Changing Attitudes, 1979–97

The 1981 Brixton Riot

• Trigger: rumours that Michael Bailey, a black teenager, had died in police custody during Operation Swamp ’81.

• Scale: ~300 black and white youths vs 1,000+ police.

• Damage:

  • 299 police injured, 70 civilians injured

  • 100+ cars destroyed

  • 28 buildings burned, 100+ looted

• Spread: further riots in deprived, high‑minority areas — Moss Side, Southall, Handsworth, Toxteth, Hyson Green.

• Disturbances also in Wolverhampton, Southampton, Leeds, Leicester, Halifax, Bedford, Gloucester, Coventry, Bristol, Edinburgh.

• Common causes: racial tension, police discrimination, stop‑and‑search abuses

The Scarman Report (1981)

commissioned in response to the riots + Black People’s Day of Action.

Key Findings

• Disproportionate and unnecessary stop‑and‑search of young black men.

• Riots caused by “complex political, social and economic factors”:

  • poverty

  • unemployment

  • poor housing

  • racial discrimination

• Recognised deep social divisions and urged government action to reduce inequality.

Thatcher’s Response

• Rejected Scarman’s analysis:

  • Claimed poverty and discrimination did NOT justify rioting (“nothing, but nothing, justifies what happened”).

• Result:

  • Scarman’s recommendations not implemented.

  • Little improvement in urban conditions for black communities during the 1980s.

  • Social division persisted.

Renewed Rioting (1985)

• New unrest on Broadwater Farm estate (North London).

• Triggered by deaths of two black women in separate police raids:

  • Cherry Groce — shot by armed police.

  • Cynthia Jarrett — died of a heart attack during a police search.

• Reinforced long‑standing distrust between black communities and the police.

Significance

• Demonstrated deep racial tensions and breakdown of trust in policing.

• Exposed limits of Thatcher’s approach: emphasis on law and order, rejection of structural explanations.

• Highlighted ongoing social division, especially in deprived, multi‑ethnic urban areas.

• Set the stage for later debates on institutional racism (e.g., Macpherson Report in 1999).