Yes, I'm a failed asylum seeker.
I'm not exactly sure how many years ago it is now that the anti-Poll Tax campaign was active; but I was a poll tax rebel myself. However, I was a rebel amongst rebels - I wasn't protesting against the poll tax because I thought it was unfair; I was protesting at having to pay it to Barnsley Council when I was claiming that since Thurnscoe had a Rotherham address and phone number I actually lived in Rotherham and so would pay my poll-tax to Rotherham instead - so I refused to pay any money to Barnsley and had to appear in court.
In the meantime I had written to the Norwegian Consulate in Birmingham to claim political asylum on the grounds that it's a basic human right to be free to define your own identity [i.e. in what town I lived.] After my court appearance [where I had an attachment of earnings award against my benefit payments] a journalist told me that the consulate had contacted the council's treasury department and wanted a written confirmation that under no circumstances would I be sent to jail - otherwise they would seriously consider my claim for asylum.
At the time there was a lot of controversy in the press about young thugs being sent on 'anger management' courses in the Bahamas and so I arranged to have my photograph taken standing on the pavement outside the court in Barnsley wearing striped pyjamas and carrying a suitcase with an oversized luggage label with the words 'Guilty as Charged - Two Week Anger Management Course In The Bahamas' printed on it. Ironically, this photograph ended up being published on the front page of the Doncaster Star newspaper.
