Extract from Commons debate on International Women's Day (Maiden Speech) - Mar 5
Friday, 6 March 2020 08:36
Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab):...But we are not such
people in Poplar and Limehouse. We remember women such as Minnie
Lansbury, who was elected to Poplar Council in 1921 and was jailed,
along with five other women, for refusing to charge full rates for
her poorest constituents. We remember the role of women in the
battle of Cable Street, where the local Jewish community, along
with so many others, stood up to Oswald Mosley and his fascists.
And we honour the women who took command...Request free trial
(Poplar and Limehouse)
(Lab):...But we are not such people in Poplar and Limehouse.
We remember women such as Minnie Lansbury, who was elected to
Poplar Council in 1921 and was jailed, along with five other women,
for refusing to charge full rates for her poorest constituents. We
remember the role of women in the battle of Cable Street, where the
local Jewish community, along with so many others, stood up to
Oswald Mosley and his fascists. And we honour the women who took
command during the second world war air raids, sending for the fire
and rescue services and seeing about people being clothed and
fed...
...As someone who has first-hand experience of the rise of
Islamophobia over the past decades, it is alarming that racism,
Islamophobia and antisemitism in particular are
growing. While the Government continue to use divisive politics,
which has culminated in the hostile environment for migrants that
led to the Windrush scandal, we know that the fight for justice and
change is not over. I will always stand with my constituency—
diverse, dynamic, multicultural, multiracial and with people of
different faiths and none, and from all around the world—against
intolerance, violence and division. This includes campaigning for
migrant rights, including the rights of EU citizens, in Poplar and
Limehouse and beyond...
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