Women wear the suffragette colours of green, white and violet - standing for Give Women Votes - at a march in Westminster, London on June 10, 2018 to mark 100 years since women in the UK won the right to vote. Peter Nicholls / Reuters
Women wear the suffragette colours of green, white and violet - standing for Give Women Votes - at a march in Westminster, London on June 10, 2018 to mark 100 years since women in the UK won the right to vote. Peter Nicholls / Reuters
Women wear the suffragette colours of green, white and violet - standing for Give Women Votes - at a march in Westminster, London on June 10, 2018 to mark 100 years since women in the UK won the right to vote. Peter Nicholls / Reuters
Women wear the suffragette colours of green, white and violet - standing for Give Women Votes - at a march in Westminster, London on June 10, 2018 to mark 100 years since women in the UK won the right

British women celebrate 100 years of the right to vote


  • English
  • Arabic

Thousands of women turned cities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales into rivers of green, white and violet on Sunday to mark 100 years since the first women won the right to vote in the UK.

Wearing scarves in the colours of the suffragette movement that fought for female political rights, women marched through London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast in events that were part artwork, part parade.

The milestone they observed was enactment of the Representation of the People Act, which in 1918 granted property-owning British women over 30 the right to vote. It would be another decade before all women in the UK would have the same voting rights as men.

Sunday's celebrations were organised by arts group Artichoke, which specialises in large, participatory events. It asked 100 artists to work with women's groups on banners inspired by the bold designs of the suffragettes, who led a decades-long campaign of protest and civil disobedience to get women the vote.

The London march flowed in bands of colour through the heart of the city, winding along Piccadilly and around Trafalgar Square before heading to the parliament. Some participants dressed as Edwardian suffragettes or wore sashes in green, white or violet.

One woman knitted a pennant with the suffragette slogan "Deeds not words". Another came with a banner evoking the phrase that became a tool of the women's movement last year after US Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced during a debate: "Nevertheless, she persisted."

Women came from across England and even farther afield to take part.

Asma Shami from Lahore, Pakistan, said she rearranged her visit to Britain so she could attend the march and celebrate women's progress.

"It's so energising," she said. "We've come a long way, and we have a long way still to go."

Artichoke director Helen Marriage said she was struck by the amount of enthusiasm for the project.

"A craft shop in London told us they'd run out of purple and green tassels, and they didn't know why," she said.

Mother and daughter Claire Gillett and Chloe Whittaker, from Great Saling in eastern England, wore green shawls and said they had recently discovered suffragettes among their ancestors.

Ms Gillett said she was "super proud" of her foremothers, especially since she had always believed "women in our family aren't very outspoken or bold".

"It was quite empowering," she said.

The mood was celebratory, but Ms Marriage said the event also was meant to highlight the work still needed, from closing the gender pay gap to ending workplace sexual harassment.

It also hoped to erase any notion of the suffragettes as prim campaigners from a more polite age. They defied the law, went on hunger strikes, broke windows and set off bombs in pursuit of their goal.

"They were really extraordinary people," Ms Marriage said. "A thousand of them went to prison. They were force fed in prison. In today's terms, they would be described as terrorists."

Voting rights for British women were won through a combination of the militant suffragettes and their more law-abiding sisters, the suffragists. A statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett was recently erected in Parliament Square, the first on the site to commemorate a woman.

The suffragettes and their legacy remain more controversial.

"They were really quite anarchic," artist Quilla Constance said while standing with a riotously colourful banner from the group Bedford Creative Arts. "They had to really fight. And we still have to fight.

"I think they're here today in spirit, and we're giving them high fives," she said.

 

 

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

Like a Fading Shadow

Antonio Muñoz Molina

Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez

Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)

Related
The full list of 2020 Brit Award nominees (winners in bold):

British group

Coldplay

Foals

Bring me the Horizon

D-Block Europe

Bastille

British Female

Mabel

Freya Ridings

FKA Twigs

Charli xcx

Mahalia​

British male

Harry Styles

Lewis Capaldi

Dave

Michael Kiwanuka

Stormzy​

Best new artist

Aitch

Lewis Capaldi

Dave

Mabel

Sam Fender

Best song

Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber - I Don’t Care

Mabel - Don’t Call Me Up

Calvin Harrison and Rag’n’Bone Man - Giant

Dave - Location

Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart

AJ Tracey - Ladbroke Grove

Lewis Capaldi - Someone you Loved

Tom Walker - Just You and I

Sam Smith and Normani - Dancing with a Stranger

Stormzy - Vossi Bop

International female

Ariana Grande

Billie Eilish

Camila Cabello

Lana Del Rey

Lizzo

International male

Bruce Springsteen

Burna Boy

Tyler, The Creator

Dermot Kennedy

Post Malone

Best album

Stormzy - Heavy is the Head

Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka

Lewis Capaldi - Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent

Dave - Psychodrama

Harry Styles - Fine Line

Rising star

Celeste

Joy Crookes

beabadoobee

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

UAE v Ireland

1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets

2nd ODI, January 12

3rd ODI, January 14

4th ODI, January 16

While you're here
Other IPL batting records

Most sixes: 292 – Chris Gayle

Most fours: 491 – Gautam Gambhir

Highest individual score: 175 not out – Chris Gayle (for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013)

Highest strike-rate: 177.29 – Andre Russell

Highest strike-rate in an innings: 422.22 – Chris Morris (for Delhi Daredevils against Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017)

Highest average: 52.16 – Vijay Shankar

Most centuries: 6 – Chris Gayle

Most fifties: 36 – Gautam Gambhir

Fastest hundred (balls faced): 30 – Chris Gayle (for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013)

Fastest fifty (balls faced): 14 – Lokesh Rahul (for Kings XI Punjab against Delhi Daredevils in 2018)

 

The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor

Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000

Engine 3.5L V6

Transmission 10-speed automatic

Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm

Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km

Essentials

The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours 
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.