Looking back at 1986, it was a year when two halves of Britain went in different directions. With the year-long miners’ strike defeated in 1985, industrial areas saw a further surge in unemployment and a sense of despondency. But in London, it was a different world. Financial deregulation in the City of London powered the…
When the Tories came to power in 1979, fighting crime was high on the agenda. There was even a flirtation with the idea of restoring capital punishment, which Thatcher was understood to favour. But the landmark policy was the introduction of the so-called Short Sharp Shock regime with special detention centres imposing military-style discipline on…
Attitudes to sex in the 1980s were more liberal than is sometimes assumed. But the decade was very different from the liberated 1960s and rebellious 1970s. The AIDS pandemic and rise of political conservatism impacted how young people viewed sex. Despite a climate of fear and repression, a survey in 1986 had very surprising results….
Imagine a beautiful old house burning down and the fire brigade turns up. The firefighters ask if there’s anybody inside. The answer is – no. The firefighters climb back into their fire engine and drive off leaving the fire to rage through the entire property reducing it to a smoking ruin. Thousands of pounds worth…
In June 2024, countless thousands of LGBT people will celebrate Pride in London with a huge parade, parties, and an outward display of their sexuality. This is a far cry from the Gay Pride marches of the 1970s where incredibly brave people took to the streets more in the spirit of defiance than celebration. And…
Nearly forty years ago, an LGBT bookshop in London was raided by customs officials leading to a court case against nine directors and staff who faced over a hundred charges. This proved to be a landmark case, largely forgotten now. It advanced gay rights while also raising questions about censorship by the authorities. Key issues…
June 1985 witnessed a vicious pitched battle between riot police and what were described as ‘New Age Travellers’ in the shadow of Stonehenge. An extraordinary level of violence was used by police against people who had turned up for a free festival at the ancient site. These festivals had been going on throughout the 1970s…
Nearly forty years ago, a police officer was hacked to death during a night of violence in north London. Police Constable Keith Blakelock stumbled during a riot on the Broadwater Farm estate and never stood up again. His neck was hacked at with a machete and knives with one report suggesting he lost fingers as…
Doctor Who was a 20th century TV success story that soared but then crashed as historian Tony McMahon discovers
1985 saw two double agents exposed. KGB agent Oleg Gordievsky and US Navy officer John Walker were not what they seemed. Tony McMahon reports
