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Speaker’s Corner Teacher Guide
Speaker’s Corner Teacher Guide
KS3 History and Citizenship
Introduction
This guide is intended to support the lesson materials on Speaker’s Corner for both History and Citizenship at KS3.
The lessons are intended to provide teachers with imaginative ideas for teaching the KS3 curriuclum, as well as an introduction to the area of Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. It is hoped that these activities will help engage the pupils with the area, and with the Living History performances at the site.
The activities and the topics covered within them are by no means exhaustive, and teachers should feel free to adapt them to suit the needs of their own pupils.
KS3 History
Lesson 1- Punishment in the Park
Learning Outcomes:All pupils will be able to recall methods of punishments used in the park and use sources for informationMost will be able to describe how the park was used for punishments with examples and make inferences from sourcesSome will be able to consider reliability and usefulness of sources
Planning for those students that are SEN: Assessment for Learning Strategies
Self assessment of tasks from class feedback, and progress in class in the plenary.
Teacher questioning of pupils, targeted according to ability.
Use of National Curriculum levels
Resources:
PowerPoint with hyperlinks to video clips, print slides 2-4, 6-7 as worksheets for the pupils.
Pupils are given stepped tasks where they may select the level appropriate to them.Pupils are given a key words list for the lesson.
Planning for those students that are Gifted and Talented:Pupils may complete the level appropriate to them for the source activity and complete an extended written response on the objective.Pupils may complete their own independent research on Tyburn.
Planning for those students that are EAL:Pupils complete a range of audio visual activities and are provided with a key words list for the lesson.
Teaching and Learning Activities:Starter - Development – PlenaryStarter- Pupils match the punishment with the crime to give an overview of crime and punishment in the period. Teacher introduces the learning objectives.
Development 1- Pupils watch the clip and complete the empathy wheel to understand what it may have been like at Tyburn for both prisoners and spectators.
Development 2- Pupils watch the clip on the gallows and complete the questions. Teacher elicits responses from the pupils and checks understanding.
Development 3- Pupils use the list of things to find in Hogarth’s print to encourage a closer analysis of the picture. Some pupils share with the class. Pupils complete the level grid according to their own ability. Teacher explains key words and checks understanding.
Plenary- Pupils share 5 things they learnt in the lesson. Teacher monitors feedback to inform future planning if needed.
Lesson 2- Protest in the Park
Learning Outcomes:
All pupils will be able to explain how the park has been used for protestMost will be able to give examples and show some evidence of independent researchSome will be able to give different examples of how the park has been used for protest and make comparisons
Planning for those students that are SEN: Assessment for Learning Strategies
Self assessment of tasks from class feedback, and progress in class in the plenary.
Teacher questioning of pupils, targeted according to ability.
Use of National Curriculum levels in the presentations of the different protests
Resources:
PowerPoint, print slide 3 and cut into cards for pupils to be allocated different protests. ICT to complete the protests. Access to research material.
Pupils will be grouped to aid their progress in the task. They will be given roles and topics that are more accessible for the pupils.Pupils are given a key words list for the lesson.
Planning for those students that are Gifted and Talented:Pupils may complete a piece of extended writing on the ways in which the park has been used for protest, and complete some independent research on those events not covered.
Planning for those students that are EAL:Pupils will be encouraged in speaking and listening activities, and will be provided with a key words list for the lesson.
Teaching and Learning Activities:Starter - Development – PlenaryStarter- Pupils mind map different ways that people can protest to introduce the topic. Teacher introduces the learning objectives
Development 1- Teacher gives an overview of Hyde Park as a place for protest. Teachers elicit what pupils already know about Speaker’s Corner to establish prior learning.
Development 2- Teacher introduces the group activity and the outcome that the class will create a museum of exhibitions on Speaker’s Corner. Teacher places pupils into appropriate groupings to aid learning.
Development 3- Pupils share their exhibitions as a class. Teacher elicits presentations from the curators of each exhibition. Teacher encourages pupils to make connections and comparisons with the different protests.
Plenary- Pupils pick which pictures they think best represent Speaker’s Corner and justify their choices to the class.
Lesson 3- Speakers in the Park
Learning Outcomes:All pupils will be able to recall individuals that have spoken at the parkMost will be able to explain who the individuals are and present clearly to the classSome will be able to make comparisons between different individuals across different time periods
Planning for those students that are SEN: Assessment for Learning Strategies
Peer assessment of presentations on the individuals.
