Both unemployment and inflation soared in the first two years of the Thatcher government though the Tories were open to a rise in the jobless figures
Both unemployment and inflation soared in the first two years of the Thatcher government though the Tories were open to a rise in the jobless figures
Youth unemployment skyrocketed between 1979 and 1983 and hundreds of youth travelled the country on the Jobs Express to highlight their plight
Unemployment was so bad even an ex-mayor was out of work
Londoners of a certain age remember the two massive Anti Nazi League carnivals in 1978 with glowing nostalgia. But Manchester was in on the act too. Let’s not forget that. Here was the Mancunian ANL carnival with acts like Steel Pulse, the Buzzcocks and China Street.
I loved Steel Pulse’s Jah Pickney with that song’s delightful lyrics about hunting the National Front. Check it out on YouTube. Buzzcocks – we all know them! But I’d quite forgotten China Street, a favourite of John Peel and on the EMI label for a while.
The march was sponsored by the north west region TUC. The trade unions were very much a backbone of the whole anti-racist push against the National Front at that time.
What young people were thinking in 1981
The New Cross Fire in 1981 claimed the lives of black youth at a birthday party and the aftermath would undoubtedly contribute to the Brixton riots
Was anybody on the People’s March for Jobs in the early 80s?