Author: Pulse Assent

The Minister visited the school to speak to students ahead of the 100-year anniversary of the first women getting the right to vote.

She heard how students will learn about and celebrate our democracy in this centenary year.

As part of the government’s celebrations of the centenary, Youth Democracy Ambassadors will be recruited this year to make sure young people’s voices are being heard.

There are a number of initiatives and commemorations taking place across the UK this year including a National Democracy Week which will run from 2-8 July. The aim of the week is to engage with under registered groups and work with partners to ensure that every member of society who is entitled to do so has an equal chance to participate in our democracy and to have their say.

Minister for the Constitution Chloe Smith said:

It was fantastic to speak to students at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School and hear about the ways they’re celebrating this important milestone for women.

I hope the young women I met will apply to be Democracy Ambassadors when the scheme opens later this year. Our Ambassadors will learn how they can influence decision making and receive training to enable them to share what they learn with their peers.

Head Teacher Mrs Walker said:

We were delighted to welcome the Minister to mark the Suffrage Centenary. Our girls demonstrated a love of learning and we were proud to hear their ideas for increasing democratic engagement among young people.

In a speech today (6 February) to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage, the Prime Minister reflected on the nature of public life and reiterated her concerns about the increasing intimidation and abuse of people taking part in elections.

The Prime Minister announced that the government will consult on a new offence in electoral law of intimidating parliamentary candidates and their campaigners. The current offence of electoral intimidation relates to undue influence on voters.

She set out plans to bring forward legislation to remove the requirement for candidates standing as councillors in local elections to have their addresses published on ballot papers, in time for local elections in May 2019.

Voters would still be informed whether or not the candidate lived locally, and candidates could still list a home address if they wished. This is in line with the approach already in place for UK parliamentary elections, in which candidates have not had to include their home addresses on ballot papers since May 2010.

The consultation on the offence of intimidation, and the change in the requirement on addresses, were both recommendations from the Committee on Standards in Public Life in its report published in December 2017, which had been commissioned by the Prime Minister.

The Committee found that intimidation of candidates poses a threat to the integrity of the democratic process.

The measures build on work already in train following the 2016 Pickles review on tightening up the definition of intimidation during elections.

Minister for the Constitution, Chloe Smith said:

Intimidation is completely unacceptable in any form – and there is a clear difference between legitimate scrutiny and conduct which is fuelled by hate and personal abuse.

We can’t let intimidation of our candidates, campaigners, the public and those that serve us continue unchecked.

Our democracy is a tolerant and inclusive one. By avoiding giving out personal information that can be abused and legislating against intimidation of candidates and their campaigners we can make public life more accessible to all who want to participate.

A Birmingham robber who punched an elderly man in the head over 20 times for a torch will spend longer in prison.

The term was increased after Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC MP referred his original sentence to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient.

On 19 January 2017, Kenneth Field, 31, attacked the 72 year old man who was on his way to buy a newspaper. He knocked him to the ground and punched him in the face a total of 24 times. The victim was left with heavy bruising and swelling to his face. He also suffered a fractured eye socket, and had multiple wounds – some of which required stitching.

Shortly before the robbery, the offender had visited his former partner, in breach a restraining order prohibiting him from doing so. When she refused to let him in he smashed her kitchen window.

When Field was arrested several days later he threatened to punch the police officer. He also claimed it was a case of mistaken identity.

Field was convicted of robbery, criminal damage, breach of both a non-molestation order, and a restraining order at Birmingham Crown Court last November. He was sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison. The Court of Appeal agreed the sentence was too low and increased it to 8 and a half years.

Speaking after the hearing, the Attorney General said:

The offender launched an unprovoked attack on a defenceless man who was just going about his daily business. He used such force that he broke the victim’s eye socket. I hope the increased sentence sends a clear message that crimes of this nature will not be tolerated.

Julie has been DVLA’s Director of Strategy, Policy and Communications since August 2014. Prior to this, Julie worked at The National Archives where she was responsible for developing strategic policy relationships with senior stakeholders and overseeing Parliamentary and legislative issues.

Julie has also worked for Which? the largest consumer organisation in Europe, in a range of roles including as a journalist and representing the campaigning organisation to government departments, agencies and other stakeholders at a national and international level.

Department for Transport Permanent Secretary Bernadette Kelly, said:

Julie is an experienced and highly regarded leader in government and private sector with a proven track record in delivering results. I am sure Julie’s experience and knowledge of DVLA and its customers will be invaluable as DVLA continues its drive towards becoming a hub for digital motoring.

