Brixton Defence Campaign: Minutes and notes from meetings (4)

The Brixton Defence Campaign was formed in 1981 and carried out mostly political but also legal defence and support work. The Brixton Defence Campaign was formed mainly of two forces, the Brixton Black Women's Group (BBWG) and Black People Against State Harassment (BASH). In its own press statement, the campaign group states that it formed to 'co-ordinate the defence of those arrested during the Brixton Uprising and to support those who continue to be victimised'. The campaign group worked alongside the Brixton Legal Defence Group. The Brixton Uprising took place on the weekend of the 10th-12th April 1981 and saw clashes between the predominantly Black youth of Brixton and the Metropolitan police force. Further uprisings took place throughout the country in the months after April 1981.

A report was conducted, called the Scarman report, into the 1981 Brixton uprising, concluding that later uprisings were copycat disturbances. The Brixton Defence Campaign called for a boycott of the Scarman Inquiry, amongst other demands, as it argued that the evidence in the inquiry 'can only further incriminate defendants and that the recommendations of the inquiry will further oppress the black communities of this country’.