Catalogue Number
NMLH.2022.241
Object Name
T-Shirt
Title
Poll Tax Buster
People
Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Party, Ghostbusters (film)
Events
Poll Tax Riots
Date
around 1989
Description
A white t-shirt with the Ghostbusters logo- a white ghost inside a red circle with a cross- and black text reading "Poll tax buster". The ghost is holding a sign reading "No poll tax" with an angry expression.
The Community Charge, commonly known as the Poll Tax, was introduced by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1989 in Scotland, and 1990 in England and Wales. The Community Charge replaced the system of domestic rates where each household paid a bill for local government services which was based on the value of their property. Under the Community Charge, instead, charged every adult in a local area the same fixed amount.
Opposition to the Community Charge was widespread. Under the rates system, rich people living in expensive houses paid more, whereas the Community Charge was the same amount for everyone regardless of their wealth, so it was viewed as shifting taxes from rich people to poor people. Hundreds of local Anti-Poll Tax Unions developed encouraging people not to pay the tax, and riots broke out across Britain, the largest of which was in London on 31 March 1990, a week before the tax was due to be introduced in England. The unpopularity of the tax led to a leadership challenge which ultimately saw Margaret Thatcher resign as Prime Minister. Her successor, John Major, brought in legislation to replace the Poll Tax with Council Tax in 1992, which is based on property value, like rates had been.
**ON DISPLAY**
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