Latest news with #Miners'Strike
The Herald Scotland
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
'This is a play that dazzles': Blinded by the Light, Traverse, 4 stars
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Neil Cooper Four stars In December 1982, twelve miners descended 2000 feet below the surface of Kinneil Colliery in Bo'ness. This was no ordinary working day, however, but a sit-in protest at the announcement by the National Coal Board of the pit's imminent closure. Two years before the Miners' Strike, and with no support from the unions, the protest's failure was the shape of things to come as British working class culture was transformed forever. Almost forty-three years after the Kinneil sit-in, Sylvia Dow's play excavates this piece of local history in a play that is both mournful and monumental. As it honours the recent past, it also looks to the future in a parallel plot in which a couple of centuries hence everyone is living underground, with the perils of outside an alluring totem of what went before. For those who occupy both time zones in Philip Howard's production for Dow's Sylvian company and the Bo'ness based Barony Theatre, the prospect of change for the better is something to aspire to. Read more This is the case both for Jerry - eighteen in 1982 - who becomes our narrator, and for seventeen-year-old Lily Seven, who has set her heart on going out into the upper world. Jerry, his old school socialist dad Matt and sceptical work mate Andy only want a living wage. Lily Seven and her friend Freddie Nine, meanwhile, read old books en route to a hand-me-down enlightenment that sees them look to an even bigger future than the one they occupy. Dow, Howard, and their cast of five fuse 1970s agit-prop with the sort of dystopian eco-fable that fuelled sci-fi films from the same era that in turn looked back to the brave new world of E.M. Forster's 1909 short story, The Machine Stops. The result in this piece, developed from a ten-minute short performed in 2014, is a lovingly realised tale of hope in a darkened world. Those living through each era criss-cross the centuries on Becky Minto's pitch black set, as Philip Pinsky's quietly seismic underscore pulses the play's light and shade. Andrew Rothney as Jerry, Barrie Hunter as Matt and Rhys Anderson as Andy leave their mark in a way that forms a legacy for Holly Howden Gilchrist's Lily Seven and Reece Montague's Freddie Nine to reclaim. As worlds change when history is made, this is a play that dazzles.
The Herald Scotland
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
KELI at The Royal Lyceum: a bittersweet mix of sadness and euphoria
When the massed ranks of Scottish brass champions the Whitburn Band join forces at the end of Lau accordionist and guitarist Martin Green's new play, alternating with the Fife based Kingdom Brass, the sound they make together is one of unity laced with a bittersweet mix of sadness and euphoria. As the culmination of a show about working class experience in a former mining town decimated by the 1984/85 Miners' Strike, it is a finale that speaks volumes about everything that went before. This is embodied by the seventeen-year-old firebrand who gives Green's play its title. Keli's everyday life may be in chaos as she tends to her mum inbetween shifts at the supermarket and a failing college course, but when she plays her tenor horn with the local brass band she comes alive. Keli's musical skills are recognised by bandleader Brian, who promotes her to soloist for a competition at the Royal Albert Hall. Read more reviews from Neil Cooper: While Keli makes it to London, trying to make the Megabus home takes her on a different path, and she ends up playing her horn at a techno fuelled fetish club. All this is framed by a back and forth between Keli and the ghost of miner and trade unionist Willie Knox after Keli ends up falling down an old pit. Willie's own tenure in the band is spoken of with awe, and his presence is a wake up call for Keli to channel her own talents. Developed from an audio drama and a one off live rendition at the Celtic Connections festival, Green's play taps into the power of music to reclaim and reinvigorate a local culture. Artist Jeremy Deller did something similar in the late 1990s with the soon to be revived Acid Brass, in which a brass band played arrangements of Acid House classics from the post-industrial north. Keli's own clubbing experience here confirms Deller's belief that both brass bands and techno are cross-generational forms of folk art rooted at the heart of specific communities. Forty year after the Miners' Strike, they remain vital forms of expression in a play where music becomes salvation and totem of hope. Green's brass-led underscore played live by a small ensemble led by tenor player Andrew McMillan runs throughout Bryony Shanahan's co-production between the National Theatre of Scotland and Green's Lepus company. Liberty Black gives a mercurial performance as Keli, with Phil McKee making a touching Brian, who understands the need to believe in something in order to survive. Billy Mack as Willie Knox believes this too. It's only life that gets in the way, be it in the form of Keli's mum Jayne, played by Karen Fishwick, or Olivia Hemmati's Amy, who works with Keli. If the band steal the show as they preserve a sense of belonging rooted in the past, Keli's getting of wisdom points to a brave new world beyond.
