Labour Party Young Socialists in Lambeth debated a special guest speaker (of the house) back in 1988…
John Bercow – today a mild mannered liberal – was a scourge of the left when he was a Tory Councillor in Lambeth in the late 1980s. A prominent member of the far right Monday Club and a Conservative Student activist when they printed their ‘Hang Nelson Mandela’ T-shirts, Bercow was more than happy to debate the left on the Poll Tax.
The meeting didn’t happen however. Before it started flour bombs and eggs rained down to such a huge degree that the whole event had to be called off. The Evening Standard ran an article the next day blasting the irresponsible LPYS members.
It wasn’t the LPYS (meeting organisers) who pelted the tories (an obnoxious bunch of stuck up poshos) with paint, flour etc, but local anti-poll tax activists of an anarchist persuasion… the LPYS members were horrified and denounced the action… Fun was had!
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Haha thanks for the clarification. Yes LPYS were a very dour bunch
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