South Shields playwright Ed Waugh to hold talk about The General Strike in Newcastle
South Shields playwright Ed Waugh to give talk about The General Strike
Renowned playwright Ed Waugh is set to hold a talk about the 1926 General Strike at Newcastle City Library this week.
From South Shields, Ed’s talk, named ‘Tyneside and The General Strike’, will cover the effects the strike had on Tyneside and will be held on Saturday, September 12 at 11:30am.
His hit play The Cramlington Train Wreckers highlights the most notorious incident of the General Strike, when striking miners inadvertently derailed the Flying Scotsman at Cramlington, Northumberland.
Ed said: “The General Strike of 1926 was the biggest rupture in society since the civil wars of the 1640s and it posed the question of state power; it was the working class against the capitalist system.
“Despite the TUC “leaders” not preparing for the event and being ready to sell out the strike from day one, the rank and file of the trade unions, and Labour Party and Communist Party members, organised into councils of action throughout the country.
“This was the nascent form of an alternative government and social and economic system.”
Tickets are free but must be pre-booked online.
Ed said: “The full nine days of the General Strike are a fascinating time in British history and the talk is about how workers instinctively organised while being pursued by the Tory Government, the police and the army.