The crucial night back then was in May 1988, when the amendment to make the change
poll tax incomerelated was put to the vote.
The state argued that the new law rendered the
poll tax argument moot.
The amount of
Poll Tax arrears collected by local authorities across Scotland has fallen in recent years to less than Au350,000 in 2013-14, and some local authorities have ceased recovery of debts altogether.
In England and Wales, councils are barred from chasing
poll tax after six years.
But, while there was widespread organised resistance to the
poll tax and active non-payment, some city residents who have recently been hit with backdated bills are adamant they know nothing about what they supposedly owe.
Sir John Major, who took over as PM from Mrs Thatcher in 1990, said that while she had been keen on the
Poll Tax, many in the Conservative Party had been against it, and this had led to serious policy discussions.
The
poll tax - $2 a year, levied on males only - set a pre-condition to voting, requiring the ability to read.
The experience of the
Poll Tax riot was that dispersal was counter-productive.
As a footnote, it would be interesting to see the effect if the various Socialist groups who so effectively organised the violent demonstrations against the
Poll Tax were to turn their energies, in similar fashion, to protests against VAT and Road Tax using the same logic.
NOW we know why Mr Blair wants to impose a
poll tax on our roads - it is a directive from the EU.
The ID requirement is akin to a 21st-century
poll tax.
The law serves as a
poll tax and shuts down community-based registration drives--effectively disenfranchising potential voters in Latino, Black and Native American communities, according to Nina Perales of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
