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Chris McGachy<\/strong><\/em> uncovers the full story behind Lennon\u2019s donation to the workers as he transformed from affable moptop to militant activist following the breakup of The Beatles.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n 50 years ago \u2013 in the summer of 1971 \u2013 John Lennon was putting the final studio touches to his global anthem,\u00a0Imagine<\/em>. At the same time the Government announced the imminent collapse of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders. Within weeks defiant workers had seized control of the yards.<\/p>\n ‘Killed by capitalism’: The UCS Work-in<\/strong><\/p>\n The Upper Clyde Shipbuilders\u2019 (UCS) stunning victory against Ted Heath\u2019s Tory government in early 1972 has become the stuff of political legend. It was a time when ordinary workers and communities united in solidarity to demand the right and dignity to work.<\/p>\n With mass redundancies already on the cards, UCS shop stewards led by Jimmy Reid and Jimmy Airlie knew conventional strike action would not win this battle. Their ingenious idea was for the workforce to take control of the yards and continue to produce the ships for which the River Clyde yards had become world-famous.<\/p>\n On 30 July 1971, the famous work-in began with 8,000 men seizing control of four giant shipyards on the Clyde. Heath\u2019s Tory government had come to power in 1970 refusing to prop up \u2018lame ducks\u2019. Cashflow issues at the Clyde yards early in 1971 had caused panic among creditors.<\/p>\n When Parliament heard on 29 July 1971 that liquidation was the only option, Clydebank was described as a town in mourning.<\/p>\n A devastated Jimmy Reid was haunted by memories of the 1930s, when three of his sisters died in infancy. It led to his scathing accusation they were \u2018killed by capitalism\u2019. That memory propelled Reid to life as a communist activist.<\/p>\n Perhaps the most famous supporters of the UCS were John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who sent red roses and a huge financial donation to support the workers struggling to keep Clyde shipbuilding \u2013 and their communities \u2013 alive.<\/p>\n From moptop to militant<\/strong><\/p>\n On 25 November 1969, John Lennon visited his Aunt Mimi’s bungalow in Bournemouth where he removed his MBE medal from her mantelpiece. Back in London, he dispatched his chauffeur with the medal to return it Buckingham Palace, in protest in Britain\u2019s involvement in the Nigerian civil war and its support for the US in Vietnam.<\/p>\n It was one of many stunts Lennon and new wife Yoko devised as he stepped away from the lovable moptop Beatle and transformed himself into a celebrity activist with global appeal.<\/p>\n Lennon was liberated by the sudden death of stuffy, conformist manager Brian Epstein, and fired with radicalism through his burgeoning romance with Yoko Ono. He grabbed the chance to escape the claustrophobic rollercoaster of Beatlemania and touring.<\/p>\n