Misery of unemployment in the 1980s
As mass unemployment returns after Covid, Tony McMahon looks back at unemployment in the 1980s which scaled horrific heights

As mass unemployment returns after Covid, Tony McMahon looks back at unemployment in the 1980s which scaled horrific heights
1981 to 1983 saw a community campaign to keep a school in Liverpool called Croxteth Comprehensive open for local kids
My student union election poster from 1982 – Liverpool Guild of Undergraduates
My collection of political badges from the 1980s shows the causes we cared about from racism to nuclear disarmament and freedom for the people of Chile
Tony McMahon co-wrote Original Rude Boy – the authorised biography of Neville Staple, vocalist in the legendary group, The Specials
As Trotskyists enjoyed some political success in the 1980s – we look at the American view of this development on the political Left
In 1983, Thatcher emerged triumphant from a general election and set about a purge of moderates from her cabinet as Tony McMahon reports
Back in 1980, the UK government gave advice on how to survive a nuclear war that was rubbished at the time as Tony McMahon discovers
In 2003, it was revealed that in the event of a nuclear war the Queen would deliver a special speech before being bundled to safety as Tony McMahon discovers