The Poll Tax Riots, as they became known, were major acts of civil disobedience carried out in London. They were in protest against the poll tax introduced by Margaret Thatcher and her government. Anti-war activist Midge Potts is arrested for civil disobedience on the steps of the Supreme Court of the United States on February 9, 2005. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... A poll tax, head tax, or capitation is a tax of a uniform, fixed amount per individual (as opposed to a percentage of income). ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ...

The most prominent riot arose from a demonstration which started around 11am, 31 March 1990. The rioting and looting finally ended at around 3am the next morning. This riot is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Trafalgar, particularly by those opposed to the poll tax, because the main rioting took place in Trafalgar Square. March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... Trafalgar Square viewed from the northeast corner. ...

Preparations

In November 1989 the All Britain Anti Poll-Tax Federation (ABF) was set up as a co-ordinating forum for Anti-Poll Tax Unions that was supported by the overwhelming majority of anti- poll tax unions. The ABF executive committee called a demonstration in London for March 31, 1990 (the day of Poll Tax implementation in England and Wales, it having already been introduced in Scotland) the anti-poll tax unions had been active for a year campaigning against the poll tax. In particular, and as a result of the lessons learnt in Scotland by Scottish Militants, the campaign concentrated on a mass campaign of non-payment. March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots3 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  -  First Minister Jack McConnell... Scottish Militant Labour (SML) was a minor political party operating in Scotland in the 1990s. ...

Three days before the event the ABF executive realised that the march would be even larger than the 60,000 capacity of Trafalgar Square. Executive officers of the ABF requested permission from the Metropolitan Police and the Department of the Environment to divert the march from Trafalgar Square to Hyde Park. This request was denied, mainly because the police were following misleading intelligence from their Special Branch moles inside Militant Tendency.^{[citation needed]} Trafalgar Square viewed from the northeast corner. ... The Serpentine, viewed from the eastern end Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London and one of the Royal Parks of London. ... Special Branch is the arm of the British, Irish and many Commonwealth police forces that deals with national security matters. ...

In the days before the demonstration two symbolic "feeder" marches had followed the routes of the two mob armies of the Peasants Revolt of 1381. These arrived in South London at Kennington Park on March 31. See Peasants War for the German Peasants Revolt of 1524-1526 See also: 1907 Romanian Peasants Revolt The Peasants Revolt or Great Rising was a popular revolt in late medieval Europe in 1381 and is a major event in the history of England. ... Events June 12 - Peasants Revolt: In England rebels arrive at Blackheath. ... South London area South London (known colloquially as South of the River) is the area of London south of the River Thames. ... Kennington Park is in Kennington, London, England, in London SE11, and lies between Kennington Park Road and St Agnes Place. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ...

The day itself

On March 31, 1990, people began gathering in Kennington Park, south of the River Thames, from 12pm to 1.30pm. Turnout was encouraged by the fine spring weather, and it soon became apparent that between 180,000 and 250,000 people were gathering. The official police report, issued a year after the riot, suggested that numbers were close to 200,000. A contributory factor to the size of the demonstration may also have been decision by the Labour Party to abandon plans to stage their own rally on the same day. March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... The Thames (pronounced //) is a river flowing through southern England, and one of the major waterways in England. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in England, Scotland and Wales. ...

The march set off from Kennington Park at 1.30pm, and began moving faster than planned because some anarchists had forced open the main gates of the park, so people were not forced through the smaller side-gates. This meant that the march spilled over onto both sides of the road, and despite police and stewarding efforts, stayed that way for much of the route. Anarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. ...

By 2.30pm Trafalgar Square, destination of the march and site of a planned rally, was nearing its capacity.

Unable to continue moving easily into Trafalgar Square, at about 3.00pm the huge march slowed down and eventually stopped in Whitehall. The police, feeling challenged and worried about a surge towards the newly installed security gates of Downing Street, blocked off the top and bottom of Whitehall. The section of the march which stopped opposite the Downing Street entrance happened to contain a large proportion of veteran anarchists and a group called Bikers Against The Poll Tax, all of whom became annoyed by several heavy-handed arrests, including one of a man in a wheelchair. Whitehall, London, looking south towards the Houses of Parliament. ... Downing Street For a wider coverage of London, visit the London Portal. ...

