Campaigning With Courage

Justice Denied

This month’s blog should probably be focusing on the General Election that has just been announced. After all, there are only a few weeks to go until July 4th.

Not quite yet though. Soon we’ll be inundated with the vox-pops, the polls, the debates and the party-political broadcasts. But before the party campaigners with their rosettes, leaflets, banners, buses and megaphones get underway, there’s some unfinished business. Let’s take a look at some different campaigners, remarkable women and men who deserve our total admiration.

We’ve seen a lot of these campaigners recently. As the dismal and squalid procession of scandals and cover-ups has grown larger, we’ve become aware of people who have devoted years of their lives to exposing terrible wrongs. People who have been denied justice, who have lost their livelihoods and whose families have been devastated. People who, in spite of experiencing terrible personal trauma, have found the courage and resilience to speak out and campaign, often for decades, unwavering in their determination.

The Post Office scandal and the infected blood horrors are rumbling around us now, even as we still feel the chill of the maternity ward failures, of Windrush, Grenfell, Hillsborough, the Stephen Lawrence case, child abuse – the line stretching back further still, to the Birmingham Six, to Thalidomide - on and on it goes. Disturbingly there are also many more in the queue ahead– the overpayment of carers, the sewage issues, the nuclear test veterans………

The cliches clunk around us, hollow and meaningless. ‘Never again’, they say. ‘Lessons must be learnt’ or ’We are truly sorry’. On it goes -until the next time, when the grotesque merry-go-round cranks up again. Problems are met with persistent denial, whistleblowers are sidelined or sacked, cruel and clumsy cover ups and obfuscations cause delays, and an eventual inquiry takes years to get to the heart of the issues. But unfortunately, when the cover-ups are successful and all evidence destroyed, there is no closure. And whether a campaign has succeeded or not, people have lost their jobs and their health, families have been shattered and justice has been denied.

We are probably not even aware of some of the campaigns to which people are devoting their lives. Maybe we’ll click on an online petition if we have a spare moment, and the cause seems to be worth our while. But how many of us think about the campaigners themselves, those who are committed to fundraising, organising meetings and petitions, finding different ways of speaking truth to power while living with the damage that has been done to them?

There Are Campaigns And Then There Are Campaigns

It’s a terrible irony and a miserable reflection on our society to see what happens if you search on the internet for ‘Important Campaigns in History’. The first thing to pop up on your screen is a list of the world’s most successful marketing campaigns – Nike, Coke, Apple, Dove and other slick corporate efforts. It takes a bit more effort to reach information about anti-slavery, child labour, civil rights, nuclear disarmament and universal suffrage. Nevertheless, in spite of the best efforts of advertisers to divert attention, most of us can recall the names of great campaigners, from Martin Luther King to Greta Thunberg or from William Wilberforce to Florence Nightingale. Currently, the Post Office scandal has drawn attention not only to the role of Alan Bates, but also to many postmistresses who have spoken out forcefully - like Seema Misra (wrongfully jailed while pregnant), and Jo Hamilton (wrongfully prosecuted). We shouldn’t overlook local heroic campaigners either. Look at how Lil Bilocca and the ‘HeadscarfRevolutionaries’ have been immortalised in Hull.

The headscarf women at the unveiling of a blue plaque at
Lil Bilocca's former home in Coltman Street, west Hull
https://i2-prod.hulldailymail.co.uk/incoming/article6534695.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/0_bilocca6.jpg

As we gallop towards the General Election though, it is likely that the recent media interest in scandals and injustices will fade. Political rhetoric (all those three-word slogans and repetitions of key phrases) will dominate, and social media will become even more frenzied as the main parties battle it out. There’s a stark contrast between attempts to whip up election fever and the steadfast perseverance of so many campaigners for justice, safety and human rights.

Which Brings Us (of course) To Millicent!

Words like ‘persistence and ‘dedication’ capture the qualities of Millicent Fawcett, who led the largest movement for women’s suffrage, the NUWSS, from 1897-1919. In 2018 she was the first woman to be honoured with a statue in Parliament Square.

She believed in campaigning:
‘only by argument, based on common sense and experience and not by personal violence or lawbreaking of any kind’
Today’s thriving Fawcett Society, which has no political affiliation, campaigns for policies that reflect the needs of women across the UK. Their national poster for the imminent General election calls for:
  • Workplaces that work for women
  • Free, universal childcare
  • Representation in politics and power
Here in Milton Keynes, our own campaign is calling for a safer, healthier and fairer Milton Keynes for all women. There are questions to ask candidates from all parties. They want our votes, so we should not give these little nuggets of power away lightly. Our voices need to be heard.

More detail to follow in June. We’ll be out and about in the next few weeks, asking you to support our campaign on behalf of the women of MK.

WOMEN MAKE UP MORE THAN HALF THE ELECTORATE AND OUR VOICES MATTER!







Location: Milton Keynes, UK

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