I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed a talk given by Ricky Tomlinson on Thursday evening.

The former Royle Family actor was giving a speech at Ruskin House, Croydon after he was jailed following his union activities in the seventies.

http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/_images/misc/Blog/Tomlinson.jpg (pic: Deadline pix).

He was given a two year prison sentence for his part in a picket in Shrewsbury in protest at conditions in the building trade.

His friend Des Warren was also jailed for three years.

The pair, known as the Shrewsbury Two, decided to continue to protest in prison by holding hunger strikes, and refusing to wear prison clothes.

Ricky and Des managed to keep their friendship alive during their time in jail arguing all the time that they were being held as political prisoners.

The stumbling block for their friendship, according to Ricky, was when he was asked to by union activists to take parole.

They felt that Des’ health had taken a turn for the worse and he wouldn’t survive the rest of his sentence.

So Ricky took the parole telling Des that he was tired of the struggle and he missed his family, much to the anger of his pal.

I was touched by how much Ricky valued his friend’s life even more than their friendship.

Des Warren died in 2004 – and it has been said his death was a result of the treatment he received in jail.

And it was heart-wrenching watching Ricky, who had had the audience in stitches for most of his tale, struggle to finish relating the last time he had seen his Des alive.

Ricky and others in the trade union movement are now fighting to have an inquiry into their imprisonment with the final aim of having the pair pardoned.

Who is the most emotive speaker you've ever heard? Let me know by posting a comment below.