Meanwhile, the tail-end of the march had been diverted at the Parliament Square end of Whitehall. Again, quite by chance, a large Class War banner (and the anarchists it had attracted) was at the head of this diverted and unpoliced march. They led the march up the Embankment for a few hundred yards, then turned off up Richmond Terrace, bringing the diverted march out into Whitehall, directly opposite the entrance of Downing Street. This article is about the organisation and newspaper Class War. ... Embankment can be: An artificial slope which can be made out of earth, stones or bricks, or a combination of these. ...

Mounted riot police were brought up, and from about 3.30pm police tried to clear people out of Whitehall, despite both retreat and advance being blocked by further lines of police. Fighting and scuffles broke out and the Whitehall section of the march eventually fought its way out into Trafalgar Square.

From around 4.00pm, with the rally nearly officially over, published reports of events become confused and contradictory. It seems that the mounted riot police (those who had earlier attempted to clear Whitehall) charged out of a side street straight into the packed crowds in Trafalgar Square. Whether intentional or not, this was interpreted by many in the crowd as an unwarranted provocation, further fueling anger among crowds in the Square. At about 4.30pm, four shielded police riot vans drove directly into the crowd (a recognised police tactic in dealing with mass demonstrations, at the time) outside the South African Consulate, apparently attempting to force their way through to the entrance to Whitehall where police were re-grouping. The crowd vigorously attacked the vans with wooden staves, scaffolding poles, and other items to hand, all in an attempt to slow down the vans. The rioting escalated.

By about 4.30pm police had closed all the main Underground stations in the area and sealed the southern exits of Trafalgar Square, thus making it very difficult for people to disperse. Coaches had been parked south of the river, so many people's instincts was to try to move south. At this point, Militant ABF stewards were withdrawn on police orders. Sections of the crowd, apparently unemployed coal miners, climbed scaffolding and rained debris on the police below. Then, at about 5.00pm builders' portakabins below the scaffolding caught fire, followed by a room in the South African Embassy on the other side of the Square. The resulting smoke from the two fires caused near darkness in the Square and there followed a twenty minute lull in the rioting. The London Underground is an electric railway system that covers much of Greater London and some neighbouring areas. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the mining of coal. ...

Between 6pm and 7pm the police opened the southern exits of the Square and slowly managed to force people out of Trafalgar Square. A large section was moved back down Northumberland Avenue and eventually allowed over the River Thames to find their way back to their coaches. Two other sections were pushed north into the West End, where looting and vandalism of shops and cars took place. Police ordered all pubs in the area to close which, together with apparently random police assaults on shoppers, onlookers and tourists, inevitably heightened tensions in the whole area by forcing drunken and disgruntled crowds onto the streets. Published and recorded accounts mention shop windows being broken, a few goods looted, and expensive cars being overturned in: Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Charing Cross Road, and Covent Garden. Northumberland Avenue is a London street, running from Trafalgar Square in the west to The Embankment in the east. ... The interior of Covent Garden Market in the West End The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the citys major tourist attractions, businesses, and administrative headquarters. ... Map of the West End and Piccadilly Circus, Piccadilly Circus is a famous traffic intersection and public space of Londons West End in the City of Westminster. ... Oxford Street, with Centre Point in the background Oxford Street in 1875, looking west from the junction with Duke Street. ... The Quadrant at the bottom of Regent Street. ... Charing Cross Road, London, looking North from its junction with Long Acre. ... Covent Garden is a district in central London and within the easterly bounds of the City of Westminster. ...