Daily Mirror
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer urged to listen to voters amid Labour anger over by-election loss to Reform
Keir Starmer said Labour understood people's frustrations and vowed to go 'further and faster' to bring about change after a bruising local election night saw Reform make gains Keir Starmer has been urged to listen to voters after Reform UK seized control of a Labour stronghold in a dramatic by-election win. Nigel Farage 's party won Runcorn and Helsby by just six votes after a recount, overturning Labour's 14,696 majority to elect Sarah Pochin as their fifth MP. The right-wing outfit also swept to victory in local elections across England, winning hundreds of seats off the Tories who saw their vote squeezed by Reform on the right and the Liberal Democrats on the left. Reform also took control of Durham Council in a bitter blow to Labour's hopes of winning back the local authority, which it lost control of in 2021 for the first time in a century. The area, which elected six Labour MPs at the General Election, was at the centre of the Miners' Strike of the 1980s and is home to the annual Miners' Gala. Labour held onto a trio of mayoralties in Doncaster, the West of England and North Tyneside. But Doncaster's Labour Mayor Ros Jones - whose majority was slashed to just 698 after a battle with Reform - slammed the PM over cuts to the winter fuel allowance, rise in employers' national insurance contributions and benefit cuts. She said Labour 'need to be listening to the man, woman and businesses on the street, and actually deliver for the people, with the people.' The Prime Minister said Labour understood people's frustrations and vowed to go "further and faster" to bring about change. He said: "What I want to say is, my response is we get it. We were elected last year to bring about change." He added Labour have "started that work" with changes such as reductions in NHS waiting lists. "I am determined that we will go further and faster on the change that people want to see," he added. "The reason that we took the tough but right decisions in the budget was because we inherited a broken economy. Maybe other prime ministers would have walked past that, pretended it wasn't there... I took the choice to make sure our economy was stable." TUC leader Paul Nowak urged Mr Starmer not to respond to the results by swinging to the right. He told the Mirror: 'Labour has nothing to gain from trying to out-Reform Reform. "It will just bleed votes in both directions. But this Government will be rewarded if it delivers the change working people are crying out for.' The results triggered a furious backlash from Labour MPs, who urged the Government to change course. Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool West Derby, said: "If we do not improve the situation that millions of working class people find themselves in after 14 yrs of austerity, we will be rolling the red carpet out to Reform at the next General Election. "I urge the Labour leadership to now truly reflect and change course. If they do not, I genuinely fear the country will face the consequences of a far right government in four years' time. One senior Labour MP told The Mirror: 'Welfare and winter fuel absolutely dominated and I'd say it proves the NHS wedge issue doesn't work.' Another backbencher said: "Runcorn is a warning we can't ignore, doing nothing is not an option, we will end up with an extreme right wing government. The leadership needs to take their head out of the sand." And at the Trident Park shopping centre in Runcorn people spoke of their disappointment. Kerry Sutcliffe, 32, was visiting the shops after finishing the school run. She said: 'It's just been more of the same hasn't it? I think people were expecting more from them, for them to make some strong decisions. 'But nothing's changed. Bills are going up, everything is still really expensive. And they seem to be going after the easy targets. The winter fuel allowance cut made a lot of people very angry. Taking money from people who are struggling.' Pensioner Kath Lee, 72, said: 'The cut to the fuel allowance was a bad move. They need to listen to what people are saying. I feel worse off now than I did a year ago.' 'Labour is meant to be the party for all the people, but they just seem to be making more cuts. It's just like the Tories, nothing's changed. It's always been Labour around here, this shows how disappointed everyone is.' The biggest losers from Reform's march were the Tories, who shed hundreds of seats and lost Staffordshire, Lincolnshire, Kent, Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire councils to Mr Farage. Mr Farage declared: "[These elections] mark the beginning of the end of the Conservative Party." Humiliated Tory leader Kemi Badenoch apologised to ousted councillors, saying: "We have a big job to do to rebuild trust with the public." However there was one bright spot for the party as ex-MP Paul Bristow was elected mayor in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Elections expert Professor Sir John Curtice said Reform would have won 30% of the vote if the results were replicated in a general election. His projected vote share analysis for the BBC put Labour on 20%, the Liberal Democrats on 17% and the Tories languishing on 15%. Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: 'Lifelong Conservative voters have put their faith in the Liberal Democrats because they are appalled by the Conservatives lurching to the extremes and cosying up to Nigel Farage. 'Kemi Badenoch sneered at the Liberal Democrats for being the party that will fix your church roof. Today voters across the country have chosen our community politics over the Conservative Party's neglect and disdain.' Reform also elected its first two mayors with former boxer and Olympic medallist Luke Campbell winning the new Hull & East Yorkshire post and Tory defector Dame Andrea Jenkyns was victorious in Greater Lincolnshire. Other candidates walked out of her victory speech as she said asylum seekers should be forced to live in tents. Dame Andrea complained about being accused of being "parachuted in" to the seat by a rival with a South African accent - and then stormed out of a Sky News interview when asked why her opponent's accent was relevant.
