Libraries Speech

Without Libraries I would not be standing here today as a Labour Councillor.

 

Without Libraries the trade unions would not have been formed.

Without Libraries the Labour party would not be here today.

 

It was in the mid 1800′s – where inequality and impoverishment was rife – that it was realised that in order for a nation to benefit, to become enlightened, to be productive all people regardless of their background needed access to free information and knowledge.The public library was born and there can’t be anyone in this hall today that hasn’t benefited, one way or another, from them.

This surely is social justice!

Yet today our libraries are under attack.

Under attack from a Govt that prefers to divide society.

An attack on the very heart of our democracy.

Tell me – where else can we find a more equal, democratic institution than our local library.In Lincolnshire our library service is under threat.

44 libraries to be cut to 15 .

70% of mobile stops to be cut.

170 jobs to be lost.Isn’t this the worst kind of Social Vandalism!
The Labour Party is the party of Social Justice – we stand up for the many and not just the select few. Libraries are at the heart of Social justice in our communities and we must do all we can to protect them.

And with your help and support we will!

Libraries have been part of the fabric of  society since at  least  the 7th Century BC . The first library is thought to have been  Library of Ashurbanipal.The site is in modern day Iraq.

The Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries in ancient world.

Libraries developed over the centuries. Public Libraries actually began in the UK. The earliest example in England of a library to be endowed for the benefit of users who were not members of an institution such as a cathedral or college was the Francis Trigge Chained Library in Grantham, Lincolnshire, established in 1598. The library still exists and can justifiably claim to be the forerunner of later public library systems.

In 1847 Parliament appointed a committee, led by William Ewart, on Public Libraries to consider the necessity of establishing libraries through the nation: In 1849 their report noted the poor condition of library service, it recommended the establishment of free public libraries all over the country, and it led to the Public Libraries Act in 1850, which allowed all cities with populations exceeding 10,000 to levy taxes for the support of public libraries. Another important act was the 1870 Public School Law, which increased literacy, thereby the demand for libraries, so by 1877, more than 75 cities had established free libraries, and by 1900 the number had reached 300. This finally marks the start of the public library as we know it. And these acts influenced similar laws in other countries, most notably the U.S. Continue reading →

At Business and Law building at Lincoln University 16.25pm

Awaiting open forum

Opening speech by Law society, Lincoln.

The law society shows the Govt’s plans can’t work.

The legal Aid system has to continue.

Napo is speaking (probation) It is in public sector – exist to protect the public – Govt to dismantle probation office – put it out to tender. 30% to stay in public sector – and 70% to outsource to companies such as G4S, Serco and Sodexo.

Govt wants to bring in payment by results

Napo believes justice and public protection should not be about profit. It should be about public safety, reducing reoffending, rehabilitation and preventing further victims.

What you can do – Napo’s campaign www.napo.org.uk

Next speaker Martin Collins from PCS Union 16.46

PCS believe the changes will cause a two tier system. PCS believe 15,000 MOJ jobs will be axed by 2015. The legal Aid bill has actually fallen. Govt cuts will have knock on affects in other areas. Justice should not be a Market system.

PCS believes these cuts are not necessary.

Final speaker – criminal lawyer

( At this point I had to go to another meeting – so will just add some notes underneath about what was said )

Transformation of legal Aid brought in April by the Govt, Legal Aid had actually been brought in 1940′s.

The part that struck me the most was about the Magna Carta ( one is located in Lincoln Castle) Article 40 states “Shall not sell Justice” but this is what this Govt is doing.
The Govt in Transformation of Legal Aid, April 2013″ 164 pages long at the beginning states “We are going to do price competitive tendering”

So in the future we could have companies running our justice system for profit, is this what we want ?

On June 5th after being at Health Scrutiny at Lincolnshire County Hall, I decided to travel down to Westminster, with only 2 mins to catch a connecting train.

I wanted to go to the memorial for Emily Wilding Davison. This was being held at Westminster Hall between six and eight pm. Westminster Hall is a historic building, many political events have been witnessed over hundreds of years. It was only fitting that a memorial to brave Emily was there. 900 people had arrived for the event, this was impressive and showed the depth of feeling for the suffragette movement.