The original demonstrators rapidly became mixed with the general public. Scuffles between rioters and police continued until 3am. Rioters attacked: The Body Shop, McDonalds, Barclays Bank, Tie Rack, Armani, Ratners, National Westminster Bank, and Liberty's. As well as such shops and banks, Stringfellow's nightclub, car showrooms, Covent Garden cafés, wine bars and expensive cars such as Porsches and Jaguars were overturned and set on fire. Other potential targets were left untouched: pubs, small shops, older cars and the offices of the Irish airline Aer Lingus.^{[citation needed]} The Body Shop in Downtown Toronto, Canada. ... McDonalds Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is the worlds largest chain of fast-food restaurants [1]. Although McDonalds did not invent the hamburger or fast food, its name has become nearly synonymous with both. ... Barclays Bank headquarters One Churchill Place, Canary Wharf Barclays plc (LSE: BARC, NYSE: BCS, TYO: 8642 ) is the fourth largest bank in the United Kingdom. ... Tie Rack is a British-based necktie retailer which has recently diversified into selling scarves. ... Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer (born 11 July 1934 in Piacenza, Italy), particularly noted for his menswear. ... Once a thriving British high-street jewellers in the 1980s, Gerald Ratner made the mistake of summarizing his cost-efficiency at a presentation with the Institute of Directors: The next day the tabloid media were in a frenzy over the comment, Ratner was forced out by the board of directors... Old NatWest logo NatWest (formerly the National Westminster Bank) is the United Kingdoms third biggest bank. ... Liberty is a well known department store in Regent Street in central London, England at the heart of the West End shopping district. ... Peter Stringfellow (born October 17, 1940) is a multi-millionaire businessman and minor British celebrity. ... Covent Garden is a district in central London and within the easterly bounds of the City of Westminster. ... Coffeehouse in Damascus A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the auto company. ... Jaguar Cars Limited is a British luxury car manufacturer, with headquarters in Browns Lane, Coventry, England. ... Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland. ...

Responses

The response of the London police, some sections of the far left, the labour movement and every section of the Labour Party was to condemn the riot as senseless and to blame anarchists. Some anarchists, especially the high-profile Class War organisation, were only too happy to take the credit, and were the only section of the far left to explicitly condone the riot as being largely legitimate self-defence against police attack. Despite this, the 1991 police report on the riot concluded there was "no evidence that the trouble was orchestrated by left-wing anarchist groups". The term far left refers to the relative position a person or group occupies within the political spectrum. ... The labour movement (or labor movement) is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and political governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labor relations. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in England, Scotland and Wales. ... Anarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. ... This article is about the organisation and newspaper Class War. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Afterwards, the non-aligned Trafalgar Square Defendants Campaign was set up, committed to unconditional support for all the defendants, and to full accountability to the defendants. The Campaign was able to mysteriously acquire more than fifty hours of police video tapes covering the riot, and these were influential in acquitting many of the 491 defendants, proving that the police had fabricated or inflated charges. The Trafalgar Square Defendants Campaign was an organisation set up to provide practical support for people arrested during the Poll Tax Riots. ...

In March 1991, the official police report suggested various additional contributing internal police factors: squeezed overtime budgets which led to the initial deployment of only 2000 men; a lack of riot shields (only 400 "short" riot shields were available); and erratic or poor-quality radio communications, with a time-lag of up to five minutes in the computerised switching of radio messages during the evening West End rioting.

At the time of media coverage of the riot, Prime Minister Thatcher was attending a conference of the Conservative Party Council in Cheltenham. The Poll Tax was the key focus of the conference; but as the coverage of the demonstrations unfolded, intense speculation also developed for the first time about Thatcher's position as Party leader. A prime minister is the very most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and is the second oldest extant political party in the world. ... For the parliamentary constituency, see Cheltenham (UK Parliament constituency). ...

Consequences

The fall of Prime Minister Thatcher

It is thought that the demonstrations against the Poll Tax, together with the general opposition to it (which was especially strong in the North of England (Community Resistance and Anti Poll-Tax Unions) and Scotland (APTUs) strongly contributed to the downfall of Margaret Thatcher, who resigned as Prime Minister before the end of the year. Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots3 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  -  First Minister Jack McConnell...

