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'No qualms': author defends play revelling in death of Thatcher
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent23 Mar 2009
A union-funded play that revels in the death of Margaret Thatcher is to run in London.
Maggie's End attacks the legacy of the Conservative prime minister, as seen after her death and state funeral.
Its authors, Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood, also use it as a damning indictment of New Labour.
The play, at the Shaw Theatre in Euston Road next month, contains scenes likely to spark outrage from fans of Lady Thatcher, who is now 83 and in fragile health.
In one, a character wordplays on her famous "Lady's not for turning" speech, saying: "Thatcher won't be cremated because the lady's not for burning." Another says: "I prayed she would have a long, miserable life."
Waugh, 50, a former political researcher and journalist, said he had "no qualms whatsoever" about attacking Lady Thatcher, who was premier from 1979 to 1991. "I remember this woman who decimated the mining industry, she decimated manufacturing and the shipbuilding industry," he said. "Today we rely on banking because of the legacy of Thatcherism. British industry is now reaping the ill wind of her regime.
"I know there will be street parties when she dies."
The play is part of the National Union of Mineworkers' 25th anniversary commemorations of the miners' strike.
But Waugh and Wood - a 50-year-old navy veteran and former journalist - also attack Labour over their failure to back the miners. And they take issue with Gordon Brown for honouring Lady Thatcher with tea at No 10.
Waugh said he and his co-writer had the idea for the play when it was reported that Labour had plans for a state funeral for the former premier: "I thought there was combustible material.
"I wanted to tell a story bringing in the betrayal of New Labour. There has been an enormous deception."
The play was first staged in the mining heartland of Durham 18 months ago where it came to the attention of the NUM. It joined forces with the RMT, Unison, Unite and GMB unions to bring the work to the capital.
Colliery bands and comedians including Arthur Smith will perform during the run. Maggie's End is at the Shaw Theatre from 7 April to 18 April.
Reader views (14)
The coal is still in the ground because Scargill could not see that coming out on strike every two minutes and costing two to three times the price from elsewhere was a short-lived strategy.
- Paul, London, 24/03/2009 11:14
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Well said Keith Lonsdale, Dan from Chesterfield and Ralph. I agree with your sentiments.
Maggie Thatcher had more guts than any Prime Minister since. She stood up for the country she believed in, which is more than be said of the Labour sycophants we have had run the country of late.
- E Sullivan, London, 24/03/2009 08:46
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Love or loathe her, it is fact Lady Thatcher changed Britain for the better
- Toks, London, UK, 23/03/2009 21:59
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why the fuss, mr waugh is correct the policies mrs thatcher introduced paved the way for the problems we now face.
we have the perverse situation of an island sitting on 300 years worth of coal importing it from abroad...major building projects within our oil industry being built by foreign labour...merchant vessels flying under the red ensign being built in europe...a steel industry that once provided the steel for the coal/oil and ship building industries...and we have thousands of skilled ship builders, oil engineers, steelworkers and coal miners on the dole queue.
if anybody who feels she did a good job then fine but just visit the villages in the former coal fields of yorkshire/durham/northumberland/south wales/scotland/leicestershire/nottingham/kent and ask them...
- Joss, romford uk, 23/03/2009 17:46
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Once again the left demonstrates their utter lack of taste.
- Stan Ex-London, USA, 23/03/2009 16:44
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What a spiteful and vindictive little man. The unions were not strong enough to stand up to Thatcher in her prime, so now they'll attack her when she's old and frail. Tough guy, eh!
- Paul, London, 23/03/2009 16:36
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Idi Amin offers us AID in 1979, Mugabe congratulates us on adopting his policies to run banks! Labour Government in both cases! Enough said!
- Danny, Manchester, 23/03/2009 16:13
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Noone is more odious than Mrs Thatcher, and it seems her infamous daughter has inherited some of her offensive genes
- Keith Price, Luton, England, 23/03/2009 15:59
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M Thather did not destroy industry. The unions did. Come the world recession of 1980 our manufactureing industry was highly labour intensive using pre-second world war machinery because the unions would not allow modern equipment to replace them. We were then the only western country to be labour intensive whereas others like Germany and Japan were capital intensive. In other words they produced goods very much more efficiently with vastly better quality control, and cheaply. Who in their right mind would want to buy overpriced goods from Britain with uncertainties about delivery due to strikes and walk-outs. Red Robbo and Arthur Scargill and their likes in the motor, ship building and docks strangulated this country. ED Waugh follows in their footsteps. M Thather removed that stranglehold whilst giving workers due rights to act responsibly. This led to the emergence of the UK as a powerful economic force with sustained growth and prosperity which Gordon Brown inherited and since has done much to destroy.
- Ralph, London, England, 23/03/2009 15:45
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Yes we have Margaret Thatcher to thank for getting rid of our industries; that needed little North Sea Oil wealth to modernize them all; as it was better to cut taxes with that wealth; instead of putting into the infrastructure of the UK.
Selling off the Nations assets was also needed; why keep them when we could pass them all over to the private sector to run?
New Labour saw the magnitude of Margaret Thatcher’s wisdom; and copied her and her methods to the letter.
Today we have a great World Wide Financial Services Industry in the UK; without all those other useless industries tying us down; and polluting everything in sight.
It is a fact; that without Margaret Thatcher; the UK would not be the same today; as it is today.
Yes she is a Goddess to many; and the devil to all the rest.
Take your pick?
- Mickyinlondon, london, 23/03/2009 15:13
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These people are precisely why people of my generation (post Thatcher) admire her enormously. This country was an absolute hole in 1979. Idi Amin was offering US AID for god sake! We were a joke. That woman saved our country. We are stronger, richer and more self confident because of her. You always knew where you stood with her and the people elected her 3 times with huge majorities. Let this wicked, spiteful old group of misfits lament the fact that their beloved pits were shut down and that their beloved unions who held the rest of us to ransom were tamed. The more moderates amongst us, the majority I might add, will thank Lady Thatcher when she dies for all she did for this country. But you know what? I hope they do kick off and have 'street partys' when she dies... then the rest of the country can be reminded just how backward these people really are. I would never revel in anothers demise no matter how much I disliked them
- Dan, Chesterfield, 23/03/2009 14:23
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"I remember this woman who decimated the mining industry, she decimated manufacturing and the shipbuilding industry,"- The mines were destroyed by Arthur Scargill's vainglorious campaign of refusing to accept the need for change. British shipbuilding, sadly, went the same way. Militamt unions refusing to accept that restrictive practices had to end in order to ensure that our heavy industries remained competetive.
Unforunatley for everyone, instead of accepting that there would be some job losses, the union barons won the day and ensured the complete destruction of our heavy industries.
The fact is that more manufacturing jobs have been lost under Soviet Labour than ever were under Thatcher.
Thatcher was by no meanse perfect, but the tough choices that she had the backbone to make saved us from the abyss that had been created by the disasterous incumbenices of Wilson and Callaghan.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster, 23/03/2009 14:17
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After all this time, these dinosaurs are still spitting blood that a woman had the temerity to challenge their ruinous behaviour.
I do have to laugh out loud.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants, 23/03/2009 13:58
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Bad taste is bad taste, whatever your 'excuses'.
- Rogan, Irving, 23/03/2009 12:46
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