DVLA’s interim Chief Executive Julie Lennard said:

I’m really looking forward to leading the team here in Swansea at a time when the agency is taking great steps in innovative digital services for motorists.

Notes to editors

Julie will take up her post as interim Chief Executive of the DVLA on the 19 March.

The external competition for the permanent role of Chief Executive of DVLA will be launched shortly.

The DVLA is an executive agency of the Department for Transport. It is responsible for maintaining over 48 million driver records and almost 40 million vehicle records. It collects around £6 billion a year in Vehicle Excise Duty. The agency employs over 5,000 people and is based in Swansea.

Arts Minister Michael Ellis has placed a temporary export bar on Images from the Life (the Norman Album), by Julia Margaret Cameron, to provide an opportunity to keep it in the country.

The extraordinary collection of photographs is at risk of being exported from the UK unless a buyer can be found to match the asking price of £3,700,000.

Arranged in a single sequence from front to back, it includes some of her finest and best-known portraits, including her niece Julia Jackson (the mother of Virginia Woolf), scientist and polymath John Herschel, poet Alfred Tennyson and famed naturalist Charles Darwin.

Apart from the aesthetic and historical value of the individual photographs, the album itself is a labour of love, representing a very personal selection of works chosen and sequenced by the artist herself and intended as a gift for her beloved daughter – whose gift of a camera introduced Cameron to photography.

Between 1864 and 1869, Cameron assembled a number of albums for her family, friends and close acquaintances. She embraced the album format, seeing it as an expressive medium which allowed her to present herself and her work in an artistic way.

It is impossible to ascertain exactly how many albums she made but ten are known to have survived and each is different: designed to be meaningful to the individual recipient.

Each album represented hundreds of hours of work and was assembled with enormous care and considerable thought as to how the images were to be viewed.

Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) pioneered the portrait photography format and became known for her striking portraits of celebrities of the time, as well as for photographs with Arthurian and other legendary or heroic themes.

Arts Minister Michael Ellis said:

As well as containing extraordinary depictions of some of the most famous faces of the age, this wonderful album is of outstanding aesthetic importance and significance to the study of the history of photography.

I would be delighted to see this unique album on display in the UK, where the public can enjoy and admire it.

The decision to defer the export licence follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA), administered by The Arts Council.

RCEWA member Lowell Libson said:

This magnificent album compiled by Julia Margaret Cameron for her daughter contains exceptionally beautiful prints of many of Cameron’s most famous and important images.

Cameron was, during her brief career of twelve years as a photographer, criticized for her unconventional techniques as well as lauded for the beauty of her images. She wished ‘to ennoble Photography and to secure for it the character and uses of High Art by combining the real and the Ideal and sacrificing nothing of the Truth by all possible devotion to poetry and beauty.’

This album undoubtedly both heralds and commemorates the dawn of serious portraiture through the medium of the lens.

The RCEWA made its recommendation on the grounds of the album’s outstanding aesthetic importance and significance to the study of the history of photography and, in particular, the work of Julia Margaret Cameron – one of the most significant photographers of the 19th century.

The decision on the export licence application for the album will be deferred until 5 May. This may be extended until 5 September if a serious intention to raise funds to purchase it is made at the recommended price of £3,700,000.

Offers from public bodies for less than the recommended price through the private treaty sale arrangements, where appropriate, may also be considered by Michael Ellis. Such purchases frequently offer substantial financial benefit to a public institution wishing to acquire the item.

Organisations or individuals interested in purchasing the album should contact the RCEWA on 0845 300 6200.

Images from the album can be downloaded via our flickr site.

Notes to editors

1. Details of the album are as follows:
   An album containing 75 photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron, taken between 1864 and 1869, selected by the photographer and presented by her to her daughter, Julia, and son-in-law, Charles Norman, in September 1869. The album measures 45.9 by 31.4 cm. It is bound in red morocco and is embossed on the cover with the title ‘Mrs Cameron’s Photographs from the Life’.
2. The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest is an independent body, serviced by The Arts Council, which advises the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on whether a cultural object, intended for export, is of national importance under specified criteria.
3. The Arts Council champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. www.artscouncil.org.uk.

A new educational programme inviting schools across the country to discover inspirational women from the First World War, celebrate their achievements and identify current trailblazing women was launched today (6 February 2018), one hundred years on from some women being given the vote for the first time.

