Peter Taaffe obituary: old-school Labour agitator
Thrusting forward and glaring out from thick-lensed spectacles, the co-founder and leader of the Trotskyite Militant Tendency predicted in 1986 that her dismantling of one-nation Toryism would 'lay bare the realities of the class society' and prompt a 'purist workers' revolution'.
When Thatcher announced plans to introduce a poll tax of British adults, the Birkenhead-born revolutionary thought his time had come. He called for nationwide non-payment of the tax, organised workers' 'bill strikes' and was a key agitator of the poll tax riots in May 1990 that contributed to her downfall as prime minister five months later and the replacement of the poll tax with council tax. Taaffe declared: 'With
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Capitulate to unions, and you undermine democracy
I have one abiding memory from my early school days in the mid-1980s. It isn't of a favourite teacher, playground companion, or a treasured lesson. No, what stands out most vividly in my mind is Strike Day. It might not have been every week, but it was regular enough to take on the rhythm of a national ritual. As a five-year-old, I adored it. The anticipation was electric. Strike Day meant I had a whole, uninterrupted day with my mother. Just the two of us. It was bliss: no school! But of course, for my parents, it was a different story. It was a burden. My mother would have to call in absent from work, adjust her commitments, rearrange the day. Eventually, my parents, like many working-class families trying to climb, had enough. They opted to send me to an independent school. At least there, the calendar didn't tremble with every union whim. Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, these disturbances came to an end. The grip of the unions was broken. Britain felt governable again. We thought the era of union rule had passed into history. But Strike Day has returned. Since July 2024, several hundred thousand working days have been lost to strike action. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, 160,000 working days disappeared into the black hole of industrial action. Since the peak in late 2022, over 1.6 million working days have been lost. Unsurprisingly, public sector productivity has plunged – now 4.2 per cent below pre-Covid levels. The BMA – a union which now more closely resembles a political party than a medical association – recently called a five-day strike because its demand for a pay rise of over 20 per cent wasn't met. That strike saw around 50,000 resident doctors walk out, resulting in thousands of cancelled procedures. These are not Dickensian workers demanding hot meals and clean conditions. These are qualified professionals, whose average salary is between £47-55,000 per year. But the point isn't just about pay. It's about power. And they know they have it. And it's not just the doctors. Nurses are threatening a winter strike. Civil servants have walked out in the last year. Train drivers, sixth-form teachers, university staff – all have joined the chorus of disruption. Britain is being quietly but systematically brought to its knees by the same forces we thought had been vanquished a generation ago. And what has the Government done? Capitulated. Time and again. Ministers shuffle to the negotiating table like supplicants, pen in hand, ready to sign the next cheque. Each time, they hope the gesture will end the militancy. It never does. Appeasement, as history teaches us, only whets the appetite. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has learnt the hard way: this isn't a rational negotiation – it's a hostage situation. And the Government is tied to the chair. The truth is that Labour is not merely negotiating with the unions – they are the unions. Or rather, the unions are them. Almost every Cabinet Minister owes their ascent to union patronage. The party machine is powered by union money, union operatives, union ideology. The very people meant to hold the line against disruptive action are, in fact, the authors of it. And the consequences are now being laid bare. Consider the Employment Rights Bill – Labour's legislative love letter to the unions. It promises to repeal the Tory anti-strike laws of 2016 and 2023, lower the thresholds for industrial action, and tilt the field further toward collective bargaining. This is an open invitation for more disruption. Once again, we find ourselves ruled not by Parliament, but by the backroom deal. Beer and sandwiches are back. But this time, they're accompanied by collapsing productivity, eroded business confidence, and the creeping sclerosis of the state. Strike Day has become a national curse. And unless we find the courage once more to challenge the vested interests that now run Britain by proxy, it will become a permanent fixture of our national life – another symbol of decline in a country too frightened to govern itself.
Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
My grandparents fled Hitler, today in London someone screamed 'filth' in my face
Barrister, author and London Islington resident David Renton, 52, attended the counter-demo outside London's Thistle City Barbican Hotel organised by Islington Community Independents, today. Yesterday, I was part of the 1500-strong crowd in Islington, which gathered to defend the refugees living in the Thistle City Barbican hotel in north London against protesters. I went because, although I'm white and British. I'm also the grandchild of refugees: people who had to hide their documents beneath the railway seats as they fled from Hitler. I talked to other people there. Paul Murphy brought his two choirs, The Mixed Up Chorus and Sing For Freedom. Both choirs have included singers that were refugees staying at this hotel. Paul says he came 'To defend refugees. To stop the far right.' It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves has told MPs that asylum hotel use will end by the end of this Parliament. Cathy Bird, a minister for Union Chapel, said, 'Britain is a welcoming country. The people who come here are fleeing from wars. In their position, we'd do the same thing.' Another supporter who didn't want to give her name said, 'This has always been a union area, for people who worked in the print shops at Fleet Street. Generations of people have settled here, Italians in Clerkenwell, the Bangladeshis more recently. We won't let the racists divide us.' While on our peaceful march, one angry woman on the other side screamed in my face, 'You're Filth, You're Filth.' I wasn't shocked by her clear rage-filled hate, but I am at a loss understanding why you would shout at someone just because they disagree with you? I tried speaking to one Far Right protester. Michael, told me, 'the refugees aren't law abiding.' I said I thought his fears were exaggerated. We didn't agree. One concession Michael made was that he could understand that it must be awful for the men being made to stay in the hotels, often for years, while the home office decides how to process their refugee applications. Some media outlets have reported that people who are living in hotels waiting for their asylum claims to be processed, who are banned from working, have been working as delivery drivers. This rhetoric plays exactly into the hands of Far Right agitators. Migrants want to work but the government – both Tories and Labour – have insisted that asylum seekers can't. 'I don't mind if they do Uber Eats,' Michael told me. What he means is that, in any sensible system, we'd be welcoming refugees' desire to work, finding them jobs. He's right on that. But it goes further than he realises. Michael could accept refugees if they'd do hard, low-paid jobs. I respect anyone who does that work, but it shouldn't be the limit. Many of the refugees are skilled people. If we did let them work, soon we'd realise that many of them have spent years back home training as doctors, nurses, teachers. They aren't just grunt labour, they're desperate to show us their talents, if only we'd let them. The real danger isn't the people in this hotel; it's racist outsiders coming to my town to stir up hate. David is author of The New Authoritarians Convergence on the Right published by Pluto Press. Available at and
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
City of London considered giving Trump award in bid to stop tariffs
Discussions have taken place concerning the potential award of the Freedom of the City of London to Donald Trump during his state visit in September. The proposal was intended to create an opportunity for the City of London Corporation to advocate for free trade and against tariffs. However, the Freedom Applications Sub-Committee considered the award 'too controversial' and officially stated that heads of state must serve a minimum of seven years in office to be eligible. The honour is rarely bestowed upon government leaders and has never been given to a sitting US president; Margaret Thatcher was the last head of government to receive it after 10 years in office. This potential rejection follows a prior decision not to invite Trump to address a joint sitting of the Houses of Parliament during his state visit, scheduled for 17-19 September.
