There is a deep hypocrisy at the heart of the official version of Suffragette history. The real Suffragettes were the Palestine Action and Just Stop Oil of their time. They were willing to go to prison to defy unjust laws, and they did things which seriously divided public opinion. In fact, while opponents of genocide in Gaza and activists who want to stop climate change emphasise their absolute commitment to non-violent action, the Suffragette women frequently resorted to violence.
Even if you do agree with the right of the Israeli Government to kill and restrict the basic necessities of life from Palestinians, or are in favour of pumping more CO2 into the atmosphere, it is easy to see the difference between Labour rhetoric on the Suffragettes and how they pass laws to lock up and proscribe activists today. If you can recognise what is happening in Gaza as a genocide and want action to stop climate change, you do not have to agree with the methods of today’s campaigners to see the similarities with their Suffragette predecessors.
Stratford and Bow MP Uma Kumaran was right to point out in her first speech in parliament that “The Woman’s Hall at Old Ford Road in Bow was home to Sylvia Pankhurst and Norah Smyth and the headquarters of the East London Federation of Suffragettes from 1914 until 1924. It was the beating heart of the east end suffrage movement.”
Suffragettes did things that today’s Labour government would throw them into prison for. They chained themselves to railings, an offence for which Labour would today happily send protestors to prison for six months. Members of Just Stop Oil have been handed sentences of four years for taking part in Zoom call.
Some of the things the Suffragettes did were far more violent that today’s campaigners would ever consider. Winston Churchill was attacked with a whip; they smashed windows of politicians’ homes, shops and government buildings; they slashed artworks and even used explosives.
Yet the MPs of all parties who proudly wore their Suffragette sashes in Parliament happily vote through laws to label as terrorists, imprison and silence the real heirs of the Suffragettes.
Tower Hamlets Greens say that we share a commitment to non-violent political action with activists in campaigns for climate justice and against genocide. We will keep alive the Suffragette legacy by defending the right to peaceful protest in a way that Labour, the Tories and Reform are actively refusing to do.