Today is the thirtieth anniversary of the London Poll Tax riots. Ignore anyone who tries to tell you that Margaret Thatcher was brought down by "Europe". In the extremely bitter chapter on the Poll Tax in her memoirs, she left no one in any doubt that civil disobedience and then outright rioting, at least the former organised openly by the Militant Tendency, had caused Conservative MPs to see their seats disappearing before their very eyes. Accordingly, she contended, they had seized any excuse to get rid of her. She was right. But then, so were they.
Dislike of the Police is usually associated with certain ethnic minorities and with the university Left. But relations with the white working class have never really recovered from the Thatcher years. And the reasons for that were also the reasons why she rewarded the Police so handsomely that they were able to move into the areas that had previously been reserved for the professional classes, who have resented it ever since. All of that is coming to a head now. Derbyshire? Did you say Derbyshire?
No comments:
Post a Comment