Changes in policing of demonstrations

The trials of anti poll-tax demonstrators in the months after 31 March served to confirm substantial doubts about the policing styles and methods which had been developed and introduced during the 1980s to deal with mass protests such as those of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the New Age Travellers, anti-Apartheid groups, and the Miners' Strike. The trials also highlighted the ease with which miscarriages of justice could still take place, even after the high-profile compensation and acquittals arising from the Battle of the Beanfield, the New Age Travellers at Stonehenge, the CND at Greenham Common, the miners at the Battle of Orgreave, and the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo In British politics, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has been at the forefront of the peace movement in the United Kingdom and claims to be Europes largest single-issue peace campaign. ... New age travellers or Peace Convoy are a peculiarly British social phenomenon consisting of people who often espouse New age and Neopagan beliefs, and who travel between music festivals and fairs in order to live in a community with others who hold similar beliefs. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... The miners strike of 1984-5 was a major piece of industrial action affecting the British coal industry. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... For other meanings of Stonehenge, see: Stonehenge (disambiguation) Stonehenge is a Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic monument located near Amesbury in the English county of Wiltshire, about 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. ... CND logo In British politics, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has been at the forefront of the peace movement in the United Kingdom and claims to be Europes largest single-issue peace campaign. ... Greenham Common in 2005. ... The Battle of Orgreave is the name given to a confrontation between police and picketing miners at a British Steel coking plant in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, in 1984, during the UK miners strike. ... The Birmingham Six were six men—Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker—sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 in an infamous miscarriage of justice for two pub bombings in Birmingham, England on November 21, 1974 that killed 21 people. ... The Guildford Four were a group of people (Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon, Patrick Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson), who were wrongly convicted in the United Kingdom in October 1975 for the Provisional IRAs Guildford pub bombing — which killed five people and injured sixty-five more — and imprisoned for over...

Illegitimacy of the labour movement

The riot brought into sharp focus the growth in Britain of an underclass, seen in violent collision with everyday symbols of late-1980s wealth and affluence. These media images crystallised a growing mood that "Labour is no longer the party of the working class, nor even of the organised working class; not even Tony Benn can speak to the young working people who ran amok last Saturday" (New Statesman 7 April 1990). This created a vivid image of the labour movement's crisis of legitimacy, just four months after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the near-global collapse of state socialism and its allies. A social class is, at its most basic, a group of people that have similar social status. ... The 1980s refers to the years of and between 1980 and 1989. ... Tony Benn about to join March 2005 anti-war demo in London Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (born April 3, 1925), known as Tony Benn, formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate, is a British politician on the left of the Labour Party. ... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November 1961. ... State socialism, broadly speaking, is any variety of socialism which relies on ownership of the means of production by the state. ...

Abandonment of the Poll Tax

Once Thatcher had resigned, her successor John Major announced in his very first parliamentary speech as Prime Minister that the Poll Tax was to be abolished. It was replaced by the Council Tax, although this also brought criticisms of unfairness. While generally less harsh on lower-income earners than the Poll Tax, the new tax took no account of the income earned by the taxpayer, but did take into account the value of the property being taxed. Sir John Major, KG, CH, PC (born 29 March 1943) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the British Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. ... The Council Tax is the main form of local taxation in England, Scotland and Wales. ...

Further reading

• Burns, D. Poll Tax Rebellion. Attack International/AK Press; London, 1992.

• Like A Summer With A Thousand Julys. BM Blob; London, 1992.

• The Poll Tax Riot - ten hours that shook Trafalgar Square. Acab Press, London; June 1990. (12 first-hand accounts of the rioting)

• Peter Taaffe 'Rise of the Militant' - Militant Publications.

• Tommy Sheridan - 'Time to Rage'.

Films

Diverse Productions. The Battle Of Trafalgar. Broadcast on Channel 4, 18 September 1990. It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ...

External links

• BBC On This Day 31 March 2006
• Gallery of photographs from the 31st March riot
• http://www.militant.org.uk gives a good background to how the poll tax movement was built.
• An ITN news report on the riots at YouTube.com.