WEA Oxford Community Visits Parliament
On the 11th February, 14 participants from the Oxford WEA Green Square ‘Why Vote?’ initiative headed to London for a fun and informative guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. The trip was organised as a follow-up to the lively WEA Why Vote? workshops, held in partnership with Green Square, at Rose Hill’s Children Centre last November.
As we were guided through the Houses of Parliament by our wonderful tour guide, we took in the sheer scale and beauty of the grand architecture. It brought home to us the legacy of our
democracy, which has been fought for over hundreds of years. Given that long history, we were reminded that the victory of the Suffragettes – and their Votes for Women campaign – as well as votes for working men, came relatively recently to our history books.
My favourite part of the tour was when our tour guide, a former WEA tutor, described the antics of the suffragettes who marched in a circle around Central Hall chanting with their placards all day long, making sure that the MPs would not get any peace!
A wonderful image to bring back to Oxford as we continue our campaign to ensure people use their votes in the forthcoming General Election. Kate Joyce – WEA Tutor