The educational programme – Trailblazers: World War One’s Inspirational Women will:

• empower students through public presentation workshops to become confident public speakers and active citizens within their local community
• encourage secondary schools to connect with their local communities through a range of activities, including leading an assembly in a local primary school on inspirational women

As a legacy of the programme, each year, participating schools will nominate an Inspirational Women Ambassador to promote gender equality and female empowerment within their school community.

Communities Minister Heather Wheeler said:

This year marks an important national moment, 100 years since the end of the First World War as well as celebrating the centenary of some women in the UK being granted the right to vote.

The programme will sit at the heart of these commemorations and is a unique opportunity for schools to mark the centenary of the Armistice and celebrate women’s achievements in the First World War and the present day.

Further information

To mark the centenary of the Armistice and celebrate women’s achievements in the First World War and the present day the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are funding Big Ideas Company to lead nationwide school and community engagement projects in 2018. For more details see: www.bigideascompany.org

Among the inspirational women whose achievements are to be promoted through the project are:

Evelyn Miles (1867-1939)

In 1917, Evelyn Miles became the first woman to be employed by Birmingham City Police.
Between 1914-1916, 700 male police officers left the city to serve in the First World War. At the time, many people believed that maintaining order and enforcing the law was beyond the capabilities of a woman. Miles thought differently, and wrote to the Chief Constable of Birmingham City Police requesting consideration for the role of Assistant Matron.

Her role as assistant matron required her to look after female prisoners and ensure they were being treated fairly by the judicial system.
On 1 July 1918 she was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and put in sole charge of a unit. Evelyn Miles worked as a police officer in the city until she retired in 1939 at the age of 72.

Edith Cavell (1865-1915)

Edith Cavell was a famous medical reformer and nursing teacher before the war and had trained as a nurse in London and Belgium.

Cavell was in England when the war broke out, but decided to return to Brussels to continue her work as a nurse and teacher. When Cavell arrived in Brussels, the city was already in the control of the German army.

Now working behind enemy lines, Cavell continued to treat every patient, whether German, British or Belgian with the same level of care. German officials however suspected that Cavell was acting as a spy, and passing information back to the British army.

Cavell was not a spy but – along with twenty others living in occupied Belgium – she was helping allied soldiers and civilians to escape from the Belgian capital into Holland. This ensured they would not be taken as prisoners of war by German forces. Around two hundred soldiers escaped using this underground network of safe houses.

Edith Cavell confessed to having helped British and Allied soldiers and was executed on 12 October 1915.

Dorothie Feilding (1889-1935)

When war broke out, Dorothie Feilding decided to serve with the Munro Ambulance Corps in Belgium, driving wounded soldiers to hospitals. Three of her sisters also volunteered as nurses and ambulance drivers.

Feilding was responsible for driving one of the earliest motor ambulances, which replaced the earlier ambulances, pulled by horses. As the war progressed, the driving conditions became increasingly difficult. This was very dangerous work, and often placed Feilding directly in the line of fire.

Dorothie Feilding was awarded numerous medals including the Military Medal for Bravery (UK), the Order of Leopold II (Belgium) and the Croix de Guerre (Bronze Star; France).

In 1917, she left the Western Front and returned to London where she continued to work as an ambulance driver, driving wounded soldiers to hospitals across the capital.

The Awards were presented at the Gold Award Ceremony held at Temple Trees, Colombo on 4 February 2018, by HRH The Earl of Wessex; Chair of the Award’s international organisation, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation.

Tissa Samarasinghe, National Director of the Award in Sri Lanka says:

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award has significantly contributed towards developing and empowering young people in Sri Lanka; helping them to challenge themselves, experience life and find their purpose, passion and place in the world. The Gold Award challenges participants over 18 months and more, in five areas – physical activity, skill development, service to community and by taking them outside of their comfort zone, through an adventurous journey and residential project.

HRH The Earl of Wessex says:

It has been a great honour to meet such inspiring young people, hear about their Award journeys and celebrate their achievements. Achieving your Gold Award is not an easy task – it requires commitment, tests your resilience and challenges you to step outside your comfort zone. But it also opens up many opportunities for young people and enables them to be their own agents of change, both for themselves and their communities.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is a global, non-formal education framework which challenges young people to discover their potential and celebrate their achievements. It operates in more than 130 countries and territories around the world, helping to inspire over 1.3 million young people every year.