The end of the GLC

There was a tale that at the end of the Clinton presidency in the US, the White House was stripped, even down to computer keyboard key-caps being taken. The same thing happened at County Hall on the abolition of the GLC; fixtures, fittings, even a marble fireplace were looted by the Comrades. Everything saleable or pawnable was stolen - a theft of taxpayer assets on a massive scale. The spitefulness towards Tory voters was palpable, as this contemporary Comrade's account reveals:

There were further concerts at Jubilee Gardens on the South Bank and elsewhere. Sometimes it was Billy Bragg supported by Hank Wangford and sometimes it was Hank Wangford supported by Billy Bragg. On the one occasion when they tried someone new, a concert by The Smiths was ruined by a group of skinheads climbing on the stage and Sieg Heil-ing to the crowd of lefties down below. That was about as constructive as the arguments against a London-wide authority got. On the night that the GLC was officially abolished thousands of pounds of fireworks lit up the sky. It was fantastic--if only all those Conservative voters in Bromley and Finchley could have seen how much of their money was being wasted! Then, on the stroke of midnight [ April 1, 1986 ] , workers from the London Residuary Body moved in and started ripping everything down, signs, placards, banners--anything with a GLC logo on it--while the crowd looked on and booed.

I'll bet the shredders are working at red-hot today in the glass testicle; equipment inventories are sure to be amongst the first things shredded. It would be fun to watch Livingstone's stooges this evening carrying out everything from laptops to water coolers. It would be even more fun if plod was there this time to stop them. Mind you, with Len Duvall with his weapons conviction as today's chairman of the MPA ......