E111.1: [TEASER] Poll tax revolt, bonus episode

Preview extract of a bonus episode of our double podcast on the successful mass direct action campaign against the UK poll tax in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In conversation with Dave Morris from the Tottenham Anti-Poll Tax campaign and Haringey Solidarity Group. This part covers more information about Dave’s life and activism, different left strategies within the campaign, undercover police infiltration of the campaign, and community organising today.

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• Listen to the whole exclusive bonus episode without ads by joining us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/e111-1-poll-tax-138554022

More information

• Haringey Solidarity Group
• Danny Burns, Poll Tax Rebellion (AK Press, 1992).
• Sources, photos, more information and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e110-111-poll-tax-revolt/

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Fernando López Ojeda, Nick Williams and Old Norm.
• Episode graphic: Courtesy James Bourne/Wikimedia Commons CC by SA 4.0
• Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.
• Edited by Engin Hassan

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, and welcome back to the Working Class History Podcast.
As you may know, we don't get any sort of
funding from any wealthy benefactors, corporations, governments, or political pies.
Our work is funded by you, our listeners and readers
on Patreon. In return, our supports on Patreon get access
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(00:24):
podcast episodes, and a couple of exclusive discussion podcast series,
fireside chats and radical reads. So here is a little
preview of our latest episode for our patrons. You can
join us, help support our work and listen to the
whole thing today at patreon dot com slash working Class
History link. In the show notes. During the main episodes,

(00:48):
Dave also mentioned another mass protest which grassroots activists wanted
to hold in October nineteen ninety but Militant the other
major Trotskyist group in the UK at that time, which
dominated the nash Con Federation known as the FED, disagreed
with this strategy.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
So there was you know, lobbying of the All Bitten Federation.
In the end, the All Britain Federation said, oh, we'll
organized a people's march against the pull tax, but only
seventy five people will be allowed to go on it
from Manchester to London. And they were all hand picked
and basically they were all members of militant and we said,

(01:27):
this is ridiculous, it's like a stunt, but it's not
what we need, something en mass that would defend the
right to protest as well as to show the movement
is strong and the movement is not for turning. So
what happened in the end there was an uneasy compromise
in which the All Britain federations said, well, if you

(01:49):
in London want to organize a London demonstration, we won't
oppose it. I mean it was hard work working with
organizations that are controlled by one political party. So we
in London. There was a lot of debate in the
London Federation and it was agreed that we would have
a massive rally and gig in Brockwell Park in South London,

(02:14):
in Brixton and Traffago Square. Defense Campaign said well it's
not enough. We need a protest outside the courts and
outside Brixton Prison. So we decided to organize feeder events
which to support the rally, that organize our own feeder events.
So twenty thousand people turned up to the rally, which

(02:35):
is a pretty good turnout for just a London demonstration,
and we had about fifteen hundred turned up to the
protest outside one of the key courts that were processing nonpayers.
And also after the rally, about three and a half
thousand people marched to Brixton Prison where there were Trafago

(02:55):
Square prisoners and nonpayers being held in prison. They were
quite substantial. We knew that the police this potentially was
quite challenging to the police and we had a meeting
I think I attended a meeting with the Chief of Police,
London's Commissioner of Police or whoever. We said, look, we

(03:17):
want to all to go off with that incident, could
you guarantee from your side? And he was saying he'd
heard rumblings within the police that they wanted a rematch
after Trafalgar Square and he was going to stamp that out. Yes,
that's what he said personally. We've got it in writing
to the Trafalgar Square Defendance campaign. On the day once

(03:41):
the rally was coming to an end and we were
about to march to Brixton Prison three and a half
thousand people, we had this very extensive monitoring system. Everyone
had bust cards on what to do if for rested.
We had videos, we had observers coordinated, we had a ready.
This was the first real kind anything had happened like

(04:04):
that in this country, where we had planned for what
would happen if the police attacked the demonstration, and we
were able to monitor police radios and police conversations on
the ground and the events. Basically, I was one of
the heads. We didn't really add a heads to it,
but I was one of the coordinators. And when we

(04:25):
got to Brixton Prison, I think I was the coordinator,
was near the front of the march, and the agreement
was that we were going to gather outside Brixton Prison
for an hour and then disperse. And without going into detail,
a lot of strange things began to happen. Police suddenly
got withdrawn. Other police units seemed to be arriving in

(04:48):
side streets, you know, with the heavier armor, and it
seemed obvious that they were gearing up to attack the demonstration,
which is what happened. I can't remember how many people
invested one hundred and twenty or something. The police immediately
had a press conference and were able to tell the
whole world straight away that it was all caused by

(05:10):
the demonstrators, and we within twenty four hours we had
a complete alternative proof that this would be the premeditated
police attack on an agreed demonstration. So the aftermath was

(05:31):
they wanted to use the situation to say, look, this
whole movement, the antipol tax movement, it's kind of, you know,
full of radicals. They're not interested in really the poll tax.
They're just using it to attack the police and the establishment.
And we were able to paint a different story. The
antipol tax movement was united. We were determined to defeat

(05:55):
the poll tax, but also to defend our right to demonstrate,
and actually we were able to prove that the police
had fabricated their version of events.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
That brings us to the end of this episode preview.
Hope you enjoyed it. To listen to the full thing
and help support our work researching and promoting people's history,
join us today on Patreon at patreon dot com slash
working class history. That's p A t R e O
N dot com slash working class history. Link in the

(06:27):
show notes. Catch you next time.