Poplar Rates Rebellion

The Poplar Rates Rebellion, or Poplar Rates Revolt was a tax protest that took place in Poplar, London, England, in 1921. It was led by George Lansbury, the previous year's Labour Mayor of Poplar, with the support of the Poplar Borough Council, most of whom were industrial workers. The protest defied government, the courts, and the Labour Party leadership. George Lansbury would later go on to be the leader of the Labour Party.

Poplar (now in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets) was one of the poorest districts of London; there was no government support to alleviate the high unemployment, hunger, and poverty in the borough, which had to be funded by the borough itself under the poor law. However, Poplar ratepayers were charged a precept to pay for the London County Council, Metropolitan Police, Metropolitan Asylums Board and the Metropolitan Water Board.

After constitutional struggles with the government to achieve equalisation of the rates with the wealthier West London boroughs, Poplar Council decided to withhold the rates revenue from the four cross-London authorities, and devote the money instead to a comprehensive programme of social reform and poor relief, including equal pay for women and a minimum wage for Council workers, far in excess of the market rate.

The London County Council and Metropolitan Asylum Board responded by taking the matter to the High Court. The council's response was to organise a procession of 2,000 supporters from Bow, led by the borough's official mace-bearer, to the accompaniment of a band and a banner proclaiming, "Poplar Borough Council marching to the High Court and possibly to prison". Thirty councillors, including six women, one of whom was pregnant, were sent to prison indefinitely for contempt of court for refusing a court order to remit the monies. The men were put up in Brixton Prison, and the women in Holloway. The latter were taken by cab to Brixton where council meetings were held.

The revolt received wide public support. Lansbury addressed crowds that regularly gathered outside, through the prison bars. Neighbouring councils threatened to take similar action. Trade unions passed resolutions of support and collected funds for the councillors' families. "Poplarism" became a political term associated with large-scale municipal relief for the poor and needy, and also with local defiance of central government. Eventually, after six weeks' imprisonment, the Court responded to public opinion and ordered the Councillors released, which occasioned great celebrations in Poplar. Meanwhile, a bill, The London Authorities (Financial Provision) Act 1921, was rushed through Parliament more or less equalising tax burdens between rich and poor boroughs.

Despite the equalisation of rates, the dispute regarding the moneys paid for outdoor relief would continue for some years until the abolition of the Poor Law Unions, and therefore Poplar's power to provide outdoor relief, under the Local Government Act 1929.

External links

* [http://www.workersliberty.org/node/3156 'A different sort of Labour council'] from the "Workers' Liberty" site