A Lesson in Tenacity

This new film is just 16 minutes long but tells the remarkable story of the campaign for justice for the Shrewsbury 24 pickets. It was commissioned by Unite the Union and produced by Morag Livingstone to mark the victory on 23 March 2021 when three Court of Appeal Judges unanimously decided to quash all the pickets’ convictions.

Morag’s excellent film includes, for the first time, two of the pickets – John McKinsie Jones and Terry Renshaw – giving their experiences of the trials and the fight for justice. It also features Eileen Turnbull, the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign’s researcher, who spent many years searching for the crucial fresh evidence that would eventually lead to the miscarriage of justice being overturned, set out in detail in her new book, A Very British Conspiracy: the Shrewsbury 24 and the Campaign for Justice.

Morag skillfully uses photographs and film footage intermittingly with the words of John and Terry, and Eileen’s account of her research including a moving description of her reaction when she realized the legal enormity of the documents that she discovered at the National Archives at Kew.

The Shrewsbury 24 Campaign and the pickets wish to thank Unite and Morag Livingstone for producing such a moving and vital film, documenting a vital piece of British trade union history.