Teacher questioning of pupils, targeted according to ability.
Teacher use of National Curriculum levels in the presentations of the individuals
Plenary to assess knowledge and understanding from the lesson.
Resources:
PowerPoint, print slide 3 and cut into cards for the starter. Slide 5 for peer assessment sheets, slide 7 for plenary activities. Speaker’s Corner biographies pack.
Pupils will be grouped to aid their progress in the task. They will be given roles and topics that are more accessible for the pupils. Some of the biographies are in larger type and not as challenging as other individuals.Pupils are given a key words list for the lesson.
Planning for those students that are Gifted and Talented:Pupils may complete some independent research on those individuals not covered: Karl Marx, George Orwell and Marcus Garvey.
Planning for those students that are EAL:Pupils will be encouraged in speaking and listening activities, and will be provided with a key words list for the lesson.
Teaching and Learning Activities:Starter - Development – PlenaryStarter- Pupils are each given a small card. They are given 3 minutes to walk around the room and find the 5 facts about Speaker’s Corner. They read their card to another pupil, who then reads their card back, and then they swap and move on. If they have duplicate cards they find another pupil. Teacher takes in cards and then elicits the facts from the pupils, feeding back on a mind map on the board.
Development 1- Teacher introduces the objective for the lesson, explains the task and divides the pupils into groups where the pupils will learn best.
Development 2- Pupils use the biographies of the individuals to pick out the important information and present to the class. Teachers may wish to encourage extra research.
Development 3- Pupils share their presentations as a class and complete the peer assessment sheets.
Plenary- Pupils play ‘Find someone who.’ They have 3 minutes to find someone who can remember something about each individual, record what they say and who told them. Teacher elicits responses as a group to check understanding.
Speaker’s Corner Visit-
History
1. Name 5 famous individuals that have spoken at Speaker’s Corner:
2. Name 5 events which people have protested about at Speaker’s Corner:
3. Can you find the site of the Tyburn Tree? Make a rubbing of the memorial marker on a plain piece of paper.
4. Describe what Tyburn was used for:
Now it is time to watch the performance! Remember to listen carefully and see if you can answer these questions after the performance is finished:
1. How much is it to be part of the galleries? 2 shillings2. Who is Jack Shephard? A criminal being hanged at Tyburn3. Who is Michael Joseph? A blacksmith hung for his part in the Cornish rebellion in
14974. When was Jack Shephard hanged? 17245. What was the Sunday Bill? A bill put before parliament to ban types of recreation on
a Sunday6. Who is Karl Marx? He wrote the Communist Manifesto7. When did the government back down and allow public meetings at Speaker’s
Corner? 18728. What is a suffragette? A demonstrator for votes for women9. How does Jacob van Dyn describe himself? A notorious criminal10. What kinds of things did Bonar Thompson speak about? Socialism, capitalism,
communism11. Who does Prince Monolulu almost swear about? Adolf Hitler12. Where do the speakers stand on the corner? On platforms, very close to one another
KS3 Citizenship
Lesson 1- Debating
Learning Outcomes:All pupils will be able to share an opinion on an issueMost will be able give an opinion both for and against a motionSome will be able make rebuttals against other pupil’s points
Planning for those students that are SEN: Assessment for Learning Strategies
Self and peer assessment of participation in the boxing match.
Teacher questioning of pupils, targeted according to ability.
Resources:
PowerPoint, print slide 2 and cut into cards for pupils choose hot topics. Slides 3 and 6 are to be photocopied and given to pupils as worksheets.
Pupils will be grouped to aid their progress in the task. They will be given roles and topics that are more accessible for the pupils.Pupils are given a key words list for the lesson.
Planning for those students that are Gifted and Talented:Pupils can practice ‘rebuttals’ against points that have been made, and plan summary speeches for a debate.
Planning for those students that are EAL:Pupils will be encouraged in speaking and listening activities, and will be provided with a key words list for the lesson.
Teaching and Learning Activities:Starter - Development – PlenaryStarter- Pupils select a hot topic. Teachers may like to make this a ‘lucky dip’ in a bag, or allocate topics to pupils. Pupils then mark their place on the continuum sheet with an ‘X’ and write an explanation. Teachers may like to extend this activity further and make the continuum as a class.
