A personal thank you to Emily Thornberry

I’m a big fan of Twitter, but it does unfortunately sometimes plumb the depths and this week it definitely hasn’t bathed itself in glory.

Emily Thornberry MP has been in a Twitter storm as a result of, admittedly, a regrettable mistake. However, the way she was unceremoniously dumped by the Labour leadership was shoddy and her dignified resignation and responses to the cat calling says a lot about the woman.

I would dearly love to know if all those delighting in her situation are so perfect as to never have made a mistake. I know I’ve made plenty and hope I wouldn’t be so crass as Nigel Farage to claim to speak for hard working people in the UK.

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Emily Thornberry is the person who ensured that To Freedom’s Cause, my play about suffragette Emily Davison, was performed at the House of Commons in February. It’s incredibly rare to take a play there, as opposed to Portcullis House across the road. And for that, I will always be grateful.

In addition, both myself and the play had become the target of a pathological bully who did their damnedest to stop it being performed there – and twice they succeeded.

I had to go under the radar to give it any chance of happening. It was an incredibly stressful time. However, I passionately believed that the play had a positive role to play and the resulting #Emilymatters event, which lent support to Emily Thornberry’s campaign for a statue of the suffragette in the House of Commons, was a great success.

There was standing room only and as I scanned the audience before the performance, I was extremely concerned that the individual who had made my life hell for months had somehow got in (They had tried several times by various means to get a ticket).

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An amazingly loyal band of sisters and brothers did me, the campaign and most importantly Emily Davison proud. Together we built from scratch a powerful new interpretation of the play and created an uplifting evening with an audience of campaigners and people making a positive difference in the community today.

I’m not able to fully convey how systematic and damaging the bullying had become. And it has taken some time for the wounds to heal, but they have now and Emily Thornberry’s support for the the play and the event, which also included a discussion about the campaign for equality were pivotal in that process.

On Wednesday I attended an discussion which focused on whether 16 and 17 year olds should be given the right to vote in future elections. Emily Thornberry was a member of the panel. She spoke with passion in favour of this alongside some remarkable young women, including Alisha, who told of her direct experience of the Scottish Independence Referendum and echoed Emily’s positive vision.

I hadn’t seen Emily since March, but she came over, gave me a hug and we had a really good chat. Not at all what I expected, being no longer of any use to her. And this is why I’m writing this, because I don’t like to see good people treated badly.

So thank you Emily, for believing in me and the play. Means the world to me.

 

Kate Willoughby
Actor & Writer of To Freedom’s Cause

 

 

 

Emily Davison’s legacy is for life, not just for 2013.