fight – The Thatcher Crisis Years

Croxteth Comprehensive – campaign to keep a school open in the 80s

Posted on August 30, 2014March 18, 2018 by The Thatcher Crisis Years

Does anybody remember a campaign in 1982 to keep Croxteth Comprehensive open in Liverpool? The closure of this school gave the impression – along with dozens of other policies – that the Tories in Westminster didn’t give a damn about inner city areas.

At this time, the Croxteth district of Liverpool had over 90% youth unemployment. I remember those official statistics of the time that showed how bleak things were – let alone the unofficial stats. The Crocky wasn’t just a school – it was a community facility, a beating heart in an area beaten up by recession.

2Tone bands take on racism in Coventry – 1981

Posted on October 7, 2012March 17, 2018 by The Thatcher Crisis Years

The summer of 1981 was rocked by riots against the government with cities across Britain experiencing massive upheavals. Coventry had been something of a tinderbox for years with skinheads clashing with black and Asian youth throughout the 1970s – something I write about in my biography of Neville Staple, “Original Rude Boy”. But things escalated in 1981 when an Asian youth was murdered in broad daylight in the shopping centre – enough was definitely enough.

The National Front had swaggered round town intimidating law abiding people and now the 2Tone bands born of Coventry organised a gig to take the streets back. It was a festival of racial unity. Though that didn’t stop the NF threatening to come down to the venue and cause disruption. At the same time as the gig, riots broke out round Coventry bus station.

Here is Melody Maker’s report on the gig from my archives!