In December 1988 Sunderland’s shipyards closed despite a long and passionate campaign to save them, and 800 years of shipbuilding on the Wear came to an end. Yet this closure has always looked bizarre. Why were these sophisticated modern yards, representing millions of pounds of public investment, written off? Why did the Tory Government sideline a major shipowner keen to place an order which could have kept the yards open?

In this meeting Martin Spence will summarise his recent research into 1980s government papers which suggest answers to these questions. Bob Clay will comment on these findings in the light of his own experiences in the 1980s.

Bob Clay was Labour MP for Sunderland North from 1983 to 1992 and led the campaign to save the yards.

Martin Spence worked in ‘Days of Hope’ bookshop in Newcastle, and later for the media trade union BECTU, where he was Assistant General Secretary.