The memorial began with Emily Thornberry MP , who had arranged the event  introducing Mr John Bercow, the Speaker of the house. He read out documents regarding what the politicians thought of the Suffragettes at the time.

This was followed by speakers Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labour Party. Who as ever was wonderfully passionate about women’s issues. Theresa May spoke next and what struck me was her message that we needed more women in politics to bring that difference to Parliament.

There were further speeches by Salma Yaqoob, who made an excellent speech about women and social justice. Sandy Toksvig entertained with her witty speech and finally Dr Helen Pankhurst gave an awe inspiring speech about how we must continue to fight for women’s equality and how the Suffragettes would have been thrilled to see us in Westminster Hall. But her final sentence was one that I could not forget, that Emily Davison would not understand why so many women today do not use their vote. And knowing what Emily did to fight for the right for women to vote, women need to exercise that right for the women who bravely fought and died to give us that right.

A story of forced feeding

By Beryl Kingston  from her novel

The moment Octavia had been dreading arrived so unobtrusively that it had begun and the whole terrifying chain of events had been set in motion, before she was aware enough to realise it.

It was a blustery morning in March, not long after baby Dickie’s first birthday and she and Betty had gone up to London to help at the national headquarters, as they often did when there were committee meetings there and one or the other of them had been delegated to attend. They’d been the first to arrive that morning and had settled down to work at once while they waited for the others. Betty had gone straight into the inner office to do some filing while Octavia stayed in the outer office and started to open the mail. She was slitting open the second letter when an odd fluttering movement caught her attention and, turning her head, she saw that there was a sparrow frantically trying to get out of the upper window, throwing itself at the unyielding glass over and over again, its wings in perpetually baffled motion.

It must have been shut in all night, poor thing, she thought, and she took her chair over to the window to climb up and let it out. It was in such a panic she was afraid it would do itself a mischief before she could release it, so she pulled her clean handkerchief out of her pocket, shook it out, and after a brief struggle managed to catch hold of the bird and soothe it until it was still. She could feel its heart beating wildly through the white cloth, poor little thing. ‘Hush! Hush!’ she said, speaking to it as if it was a baby. ‘You’ll be free soon. I’ve got you.’ It wasn’t easy to hold a bird with one hand and open a window with the other and she was still struggling to lift the sash when she heard footsteps and voices coming up the stairs towards her. Continue reading →

This week on Labour Rose  there will be a tribute to the Suffragettes.

In memory of Emily Davison ( 1872 – 1913 )

Emily Wilding Davison was born in Blackheath, London on 11th October 1872.  She won a bursary to Royal Holloway  College in 1892, but was forced to drop out when her father died and her mother could no longer afford the fees.

She then took up employment as a private governess, then a schools teacher, raising enough money to study Biology, Chemistry, English language and literature at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. She obtained honours in her final exams, women at that time were not allowed to do degrees at Oxford.

In 1906 she took up a teaching post and she also joined the Women’s Social and Political Union. Formed by Emmeline Pankhurst. In 1908 she left her teaching post to dedicate herself to the movement.

Emily became a campaigner for Votes for Women, women’s rights.

In 1909, she was put in prison at Strangeways for throwing rocks at Lloyd George’s carriage and attempted to starve herself and resisted force- feeding. A prison guard angered by what she tried to do, tried to fill the cell with water. The door was eventually broken down and she was freed. She sued the wardens of the prison and was awarded 40 shillings.

On 2nd April 1911, the night of the 1911 census, Davison hid in a cupboard in the Palace of Westminster overnight so that on the census form she could state that she was in “House of Commons”. In 1999 a plaque to commemorate the event was set in place by Tony Benn MP.

On the 4th June 1913 at the Epsom Derby , Emily ran out in front of the King’s horse. It is possible that she was trying to attach a scarf/flag to the Kings horse . It is still unclear to this day. She was knocked to the ground by the horse, Anmer and died four days later at Epsom Cottage Hospital, from fractured skull and internal injuries.

Emily is buried in the church yard of St Mary the Virgin, Morpeth.

Her gravestone bears the WSPU slogan “Deeds not words”