British fascism experienced a surge in the 1970s led in the main by the National Front
British fascism experienced a surge in the 1970s led in the main by the National Front
2021 will be the fourtieth anniversary of the 1981 riots and the tenth anniverary of the 2011 riots so what lessons have been learned?
The 1981 Southall riot saw a clash between the Oi! skinhead subculture and local Asian youth in a district of London that was part of a summer of riots
The early 1980s witnessed a very productive output of anti Tory art from the Left and the labour movement. Go as far as to say it was a golden age of political satire in various formats: TV, theatre, film, pop music, paintings and postcards.
Hatred of Thatcher got the creative juices flowing! It seems like there was nothing better than a society deeply polarised and unsettled to produce top drama, plays, movies, songs and images. 1980s anti Tory art hasn’t been fully appreciated in my humble opinion – it’s about time there was an exhibition at the Royal Academy!
Personally, I think it’s no exaggeration to say you could compare 1980s anti Tory art to the explosion of creativity after the 1917 Russian revolution or the output of artists during the Weimar Republic. It had a distinctive look and feel. Plus there was that figure of hatred for it all to be focussed on – Maggie!
DISCOVER: New technology in 1983
When it came to music, bands fell over each other to stick the boot into the Tories. In 1985, several groups and artists took to the road to sing against Maggie. Red Wedge comprised such talents as Paul Weller, Billy Bragg and Jimmy Sommerville. I went to a Red Wedge gig in Liverpool at the Royal Court around the time the miners strike came to a sad end.
Below we have ska popsters The Beat singing their anti-Thatcher song ‘Stand Down Margaret’. I interviewed the late Ranking Roger at his home ten years back when I was working on the biography of Neville Staple.
He told me that they got in some trouble for singing a political song on a mainstream TV show. They might even have been denied airplay as a result. But he still thought it was worth it.
The great sound of 1980s Liverpool music was celebrated in the first half of the 80s at a festival called Larks in the Park in Sefton Park
The 1981 riots presented the news media of the time with a huge challenge covering live events around the country that sprang up at a moment’s notice
As mass unemployment returns after Covid, Tony McMahon looks back at unemployment in the 1980s which scaled horrific heights
My collection of political badges from the 1980s shows the causes we cared about from racism to nuclear disarmament and freedom for the people of Chile
Tony McMahon co-wrote Original Rude Boy – the authorised biography of Neville Staple, vocalist in the legendary group, The Specials
As the level of civil disturbances rose in the 1970s riot police complained of only having dustbin lids and traffic cones for protection