23:15.319 --> 00:23:17.400 There were street stoors all over the borough. 377 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:21.319 With this base level of organization in place, local communities 378 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:25.079 began to resist the first phase of the tax registration, 379 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:28.440 where local councils would try to get details for every 380 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:32.400 adult resident in each borough to bill. It's worth remembering 381 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:35.519 that this hadn't been the case before this point because 382 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:38.759 the previous local taxes were based on households, and so 383 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:42.119 the council building departments might only have contact details for 384 00:23:42.200 --> 00:23:43.759 one person in each household. 385 00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:48.119 We had process, so that was the phase when it 386 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:53.400 was the registration, we had burning of registration forms. People 387 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:56.079 would come to events and we'd have a brazier and 388 00:23:56.119 --> 00:23:59.079 people would be chucking their forms onto. 389 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:02.759 The Fireation resistance turned out to be pretty effective at 390 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:06.440 causing problems for councils finding out who needed to pay 391 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:09.880 the tax, in which local authority was extremely challenging in 392 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:14.480 any case, so in inner London boroughs fifty five percent 393 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:17.839 of the population changed address in a single year. Even 394 00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:20.799 in rural councils over a third of people changed a dress. 395 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:25.480 Some council registration officers experienced harassment and violent threats from 396 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:28.599 local residents as they went around trying to register people. 397 00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:32.720 Some quit their jobs, and one, Fred Truman in Bristol, 398 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:36.839 even died by suicide. In the end, around a million 399 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:39.920 people disappeared off the electoral role over the period of 400 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:43.400 registration for the poll tax, and even the national census 401 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:47.000