Development 1- Pupils pick a hot topic and practice their speech in a pair. A selection are then shared with the class. Teacher elicits from pupils what makes the speeches persuasive, and encourages examples of language for the pupils to record and use in their debates.
Development 2- Boxing Match planning. Teacher displays the rules and shares the agreed topic with the class. Teacher then puts pupils into groups and tells them whether they propose or oppose the motion.
Development 3- Pupils have the match and record their scores on their punch bags. Teacher encourages ‘knock out’ punches- direct rebuttals to what has been said.
Plenary- The scoring is shared, and pupils complete a self and peer reflection on the class debate. Pupils set themselves a target to improve.
Lesson 2- Heckling
Learning Outcomes:All pupils will be able to explain what heckling isMost will understand how to participate in a debate as an observerSome will be able to confidently respond to points of information and rebuttals
Planning for those students that are SEN: Assessment for Learning Strategies
Self and peer assessment of the debate using the assessment grids.
Teacher questioning of pupils, targeted according to ability.
Resources:
PowerPoint, slide 1 has a hyperlink to Prime Minister’s Questions, slide 5 should be printed as a handout for pupils.
Pupils will be grouped to aid their progress in the task. They will be given roles and topics that are more accessible for the pupils.Pupils are given a key words list for the lesson.
Planning for those students that are Gifted and Talented:Pupils will research points of information on their chosen debates and plan for rebuttals and points of information. They will be selected to be the main speakers in Just a Minute.
Planning for those students that are EAL:Pupils will be encouraged in speaking and listening activities, and will be provided with a key words list for the lesson.
Teaching and Learning Activities:Starter - Development – PlenaryStarter- Pupils watch the short clip of Prime Minister’s Question Time. Teacher elicits from pupils how other MPs are participating in the debates and what the effect is on the debate. Teacher introduces the learning objectives.
Development 1- The rules of ‘Just a Minute’ are explained to the class. More confident pupils take the role of the main speakers, other pupils are encouraged to challenge as much as possible as an introduction of how to be involved in a debate.
Development 2- Teacher explains the meaning of Points of Information, and contributions of the floor. Teacher organises a debate, either using suggestions for a motion from the class, ones unused from the previous lesson or chooses something topical to discuss. Pupils are put into proposition and opposition teams, or floor audience.
Development 3-Pupils have the debate as a class, teacher may like to have several small debates, giving pupils short timeframes to prepare and speak.
Plenary- Pupils complete the self assessment grid using the assessment criteria for debating.
Lesson 3- Democracy
Learning Outcomes:All pupils will be able to recall the meaning of democracyMost will be able to give examples of democracySome will be able to create a representative of democracy and explain their choices
Planning for those students that are SEN: Assessment for Learning Strategies
Peer assessment of the MPs.
Teacher questioning of pupils, targeted according to ability.
Resources:
PowerPoint, large sheets of sugar paper and felt pens to share their MP.
Pupils will be grouped to aid their progress in the task. They will be given roles and topics that are more accessible for the pupils.Pupils are given a key words list for the lesson.
Planning for those students that are Gifted and Talented:Pupils can research voting systems and political parties in the UK.
Planning for those students that are EAL:Pupils will be encouraged in speaking and listening activities, and will be provided with a key words list for the lesson.
Teaching and Learning Activities:Starter - Development – PlenaryStarter- Pupils vote on which image they prefer. Teacher introduces the learning objectives and elicits what they pupils know already to assess prior knowledge.
Development 1- Pupils appoint a representative to make their decisions for them. The class discuss and debate both systems- the benefits and disadvantages for running a country.
Development 2- Pupils are then placed in pairs and given sugar paper and pens. They must draw an outline of an MP and annotate descriptions of what they think the perfect MP should be like. Teacher displays a list of prompt questions on the PowerPoint.
Development 3- Pupils display their MP’s around the classroom. One pupil stays with the drawing to explain it to the rest of the class, and the other walks around looking at others. They are then give time to return and make any changes they wish.
Plenary- Pupils then make class contributions to put together the perfect MP and to see if they agree, or if there are some common characteristics. Pupils could rank and justify these.
Speaker’s Corner Visit- Citizenship
1. What is a heckler?
2. What are the two sides of the debate called?
3. How can observers participate in a debate?
4. How is Speaker’s Corner representative of democracy?
5. ‘Speaker’s Corner is no longer needed in a 21st Century world.” How far do you agree with this statement? Have a class debate on site!
