 In March 1981, he approved Wolverhampton council's 14-day ban on political marches in the borough in response to a planned National Front demonstration there.Inner city decay, unemployment and what was perceived at the time as heavy-handed policing of ethnic minorities (notably the application of what some called the "notorious" sus law) sparked major riots in London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Leeds, and a spate of disturbances elsewhere.The Provisional IRA escalated its bombing campaign in England.