Daily Mirror
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Reform UK win symbolic Labour area in bitter blow for Keir Starmer
Reform UK has delivered another bitter blow to Keir Starmer as the party won control of Durham council - a totemic Labour area. Labour lost control of Durham council back in 2021 for the first time in a century and had been hoping to win back ground at the ballot box this week. But Reform candidates sweeped a majority on the council and took control on Friday. The area, which elected six Labour MPs at last year's General Election, was at the centre of the Miners' Strike of the 1980s and is home to the annual Miners' Gala. It will be another difficult result for Mr Starmer after a bruising defeat at the Runcorn and Helsby by-election to Nigel Farage's Reform UK in the early hours of Friday morning. The party fell short by just six votes - one of the closest parliamentary votes ever - to Reform's new MP Sarah Pochin who took the seat. The Runcorn and Helsby by-election ran alongside local elections and was triggered after former Labour MP Mike Amesbury quit after admitting punching a constituent. Amesbury won 53% of the vote at the general election - and the defeat, along with Reform gains in other Labour heartlands, will cause unease in Downing Street. Responding to the defeat on Friday, Mr Starmer said the result was "disappointing" - but insisted he is determined to go "further and faster" in delivering change. The PM told voters: "What I want to say is, my response is we get it. We were elected last year to bring about change." He added Labour have "started that work" with changes such as reductions in NHS waiting lists, and he went on: "I am determined that we will go further and faster on the change that people want to see." Reform UK took control of Staffordshire County Council after taking eight further seats when counting resumed on Friday to reach 32. It gave Mr Farage's party a majority on the council with Conservatives taking six seats, with a further 24 still to be announced. The Conservatives previously controlled the council with 53 seats, with Labour on five and four independents. In a bruising set of results, Kemi Badenoch's Tories also lost control of Devon council amid gains by Liberal Democrats and Reform UK. Posting on X, the Conservative leader said: "These were always going to be a very difficult set of elections coming off the high of 2021, and our historic defeat last year - and so it's proving. "The renewal of our party has only just begun and I'm determined to win back the trust of the public and the seats we've lost, in the years to come."
Telegraph
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The Rev Richard Coles: I vowed to dance on Thatcher's grave – then I met her
As a young and idealistic pop star, The Rev Richard Coles vowed that he would one day dance on Margaret Thatcher's grave. Now he has recalled the moment that they came face-to-face in a Knightsbridge church decades later, and Coles realised that she was not the 'wicked' figure of his imagination. He told the Oxford Literary Festival: 'In the 1980s, I was involved in adopting a Welsh mining village that was utterly destroyed by the end of industry there. And Margaret Thatcher's name was infamous. I can remember at the time vowing that I would one day dance on her grave – I'm not proud of it now, but it was in the heat of the moment. 'Years later, she became a parishioner of mine in Knightsbridge. I was the curate of the parish where she lived. I did the funeral of, I think, her sister-in-law. And suddenly there she was, of course very frail. It was not long before she died and her grip on reality was uncertain. She had her people with her. 'It was so interesting to see someone who in my mind was a character of unimaginable darkness, wickedness, but was just, of course, a frail old woman. 'And then, after she died, she was buried at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. I was at a do there and I was standing next to her grave [Baroness Thatcher's ashes were interred beside those of her husband, Denis, in the hospital grounds]. Of course, I wouldn't and didn't.' Coles, a former contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, joked that he considered doing 'maybe just half a cha-cha'. Coles was involved in a gay and lesbian support group for miners at the time of the Miners' Strike. After leaving the music business he joined the Church, latterly as a vicar in Finedon, Northants, before retiring from clerical duties in 2022. He is the author of a cosy crime series about a vicar in a village with an unusually high crime rate. The books are being adapted for television with Matthew Lewis, the actor best known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films, as the leading man. The series will launch on Channel 5 in the autumn. Last year, Coles entered the jungle as a contestant on ITV's I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! 'I hadn't planned on that happening,' he said. 'The woman who produced it, I have worked with her on something else and I like her very much. They ask me every year and I always say no. Last year she asked me and my agent said, 'Maybe you should let her down gently. Ask for a ridiculous fee and she will have to say no.' And then she said yes.' Coles has remained friendly with his fellow camp mates. He said: 'There is a very busy WhatsApp group. We've got a reunion coming up and we're all desperately trying to be invited to Coleen Rooney's.'