AGREE__________________________________________________DISAGREE
Now it is time to watch the performance! Remember to listen carefully and see if you can answer these questions after the performance is finished:
1. How much is it to be part of the galleries? 2 shillings2. Who is Jack Shephard? A criminal being hanged at Tyburn3. Who is Michael Joseph? A blacksmith hung for his part in the Cornish rebellion in
14974. When was Jack Shephard hanged? 17245. What was the Sunday Bill? A bill put before parliament to ban types of recreation
on a Sunday6. Who is Karl Marx? He wrote the Communist Manifesto7. When did the government back down and allow public meetings at Speaker’s
Corner? 18728. What is a suffragette? A demonstrator for votes for women9. How does Jacob van Dyn describe himself? A notorious criminal10. What kinds of things did Bonar Thompson speak about? Socialism, capitalism,
communism11. Who does Prince Monolulu almost swear about? Adolf Hitler12. Where do the speakers stand on the corner? On platforms, very close to one
another
Speakers
at the Corner
Vladimir Lenin
Lenin was one of the leading political figures and revolutionary thinkers of the 20th century, who masterminded the Bolshevik take-over of power in Russia in 1917, and was the architect and first head of the USSR.
Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov was born in Simbirsk on the Volga River on 22 April 1870 into a well-educated family. He excelled at school and went on to study law. At university, he was exposed to radical thinking, and his views were also influenced by the execution of his elder brother, a member of a revolutionary group.
Expelled from university for his radical policies, Lenin completed his law degree as an external student in 1891. He moved to St Petersburg and became a professional revolutionary. Like many of his contemporaries, he was arrested and exiled to Siberia, where he married Nadezhda Krupskaya. After his Siberian exile, Lenin - the pseudonym he adopted in 1901 - spent most of the subsequent decade and a half in western Europe. He visited Speaker’s Corner in 1902 and spent much time listening to the speeches there. He soon emerged as a prominent figure in the international revolutionary movement and became the leader of the 'Bolshevik' faction of the Russian Social Democratic Worker's Party.
He eventually led what was soon to be known as the October Revolution, but was effectively a coup d'etat. Almost three years of civil war followed. The Bolsheviks were victorious and assumed total control of the country. When his efforts to transform the Russian economy to a socialist model stalled, he introduced the New Economic Policy, where a measure of private enterprise was again permitted, a policy that continued for several years after his death. In 1918, Lenin narrowly survived an assassination attempt, but was severely wounded. His long term health was affected, and in 1922 he suffered a stroke from which he never fully recovered. Lenin died on 24 January 1924. His corpse was embalmed and placed in a mausoleum on Moscow's Red Square
Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley was born on 16th November 1896. Educated at Winchester and Sandhurst he fought with the 16th Lancers on the Western Front during the First World War. He later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps but was invalided out of the war after a plane crash in 1916.
Mosley became the youngest MP in the House of Commons after winning Harrow for the Conservative Party in the 1918 General Election. Mosley eventually became disillusioned with the Conservative Party and he won Harrow as an Independent in the 1922 General Election. Two years later Mosley joined the Independent Labour Party and in 1926 he was elected to represent Smethwick. In October 1927 Mosley was elected to the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party. He was now one of the leading figures in the party. David Low remarked that "Mosley was young, energetic, capable and an excellent speaker."
In January 1932 Mosley met Benito Mussolini in Italy. Mosley was impressed by Mussolini's achievements and when he returned to England he disbanded the New Party and replaced it with the British Union of Fascists. By 1934 Mosley was expressing strong anti-Semitic views and provocative marches through Jewish districts in London led to riots. He spoke at Speaker’s Corner in September 1934 which resulted in a violent clash with anti-fascists. The passing of the 1936 Public Order Act that made the wearing of political uniforms and private armies illegal, using threatening and abusive words a criminal offence, and gave the Home Secretary the powers to ban marches, completely undermined the activities of the BUF.
The outbreak of the Second World War further reduced support for the British Union of Fascists. On 22nd May 1940 the British government announced the imposition of Defence Regulation 18B. This legislation gave the Home Secretary the right to imprison without trial anybody he believed likely to "endanger the safety of the realm". The following day, Mosley was arrested. Over the next few days other prominent figures in the BUF were imprisoned. On the 30th May the BUF was dissolved and its publications were banned.
Oswald Mosley died on 3rd December 1980.
