{"id":3472,"date":"2015-04-20T13:40:33","date_gmt":"2015-04-20T13:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.katewilloughby.co.uk\/?p=3472"},"modified":"2015-04-20T17:07:33","modified_gmt":"2015-04-20T17:07:33","slug":"why-votingmatters-house-of-commons-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.katewilloughby.co.uk\/?p=3472","title":{"rendered":"Why #Votingmatters – House of Commons speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Emilymatters_80096b\"<\/p>\n

W H Y\u00a0\u00a0 # V O T I N G M A T T E R S\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0 H O U S E \u00a0 O F \u00a0 C O M M O N S \u00a0 S P E E C H<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\"Votes_For_Women_poster\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Today, Monday 20th April<\/strong> is the last day to register to vote for the UK’s general election. Since May 2014, @Emilymatters<\/strong><\/a>, which was created as part of a special event in the House of Commons last February that included a performance of my Emily Davison play, To Freedom’s Cause<\/strong><\/a>, has been working to encourage more young people and women to use their hard won right to vote.<\/p>\n

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Time is running out.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Too many women (9.1 million) chose not to vote in 2010 and it seems that large number may again choose to silence themselves, despite this being a vital chance to step up and be heard to ensure a fairer distribution of cuts to governmental budgets that are almost certainly on the way.<\/p>\n

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\"VM_SuffragetteFilm_yw_leastlikelytovote\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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So what’s to do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wherever you are today – at work, home, holiday or out and about at the shops. Talk to your friends, the woman at the supermarket till, the students on their way to uni. Because if they don’t register today, they can’t vote on 7th May. Full stop.<\/p>\n

About My Vote<\/strong><\/a> is probably the best website to direct someone to today if they’re unsure about whether or not their already registered. Alternatively suggest the Register to Vote page<\/strong><\/a>. Both of these website as well as some excellent apps to help you get better informed feature in the @Emilymatters<\/strong> general election toolkit<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u2018It\u2019s our right, our birth right. We are equal. We all have one vote.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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On 25th March, I was invited by Tamina Mir<\/strong><\/a> to speak at the Asian Women’s Online Network ‘Women in Parliament<\/strong>‘ event alongside journalist & campaigner Edna Fernandez<\/strong><\/a> and 5050Parliament campaigner Frances Scott<\/strong><\/a>. I was taking part in Care International’s<\/strong><\/a> Walk in Her Shoes<\/strong> sponsored 10k steps a day walk.<\/p>\n

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