ABSTRACT
It is 1975 – twenty-two years ago at the time of writing. Britain is facing a dark future. Unemployment is high; fewer and fewer teenagers now have the opportunity to find employment or an apprenticeship. Unemployment benefit of £18 a week brings these teenagers close to the Government’s poverty line. The rate of inflation is constantly 10 per cent or more. Wage strikes rock the country and in 1976 race riots break out. The decline in tax receipts linked to the lack of income of increasing numbers of the population ruins the municipal authorities and their services. Whole districts of cities begin to show signs of decline: the effects of sixties city redevelopment policy mean that stone deserts are created out of decaying architecture. This situation is coincident with right-wing conservatism which becomes Government policy with the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1979. The headlines in the mass media hammer the word ‘crisis’ into the public consciousness in larger and larger letters. A call for ‘law and order’ sweeps across the country. The Sex Pistols, recently formed, release their debut single ‘Anarchy in the UK’ (after Wicke 1990: 140–141).
