Thatcher 'Was Warned Against Poll Tax Pilot'

Margaret Thatcher's government ignored advice warning them against testing the poll tax in Scotland.

Margaret Thatcher's government ignored advice warning them against testing the poll tax in Scotland.

The archived documents, showing an advisor said the country could be a "trailblazer" for the tariff, have been released under the 30 year rule.

The file show Oliver Letwin, then a policy adviser in Downing Street, urged the then-Prime Minister to introduce the charge against the advice of other officials. The documents also reveal that George Younger, then Scottish Secretary, supported the introduction of the poll tax in Cabinet.

Scots who didn't pay the poll tax will be protected by a new law - while Fife's Labour-led council says it won't chase outstanding cash.

Shadow Scottish Secretary, Margaret Curran MP, said:

"Now we know for sure what many suspected during the 1980s - that the Tories saw Scotland as a test bed for the poll tax. All through this time, the Scottish Labour Party stood against it, and stood with people across Scotland who were hit.

“The poll tax was wrong and unjust. It dealt a blow to people the length and breadth of Scotland who could not afford to pay it and was rightly one of the final straws that led to the end of Margaret Thatcher’s time in Downing Street. People across Scotland will never forget the poll tax.

"That George Younger was one of the main proponents of the tax, against advice from the Treasury, is astounding and shows just how out of touch the Tory Scottish Secretary was with the people of Scotland."

SNP MSP Jamie Dornan says Scots cannot put their trust in the Conservatives, or Labour: