voices of 74: strike 4/4
As the strike moved into its second week, it became clear that the executive was on borrowed time.
Two particular events would confirm that the Sunningdale experiment had run out of road. The first was a failed attempt to force a return to work on 21 May. There then followed Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s ill-fated and infamous ‘spongers’ speech on 25 May. The executive was eventually forced to resign on 28 May with, as our testimonies demonstrate, a mixture of reactions.
'When Faulkner, at the last minute got the text of what Wilson was going to say I think he buried his face in his hands. When he called the strikers and those who supported them, spongers on the British exchequer. Well, people actually pulled off bits of sponge and were wearing badges on lapels. This was an insult from the Westminster government...in the end the British government would end up with no friends in Northern Ireland.'
Don Anderson