A suffragette under arrest in 1914

• I’M sorry to disappoint Harrington and Just Stop Oil, but the jury is still out as to whether women won the vote thanks to extreme militant activism, (Pankhurst’s pages lead the way, January 5).

It is true that 40 years of law-abiding suffragism had reached stalemate by the early 1900s, and the Pankhursts and their followers revived the movement. But the militants in turn reached stalemate by 1914: male politicians didn’t want to be seen to be giving in to forceful women!

Sadly it took the outbreak of World War I to effect change, as the militants turned to war work and gave the government the pretext to climb down and recognise female citizenship.

Let’s all fervently hope that it doesn’t take a war to make our governments realise that we need practical ways to change our energy needs and protect the environment: a massive investment in extensive, efficient and affordable public transport; an ingenious campaign to make meat-free days a growing national habit; let’s have more suggestions, more persuasion, and a lot less exasperation!

ANNE SUMMERS
Chair, Friends of The Women’s Library