THE POLL TAX PROTESTS 1990
What was the poll tax? For example, the richest man in Britain was the Duke
of Westminster. In the old system he had to pay
Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government £10,255. Now his tax was only £417 and his
wanted to change the way local councils got servants had to pay exactly the same amount.
their money. Surveys showed that 70% of people would be worse
The old system (rates): people paid according to the off. Even those on income support had to pay
value of their house. People in expensive houses 20% of the tax.
paid more than people in cheap houses. But the People living in rented properties came out very
rate was the same however many people lived badly. Under the old system landlords had to
in a house. The government said this was unfair pay the rates so they added to the rents to cover
because it meant many people were paying the charge. But with the new system most
nothing for the services they got. landlords didn’t reduce the rents even though
The new idea (community charge): every adult in the their tenants now had to pay the community
country would pay the same amount, whatever charge.
kind of house they lived in. That meant poor Between April and December 1989 Scottish
people would pay as much as rich people. landlords made about £40 million profit.
The law for the new tax was passed by Parliament in
1987. The plan was to start it in Scotland in April People soon began calling the community charge the
1989 and then in the rest of Britain in April poll tax. They were remembering what
1990. happened in 1381 when a government tried to
Everyone over 18 was told they had to pay the new tax everyone the same amount and the people
tax. rose up in a rebellion known as the Peasants’
Revolt.
1
THE POLL TAX PROTESTS 1990
Protest or resistance? 4 main types of resistance
The new tax was very unpopular. Protests started in (a) non-registration : not registering for the tax and
Scotland in 1989. then taking no notice of the fines they were
There were different ways of protesting. The Labour told to pay
party and trades unions wanted protest (b) non-payment: not paying and staying linked to
marches and campaigns to persuade the organised local groups that would defend
government to drop the tax. They did not agree everyone taken to court
with breaking the law. (c) Non-implementation: calling on councils to
They organised a ‘Scottish Campaign Against the Poll refuse to carry out the tax
Tax’ with leaflets, stickers and posters. (d) Non-collection: asking all union members
But many grassroots organisations wanted to do responsible for collecting the tax to refuse to do
more. They set up a network of groups against it
the tax. They decided to resist, to refuse to pay.
There was a divide between 2 ways of opposing the THINK
tax:
Which method was likely to be the most effective?
(a) Protest within the law to get the government
ton change its mind or get people to vote
against the Conservatives in the next election
(b) Resistance to the law – people ready to refuse
to pay and take the consequences.
2
THE POLL TAX PROTESTS 1990
The government couldn’t negotiate because the protest
Grass-roots organisation and wasn’t organised by political parties or trades
unions but by local groups.
tactics These groups were called Anti-Poll Tax Unions (APTUs).
The main form of resistance was non-payment. They started in Scotland and spread to England and
Wales where there were eventually over 1,000
By September 1989 at least 15% of people in APTUs.
Scotland were refusing to pay. By April 1990 1 The APTUs gave out information and supported people
million people had not paid a penny. not paying. They gave out information leaflets
about non-payment and how to avoid bailiffs
The tax became law in England in April 1990. By July coming to take goods. They spray painted walls and
there were 14 million non-payers. stuck posters to publicise the movement. They
made T-shirts, badges and mugs with slogans
By January 1991 in England non-payment in inner against the poll tax.
London was 34% and even in rural areas it was When councils sent bailiffs to the houses of non-payers
18%. The resistance had spread to all parts of to take their goods, APTU groups often organised
protests to stop them entering.
the country and all kinds of people. By March
If people went to court the APTUs organised
over 18 million people were refusing to pay. demonstrations and gave legal advice.
By the time the poll tax was abolished non-payment In spite of the large numbers refusing to pay only 120
reached over 50% in some parts of London. In people were ever imprisoned.
the end £2.5 billion of tax was never paid.
This caused huge problems for the government. They
THINK
couldn't arrest 18 million people! They couldn’t Why was it hard for the authorities to act
accuse the protesters of being criminals. against the resisters?
When people went to court for refusing to pay the
tax, the court told them to pay fines: they then
refused to pay the fines as well. Only 28% of
those taken to court paid up and some even 3
went to prison.
THE POLL TAX PROTESTS 1990
The Battle of Trafalgar Square 31 The organisers, realising the march was so big, asked the
police to change the venue. The police refused.
March 1990 The march started peacefully with people of all ages
As the movement grew the APTUs started linking from all walks of life.
together and an All-Britain Anti-:Poll Tax 20 protesters staged a sit-in outside Downing Street after
Federation (ABAPTF) was set up.
the police told them they could not hand in a
It started by organising demonstrations in different
regions. Every time local councils met to set the petition. Protesters said the police deliberately
poll tax rates, there were protests. Some were provoked them. Some tried to get over the Downing
peaceful but others saw violent clashes Street barricades.
between protesters and police, for example in 300 more people decided to sit down in protest and
Bristol. some fighting began between demonstrators and
The ABAPTF decided to hold a national police and the fighting spread to Trafalgar Square
demonstration in London on 31 March 1990. itself.
Who were the leaders?
Police on horses baton-charged the crowd and people
This was a grassroots movement of the people with
no prominent leaders. Lots of different groups threw bottles, sticks and stones back at them.
were involved including left-wing parties Many of the demonstrators left but about 3,00 stayed to
(Socialist Workers Party, Militant Tendency etc) , face the police and there were pitched battles in
anarchists (Class War) and members of APTU the square and rioting and looting in the
federations. The Chair of the ABAPTF was the surrounding streets.
Scottish Socialist Tommy Sullivan.
What happened on the day of the London march? 542 police officers and thousands of demonstrators and
passers-by were injured. There were 341 arrests
The plan was for the march to finish at Trafalgar
Square. The square can hold 60,000 people and
the organisers expected about 20,000. In fact
200,000 came.
4
THE POLL TAX PROTESTS 1990
The end of the poll tax The role of the media
The mass non-payments and the riot in Trafalgar At first the media just reported the refusal of people
Square made it seem that the Government was to pay the tax.
not in control. Police were blamed for being But in March 1990 there were clashes between
‘heavy-handed’ and violent. protesters and police outside town halls.
Organisers of the resistance feared that the riot Newspapers started attacking left groups and
might cause public support to go down, but in calling them ‘extremists’.
fact the campaign got stronger and protests Most newspapers were against the protests and on
carried on all over the country. the side of council officers and bailiffs. The Su
and The People even printed police photos of
In May 1990 the Conservatives did very badly in local demonstrators and told readers to hand them
elections. MPs worried about how unpopular over to police.
they were becoming. Leaders of the party On the other hand, TV footage of the demonstrators
decided that they could not win the next showed people being deliberately hit by police
General Election with Thatcher as leader. In vans or trampled by horses.
November 1990 she was forced by her own
ministers to resign. THINK
The next Prime Minister was John Major. In April Mass non-payment of the poll tax was successful.
1991 he announced that the poll tax would be The tax was abolished and Margaret Thatcher was
replaced by a new Council Tax in 1993. But the forced to resign.
Poll Tax would continue until then, so protests Was it an organised campaign or a spontaneous
carried on. movement?
5