"The success of The Demo strengthened the battle against the poll tax. Mass non-payment was firmly on the agenda but it still had to be maintained.
On 1 June 1990 over 2,000 local people from the Isle of Wight attended the very first poll tax courts. The proceedings were mayhem and over 1,800 cases were dismissed that day - a scene that was to be repeated at courts throughout England and Wales as tens of thousands of non-payers clogged up the courts.
Within weeks, anti-poll tax unions were chasing bailiffs off wherever these low-life raised their heads. "Bailiffs have no legal right of entry" were the watch words.
Every attempt to jail a non-payer was fought tooth and nail by the Fed whose sterling work kept thousands out of jail. Many a local councillor regretted the day they took public office, especially when campaigners invaded their council chambers, surgeries and even barbecues!
The final victory came on Thursday 22 November as Margaret Thatcher ran crying from the steps of 10 Downing Street to a waiting car - a fitting end to an individual whose policies had caused working-class people and their families to shed an ocean of tears.
Less than eight months after the poll tax had become law in England and Wales, the Militant-led Federation and its campaign of mass non-payment had finally toppled one of the most hated prime ministers in British history. Within months the Tories finally abolished the poll tax.
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