Birmingham's contribution to Extending Democracy

Yesterday, my daughter and I travelled to Birmingham for one of the out-of-London events for Parliament Week. The Archives & Heritage team within Birmingham Central Library had organised a "Right to Vote Walk" around Birmingham. It was an excellent morning - full of some very interesting places.

Don Hazzard, a historian, gave a fascinating tour of places associated with the campaigns for votes. The Chartists were very active in Birmingham, as were the Suffragettes. We learned about the incredible Thomas Attwood, a local man who was a far-sighted economist and political reformer - and later MP for Birmingham. He was arguing after the Government slashed spending post-the Napoleonic Wars - that such a policy was short-sighted and would lead to greater economic distress. He urged spending to promote a virtuous circle - creating wealth rather than destroying it. As a political reformer he sought the extension of the franchise (sad that in both the UK and the USA there are today, those trying to recreate barriers to voting). The whole morning was a reminder of the great reforming tradition in England (British History isn't just Kings, Military battles and a sanitised version of progress towards Democracy - people had to fight for the freedoms we enjoy today). We also heard about John Bright - another great reformer. He too served as a Birmingham MP.

The picture accompanying this post is of a plaque which is part of a walk around the city's Jewellery Quarter (for more information on this go to - http://bobmiles.bulldoghome.com/pages/bobmiles_bulldoghome_com/index.htm

There is a slight historical inaccuracy - the Chartists actually were later than this incredible mass meeting (just look at the numbers!) - but, the same individuals were involved.

Thanks again to Don Hazzard and Nikki Thorpe from the Archive section of the Central Library for an excellent tour.

John Bright MP

Just over 151 years ago (October 27th 1858) the new MP for Birmingham , John Bright made his first speech in a campaign for parliamentary reform. He sought to reduce “the fabric of privilege” by campaigning for the vote for all working men.

As G.M. Trevelyan noted: “That great audience swayed, like a cornfield beneath the wind, under the gusts of cheering and laughter that shook them as he spoke... And the magic that swayed them was not some hard appeal to the lower part of their nature, but drew its compelling virtue from the simplest invocation of moral principles in words which survive the speaker as part of the wealth of our mother tongue. No class ever had nobler teaching than the working men of this island during the years while Bright was their champion.”

Bright’s belief in political freedom and reform inspired both Abraham Lincoln and Joseph Chamberlain

Bill Cash, a Tory MP I agree with on hardly anything, save this, made these points (edited - I have removed the europhobic comments with which his comments are usually laden)

So if Bright were alive today what would he be fighting for? His absolute priority would be to restore respect and authority to the Commons. The man who coined the phrase “the Mother of Parliaments” believed that the most precious thing that a person possessed was the right to vote for the laws that governed him and his country. ...

Bright's first allegiance was to his conscience. He would have no truck with the modern whips system and the surrender of parliamentary business to the executive, nor the fixing of timetables to prevent debate....

... We need the spirit of John Bright to walk the corridors of Westminster again.