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25 Years On: Poll Tax Riots of March 30, 1990

This Monday marks the 25-year anniversary of the Poll Tax Riots in London. On March 30, 1990, almost 250,000 people gathered in Kennington Park for a march to protest a proposed tax change that would see everyone in England and Wales over the age of 18 pay a "community charge". The protestors marched towards Trafalgar Square, which filled up so quickly police blocked off the march in Whitehall. As riot police gathered and pushed to clear the protest, tempers flared and more people were forced to surge onto Trafalgar Square. Riot police surging up Whitehall burst onto the square, forcing columns of protestors to evacuate through the West End. By midnight, 113 people had been injured, mostly members of the public, but also police officers; and 339 people had been arrested. Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister on November 28th the same year. In his first parliamentary speech, the new prime minister John Major announced the Poll Tax would be replaced by what we know today as Council Tax.