When the square was first built, demonstrations were banned. The ban lasted until the 1880s, when the new Labour movement start to hold demonstrations. One group that did this was the Social Democratic Federation. On "Black Monday", 6 February 1886, there was a major demonstration about unemployment which led to a riot in Pall Mall. There were demonstrations in the 1980s against South African apartheid. In 1990 there were riots against the Poll tax. In the 2000s there have been demonstrations against the Iraq war.