Motion S2M-481 - Cathy Peattie: Women's Social and Political Union
That the Parliament notes that, on 10 October 1903, a group of women
met in the Manchester home of Emmeline Pankhurst and founded the Women's
Social and Political Union, which became known as the suffragette movement,
with the aim of recruiting more working class women into the struggle
for the vote and believes that this centenary year should be marked by
efforts to promote the participation of women in the democratic process.
Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab):
I start with a quotation from Emmeline Pankhurst in 1912: "We
in the Suffragette Army have a great mission: the greatest mission the
world has ever known—the freeing of one half of the human race and
the saving of the other half. I incite this meeting to rebellion."
A hundred years ago, there had been little progress since Mary Wollstonecraft
had published "A Vindication of the Rights of Women".
Women had no right to education at university—with or without the
award of degrees—and no right to become medical doctors; married
women had no right to property of their own; and no women had the vote.
Reform bills came and went, extending the male franchise, but, despite
attempts at amendment by John Stuart Mill in 1867 and Woodall in 1884,
Parliament refused to extend the franchise to women.
The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies—known as the suffragists—started
in 1867 with branches in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. By the turn
of the century, there were also branches in Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen,
but the union had only limited success: women were allowed to vote in
some municipal elections.
In 1903, the Women's Social and Political Union was formed in Manchester
to extend the struggle for votes to working-class women. The Daily Mail
tagged the women "suffragettes". They organised marches and
demonstrations, and, after 1907, in frustration at the lack of progress,
increasingly turned to civil disobedience.
In Glasgow, the Women's Social and Political Union was very much an organisation
of the political left. Its establishment in 1906 happily coincided with
the launch of a new radical weekly newspaper, the Forward, which provided
a platform for the campaign.
It is important to recognise the role that many Scottish women played
in the votes-for-women crusade, and I do not have time to mention them
all.
Mrs Bream Pearce, or Lily Bell, was a regular columnist in the Forward.
The Glasgow artist, Helen Fraser, was a national organiser who championed
the cause of the suffragettes in by-elections in South Aberdeen, Hexham,
and Kincardineshire, and in Montrose and Stirling burghs. Flora Drummond,
known as "the general" because of her charm and great organisational
skills, was often called on to organise large rallies and events. Indeed,
she could be called an early spin-doctor.
Scottish suffragettes smashed windows, cut telegraph and telephone wires,
poured acid in pillar boxes and set fire to public buildings. Women were
imprisoned and some who continued their protests with hunger strikes were
force-fed. Others were released to recover before being re-arrested to
continue their sentence under the so-called cat-and-mouse act. Kier Hardie,
speaking on the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health) Bill, said:
"The endurance and heroism that these women are showing in prison
equals, if it does not excel, anything we have witnessed on the field
of battle or elsewhere."—[Official Report, House of Commons,
21 April 1913; Vol 52, c 52.]
In early July 1914, a visit to Perth by King George and Queen Mary was
met by suffragettes demonstrating against the use of forcible feeding
in Perth prison. One of the hunger strikers who was around at that time
was Janet Arthur, Lord Kitchener's niece, who tried to blow up Burns's
cottage in Alloway. Having had no food or drink in Ayr prison for five
days, she was moved to Perth prison, where three other hunger strikers
were held.
She later described her fate as follows:
"The wardresses held me down, and one of them reached forward and slapped
my face ... the assistant doctor held my head in a most painful grip. Dr
Watson then tried to force my teeth open with the steel gag, and said that
if he broke a tooth it would be my own fault.
As he was unable to open my mouth he called for the nasal tube. He
tried to force it up one side ... but with all his strength could not
force a passage. He succeeded in forcing it down the other nostril, and
left it hanging there while he went out of the room. As it was extremely
painful, I asked the assistant to remove it, but he only laughed. Dr Watson
returned and fed me.
The wardresses continued holding me down so that I couldn't move,
and the assistant doctor continued to hold his hands over my mouth and
whenever the food came up tightened his grip to prevent me letting it
out."
With the outbreak of war, the suffragettes' campaign abated. However,
the contribution of women to the war gave added weight to their demands,
and in 1918 women over 30 got the vote. In 1928, the threshold was lowered
to 21, the same as for men.
We owe those women so much, and I believe that we have a responsibility
to continue their work. We do not have to chain ourselves to the railings,
but we can continue their work through our democratic system to ensure
that young women are nurtured and encouraged to enter political life.
There are still many battles to fight—to close the pay gap, to end
poverty here and across the world, to achieve a more equal society and
to remove the glass ceiling. To do all those things and more, women must
have a key role as decision makers at all levels, yet so many women feel
that their voices are not heard. Many women do not even vote. Women are
active in communities and voluntary organisations, making their communities
better places to live. We must find ways of encouraging them to participate
in the democratic process. Most councils have a handful of women councillors;
how can we bring them closer together?
I am proud to be a member of the Scottish Labour Party—the only
party at the first Scottish Parliament elections to agree a 50:50 selection
process. I am grateful to the Scottish trade union movement, the Scottish
Trades Union Congress women's committee and organisations such as Engender,
which worked tirelessly not only for the establishment of a Scottish Parliament
but also for 50:50 representation. The Scottish Parliament has the fourth
highest representation of women in the world, but we must strive to ensure
that young women are ready to take that work forward. In 100 years, so
much work has been done, but there is still much to be done.
I shall close by singing a few lines by James Oppenheimer.
"As we come marching, marching,
we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means
the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler,
ten that toil where one reposes,
But the sharing of life's glories —
bread and roses, bread and roses."
I am proud to bring this debate to Parliament today. [Applause.]
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MSPs
met recently to give their backing to the Communication Workers Union
campaign "Banking on You".
"So
far, about 60 MSPs have signed a Scottish Parliament motion highlighting
the importance of this campaign," said Cathy. "And since Ministers
don't put their names to members motions, that's a clear majority of MSPs
showing their support.