Ari-up, lead singer of The Slits in her Silver Jubilee Knickers, Sussex University, Brighton, June 15th 1977

With youth unemployment climbing sharply and the housing shortage a national scandal, leaders of our land were busy organisation parties and celebrations for the Queen Elizabeth 11’s Silver Jubilee. Punks responded with ironic contempt: Ari-up wore her Silver Jubilee knickers over her trousers in the street as well as on stage, The Sex Pistols released ‘God Save the Queen’ with the Jamie Reid cover of the Queen with a safety pin though her nose and Derek Jarman made his film ‘Jubilee’ (released in 1978) with a cast of characters creating mayhem through the streets of shattered Britain.