Abstract
While Labour was tearing itself apart over ratecapping, Mrs Thatcher was busy pursuing the other major element of her second term attack on local government — the abolition of the GLC and the six metropolitan county councils. The GLC in particular stood for everything she disliked about Labour town halls. It pioneered many of the new Left initiatives and seemed to spend money like water. Its leader, Ken Livingstone, proved a constant source of irritation. Above all, it was the flagship of municipal socialism.
‘The GLC is typical of this new, modern, divisive form of socialism. It must be defeated. So we shall abolish the GLC’ (Norman Tebbit, March 1984).
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© 1989 Stewart Lansley, Sue Goss and Christian Wolmar
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Lansley, S., Goss, S., Wolmar, C. (1989). ‘Working for London’. In: Councils in Conflict. Public Policy and Politics. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20231-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20231-7_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-45413-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-20231-7
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