Christabel Pankhurst
Emmeline (left), with her daughters Christabel (centre), and Sylvia Pankhurst, (right)
Christabel Pankhurst, along with her mother Emmeline Pankhurst, was one of the driving forces of the Suffragette movement. Christabel was born on September 22nd 1880. In 1903 Christabel along with her mother co-founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), which became better known as the Suffragettes. In 1905 she was arrested for disrupting a meeting of the Liberal Party. Along with Annie Kenney, she shouted out ‘Votes for Women’ when speakers were on stage addressing the audience. Christabel was fined for disturbing the peace but she refused to pay and was put in prison. The media paid a great deal of attention to this whole episode and served to highlight the Suffragette cause. As a result, many more women decided to join. In 1906, Christabel was awarded a Law degree from Manchester University. After this she moved to London where she became the organising secretary of the WSPU. Despite support from the fledgling Independent Labour Party and some MP’s, the real power base in Parliament refused to accept the notion of female suffrage. As a result the Suffragettes became more extreme in their approach. They argued that they were pushed into becoming more militant as a result of Parliament’s obstruction. Christabel was jailed in 1907 and 1909 and was dubbed the ‘Queen of the Mob’ by the media. In 1910, the WSPU decided that the only way they were going to achieve their aims was to become more disruptive. Demonstrations with placards was replaced with stone throwing, breaking of shop windows, attacking politicians who were known to be against women’s suffrage. She spoke at Speaker’s Corner on 23rd July 1910, campaigning for the vote for women. The ‘Queen of the Mob’ became a target for the police and to an extent Christabel invited their attention. On September 8th 1914 she spoke at the London Opera House and gave a speech entitled ‘The German Peril’. Christabel was a supporter of conscription and the ‘industrial conscription’ of women. In 1918, the Representation of the People’s Act introduced women’s suffrage for those over 30 years of age. Christabel Pankhurst died on February 13th 1958 in California aged 77.
Ras Prince Monolulu
Born in 1881 in St Croix, Danish West Indies , his real name was Peter Carl Mackay (or McKay). He was something of an institution on the British horse racing scene from the 1920s until the time of his death. He was particularly noticeable for his brightly coloured clothing; as a tipster, one of his best known phrases was the cry "I gotta horse!", which was subsequently the title of his memoirs. He frequently featured in newsreel broadcasts, and as a consequence was probably the most well-known black man in Britain of the time.
Although claiming to be a chief of the Falasha tribe of Abyssinia, the reality is that he came from the Caribbean island of St Croix (now part of the United States Virgin Islands). He styled himself as a Prince after being press-ganged on one occasion, assuming that a prince would be far less likely to be so harassed.
He rose to prominence after picking out the horse Spion Kop (cf. Battle of Spion Kop) in the 1920 Derby, which came in at the long odds of 100-6, and from which he personally made some £8,000, a vast amount of money at the time. He was first charged with use of ‘improper language’ at Speaker’s Corner in 1928.
His family (father and brothers) were horse breeders, raisers and racers on St Croix though they were more conventional. There was a case in the 1920s where their knowledge of superior horses was used against a gambler who perpetrated the murder of a child to make a horse win through black magic.
The baptism of Monolulu (as Peter Carl McKay, on 26 October 1881) has been traced in the records of the English Episcopal Church of the Danish West Indies. His father, whose name is not shown in the register, was William Henry McKay and his mother was Catherine Heyliger.
Prince Monolulu died on 14 February 1965 in Middlesex Hospital, London.
Philip Sansom
Sansom was part of that resurgence of British anarchism centred around Freedom, the newspaper founded by Prince Peter Kropotkin in 1886. As a young art student, Sansom had been impressed by Herbert Read's Education Through Art (1943). Later, making contact with the people at Freedom, he was agreeably surprised to find that Read (not yet knighted) was a leading spokesman for anarchism.
Although he edited and wrote a great deal of the political analysis and commentary found in that paper in the post-war years, it was as a speaker and debater that Sansom made the most vivid impression. Anyone in late Forties and Fifties London visiting Speakers' Corner, or Manette Street, just by Foyle's bookshop off Charing Cross Road, would sooner or later fall under the spell of his rich baritone and coruscating wit.
