New truth about suffragettes...

I found the Fern Riddell interview in the May issue, in which she asked: “Can We Call the Suffragettes Terrorists?”, absolutely fascinating. As a history teacher, I could not agree more that “a half history or a sanitised history serves no one”. The piece revealed some uncomfortable but vital truths about the suffrage movement and the fight for the vote.

It is key that students learn about all actions that were taken in order to gain the vote in 1918 and 1928, and Riddell’s article has made me reconsider how I will teach suffrage in the future. When I was taught the topic myself, the arson attacks and bombings were largely left out. Telegraph wire-cutting was not. Future generations must understand the full extent of the fight for equal suffrage. Elise Foulds, Manchester