I felt pretty fed up with the choice of Lord Kitchener to be on the £2 coin.  He represents all that I have always loathed about the First World war – the jingoism, the sheer waste of men, the “Lions led by Donkeys” mentality And then I thought of Edith […]

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 […]

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 […]

Legal Aid Reform   Chris Grayling the Minister of Justice announced earlier this year his intention to reform the way in which Criminal Legal Aid is delivered. He wants to reduce the number of firms providing criminal legal aid from 1600 to 400. He expects firms applying for one of […]

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 – […]

‘Women in Politics’ Day 2013 – Saturday 8th June 2013 The Ashwood Centre, Portland Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, NG17 7AB 10.00 – Welcome to East Midlands Women’s Conference By Gloria De Piero MP, Ashfield. Gloria opens the Conference 10.10 – Guest Speaker RT Hon Harriet Harman MP, Labour Deputy Leader, Shadow Secretary […]

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 […]

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 […]

Councillors and campaigners A great demonstration took place in Manchester in the autumn of 1908. Prime Minister Asquith prompted it by suggesting that women would only gain the parliamentary vote if they could show that the great majority of women desired it. At the head of the procession was Margaret […]

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 […]