Spectacular send-off to pageant campaign

TWO HUNDRED trade unionists, housewives and HUNDRED trade unionists, housewives a young workers packed into Middleton Labour Cl young workers packed into Middleton Labour Club on Thursday night to give a spectacular send-off the campaign for the Pageant of Labour History the Empire Pool, Wembley, on March II.

Last night.the campaign rolled into South Shields. On Tuesday it will be the turn of Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, then, next Thursday, it will be back to Manchester for what promises to be an even bigger success at Langley Labour Club.

Middleton had never seen anything like it.

It was standing-room-only for a tremendous cabaret featuring David Hargreaves, Corin Redgrave, Maggie Nolan, Lisa Martin, Malcolm Tierney and Kika Markham with the support of two local singers. -As Stan Thorogood, secre- FROM DAVID MAUDE far Of these boy how that IN MIDDLETON PHOTOGRAPHS starts from getting the Tories BY P. J. ARKELL out is bound to be a success round here. We want them out, and quickly. But this has been really impressive.

'We have offered the organizers of the pageant accommodation for rehearsals here, and from the response it looks like it's successful foing to be very Middleton is in the heartland of the working class's 19th-century struggle for basic It is just eight miles from the site of the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 and workers there have a very strong sense of their history. The Chartist struggles of 1838-1848 were born in the area. Already a number of housewives and trade unionists have come forward to present this struggle at the Empire Pool. audience included one by Corin There was a telling incident Redgrave and Malcolm Tierney during the cabaret itself when, following the pattern of the after a series of sketches, the Western Brothers music hall company piesented a sequence routine, but updated to deal on the 1926 General Strike. with the scandals involving members of the Tory govern'We lost that one,' came a voice from the audience. Some- ment today. one else replied: 'But we won't Corin Redgrave and Maggie lose the next.' Nolan pilloried the activities Then ensued a completely of the present-day assetspontaneous political discus- strippers-who buy up indussion around the lessons of tries only to sell them off and 1926 and its implications for make thousands redundant. today. Peter Armitage. a nonular The sketches which had a naster of ceremonies, Jec particular impact on the everyone present in what will YONALG. SOC AL S S TANIA SOICHA LASH LABOUB LEAGUE THE BUILDING OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY be the keynote song of the pageant "The Road to Workers' Power.

Right fists clenched, young men and women from local factories jumped on to their seats to join in. Clapping to the beat, older trade unionists and their wives stood smiling at their tables.

Later, while tickets for the pageant were being sold hand over fist, Labour councillor Geoff Luddens told me he was very impressed with the evening's work.

'I think the message went home here and I am sure you will win the support from a lot of Labour Party members for this campaign,' he said.

'What has been said about the need to commit the leadership of the Labour Party to socialist policies is right. This must be done. We can get the Tories out, but will only keep them out for good if the compromise with • the right-wing around Jenkins is ended.' . Graham Dyer, unionist from estate, said he GENŁKAL STRIKE 1926 ALL POWER THE ETOAD TO