He was part of the beginning of the campaign against capital punishment and led the occupation of the Cuban Embassy in July 1963 to protest against Castro's treatment of Cuban anarchists. He found an active role in most of the post-war protest movements like CND and Anti- Apartheid but he eschewed the temporary power that such movements can sometimes offer.
Sansom's most notorious moment came in April 1945 when, along with Dr John Hewetson, Vernon Richards, the proprietor of Freedom, and Richards's wife, Marie Louise Berneri, he found himself arraigned at the Old Bailey on a charge of conspiring to cause disaffection among members of the armed forces. They had suggested that liberty removed in the name of freedom during the war was unlikely to be restored after it. In spite of much public protest, the three were sentenced to a year and served nine months, an experience that marked Sansom much more than he allowed most people to believe.
At the same time, he continued to write and draw cartoons for Freedom, with occasional spells as editor. Philip Sansom, writer and editor: born 19 September 1916; married (one son, one daughter, and one daughter deceased); died London 24 October 1999
Lord Soper
Donald Oliver Soper, Baron Soper (31 January 1903 – 22 December 1998) was a prominent Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist.
Soper was born at 36 Knoll Road, Wandsworth, London. He was educated at Aske's School in south London, at St. Catharine's College and Wesley House in the University of Cambridge, and at the London School of Economics, where he took his PhD. He was an exceptional sportsman who captained his school at football, cricket, and boxing, but he withdrew from cricket after he accidentally killed an opposing batsman with a fast delivery when bowling.
Soper offered as a candidate for the Methodist ministry, and while still a probationary minister (in his first appointment), he sought larger congregations by taking to open air preaching in imitation of the founders of Methodism. From 1926 until well into his nineties, he preached at London's centres for free speech, Tower Hill and (from 1942) Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park; he was often referred to as "Dr Soapbox" in honour of the outdoor preacher's chief piece of apparatus. He was controversial and quick-thinking, and drew large crowds.
Soper took up many radical causes. As well as being a socialist, he was a teetotaler, a vigorous opponent of blood sports (he was President of the League Against Cruel Sports from 1967 to 1997) and gambling (he criticised the British Royal Family's association with horse racing), and most notably, a pacifist. He joined the Peace Pledge Union in 1937 and preached pacifism throughout the Second World War, being deemed so effective that he was banned from broadcasting on the BBC. After the War he became a regular broadcaster on BBC's Thought for the Day.
He was active in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from its beginnings, and was president of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in England for many years until his death. For twenty years he wrote regularly for the socialist magazine Tribune, and 1958 was elected as an alderman (Labour) of the London County Council. After the abolition of the LCC, he became an alderman on the Greater London Council (1964-5) and accepted the offer of a life peerage from the Labour government of the day, and so became Baron Soper, of Kingsway in the London Borough of Camden the first Methodist minister to sit in the House of Lords, an organisation he opposed (he referred to it as "proof of the reality of life after death") but which he was able to use as a platform for the expression of his views.
Tony Allen
Tony Allen (born 4 March 1945) is an English comedian and writer. Best known as one of the original "alternative comedians"
Tony Allen's artistic career had taken many radical turns before he temporarily abandoned his Speaker's Corner "Full-Frontal Anarchy Platform" in May1979 for the stage of London's Comedy Store. He had been arrested at Speaker’s Corner that year after criticising the Queen.Two months later he founded Alternative Cabaret with Alexei Sayle and ran a regular "Alt Cab" Club night in the back bar of the Elgin Pub on Ladbroke Grove.
During the seventies Allen wrote three more radio plays including an Afternoon Theatre play, Two Fingers Finnegan Comes Again, co-written with Vernon Magee and bespoke for the actor Wilfred Brambell. He went on to devise and write over twenty plays for fringe and community theatre, most memorably, Metropolitan with Ken Robinson (British author), for the Young People's Theatre Scheme at The Royal Court Theatre; and various productions at The Theatre Royal, Stratford East; including their Christmas Panto Robin Hood (1975) which he co-wrote with Heathcote Williams. He later co-wrote a television play with Ken Robinson - “Ce Sera” for TVS's "Dramarama".
In The Heckler Tony Allen was in mentoring role to a couple of trainee hecklers, as the central theme for BBC3 TV’s documentary about the history of political heckling at the hustings, coinciding with the 2005 General Election.His last solo show before semi-retirement was "The End is Nigh” a mischievous piece of panic-mongering about the Y2K bug which took the form of a public meeting, and had its final performance pertinently at Speakers Corner in October 1999, before he went to live in the hills of Cumbria for a year.
Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a former president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and is the current leader of the Socialist Labour Party (SLP).
Scargill became involved in the Yorkshire Left, a group of left-wing activists involved in the Yorkshire region of the NUM, its largest region. While still a working miner, he played an important role in the miners' strike of 1972, involved in the mass picket at Saltley Gate in Birmingham. Shortly afterwards, he was elected to the full-time post of compensation agent in the Yorkshire NUM.
A few months later the President of the Yorkshire NUM died unexpectedly, Scargill was elected to this post in 1973 and continued in it until 1981. During his tenure he became popular with sections of the left and with his members who saw him as honest, hard-working and genuinely concerned with their welfare.[3] In 1973, he was instrumental in organising the miners' strike that brought down Edward Heath's Government in March 1974.
He took part in a large CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) demonstration in June 1983 which rallied at Speaker’s Corner. Scargill was a very vocal opponent of the Margaret Thatcher Conservative government, and determined to use the union to oppose its policies, just as he had done with the Edward Heath government.
He frequently appeared on television attacking the government and eventually led the union into the 1984–1985 miners' strike. This ended in a shattering defeat for the miners and saw a split in the union. After the miners' strike, he was elected to lifetime Presidency of the NUM by an overwhelming national majority, in a very controversial election where some of the alternative candidates claimed that they were given very little time to prepare.
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992.
Following Labour's defeat in the 1992 election Kinnock resigned and served as a European Commissioner from 1995-2004. Until the summer of 2009 he was the Chairman of the British Council.[1] Kinnock served as President of Cardiff University from 1998 until 2009. Today, he is regarded as one of Labour's elder statesmen.
Following Labour's defeat in the 1979 general election, James Callaghan appointed Neil Kinnock to the Shadow Cabinet as Education spokesman. His ambition was noted by other MPs, and David Owen's opposition to the changes to the electoral college was thought to be motivated by the realisation that they would favour Kinnock's succession. He gained notoriety for his attacks on Margaret Thatcher's handling of the Falklands War- he was the keynote speaker at the Hyde Park CND Rally in October 1983.
His first period as party leader – between the 1983 and 1987 elections – was dominated by his struggle with the hard left. Although Kinnock had come from the "Tribune" left of the party, he parted company with many of his previous allies after his appointment to the shadow cabinet. He was almost immediately in serious difficulty as a result of Arthur Scargill's decision to lead his union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) into a national strike (in opposition to pit closures) without a members' ballot.. Kinnock supported the aim of the strike – which he famously dubbed the "case for coal" – but, as an MP from a mining area, was bitterly critical of the tactics employed.
The second period of Kinnock's leadership was dominated by his drive to reform the party's policies and so win power. This began with an exercise dubbed the policy review, the most high-profile aspect of which was a series of consultations with the public known as "Labour Listens" in autumn 1987.In organisational terms, the party leadership continued to battle with the Militant Tendency, though by now Militant was in retreat in the party and was simultaneously attracted by the opportunities to grow outside Labour's ranks – opportunities largely created by Margaret Thatcher's hugely unpopular poll tax.
He was an enthusiastic supporter of Ed Miliband's campaign to lead the Labour Party in 2010, and was reported as telling activists, when Ed Miliband won, "We've got our party back".
Citizenship Glossary
Democracy- Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives
Heckling- To try to embarrass and annoy (someone speaking or performing in public) by questions, gibes, or objections
Motion- The topic to be debated, usually in the form of a statement
MP- Member of Parliament. A politician who represents a certain area of the country in Parliament.
Point of Information- A chance for a debater to interrupt the speaker who is currently speaking, usually by standing and stating “On a point of information”. The speaker can choose to accept or reject the point before it is made.
Proposition/Opposition- The Proposition is the team defending, the Opposition’s job is to prove the motion wrong.
“This House” - The words usually used at the beginning of a motion, e.g.
“This House would increase tax on holiday flights”.
History Glossary
Communism-Theory of government the state controls everything, and in theory everybody is equal.
Fascism- Form of government led by a dictator for complete power
Gallows-Wooden frame used for hangings
Infer- Read between the lines of something
Martyr- Someone who dies for what they believe in
Reliability- How much you can trust something
Suffragette- Campaigner for women to vote
Treason- Going against your country
Tyburn- A place of execution in London where people were publically hanged
