Fawcett MK: Keeping Up

If April IS the cruellest month, then two dismal images from recent weeks reinforce that perfectly. They are haunting, dispiriting, and difficult to understand.  But at the risk of sounding like an obscure medieval riddle, let’s consider the similarities between a statue and a tree, both of which recently hit the headlines. Why Millicent? ‘When any of us talk about standing on the shoulders of giants, Millicent Fawcett was that giant of female empowerment.’ (Ruth Davidson) Following the Supreme Court’s gender ruling on April 16, demonstrations took place in Parliament Square. The statue of Millicent Fawcett, the only representation of a woman in the square, was defaced, alongside several other statues.  ‘Investigations continue’ according to the police. Millicent Fawcett was not a militant. She was a suffragist who worked tirelessly for over 50 years in pursuit of women’s suffrage. She opposed the violence espoused by Emmeline Pankhurst and the Suffragettes. She lobbied, gav...