Latest news with #hungerstrike
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
Suffragette's horrifying account of being force fed pints of milk in prison after being jailed for London window-smashing campaign
The fascinating archive of two Suffragette sisters including their graphic accounts of going on hunger strike in prison has emerged for sale for £30,000. Frances and Margaret McPhun were both jailed after taking part in the window-smashing campaign in London in March 1912. They had travelled from their home in Glasgow to join other campaigners and were arrested and sentenced to two months hard labour. Both sisters, university graduates aged in their 40s, refused to eat and had to be forcibly fed, which they describe in shocking detail in letters from their time at Holloway Prison. The letters were smuggled out of prison by other suffragettes upon their release to inform the movement's leaders about the continued struggle. In one letter, Frances, the younger sister, tells of being held down in a chair as two pints of milk were poured down her throat. In another, she recounts how a fellow suffragette used her head as a battering ram to keep away a nurse trying to feed her by nasal tube. Frances wrote: 'The doctor and nurse rushed in, a sheet was thrown round me, and I was held down in a chair and two pints of milk were poured down my throat. 'Don't gasp with horror. '(Another suffragette) using her head as a battering ram she kept them at bay. 'The fat nurse reposed on her tummy, a wardress on each foot, the doctor supporting her head between his knees! 'One girl was hurt – her nose bled and she was unconscious for some minutes.' Margaret wrote to her brother Robert, describing her cell: 'A chair and plank bed... straw mattress... small window high up... The view is not inspiring, ...smoke and dust ascend like incense to my window.' Both sisters were awarded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) Hunger Strike medal for 'Valour' for their defiance of authority. They returned to Scotland to carry on their activist lives, writing articles to promote the suffragette cause. The medals and letters have remained in the McPhun family for over 100 years but are now going under the hammer at auctioneers Bonhams, of Knightsbridge. There is also Margaret's presentation copy of Holloway Jingles, which she contributed the poem 'To A Fellow Prisoner' to. Sarah Lindberg, manuscripts specialist at Bonhams, said: 'The military-style medals, known as the 'Victoria Cross' of the suffragette movement, were awarded by the leaders of the WSPU to suffragettes who had undertaken hunger-strike whilst imprisoned for the cause. 'There is also a series of extraordinary letters from the sisters inside Holloway Prison describing at first hand the conditions experienced by Suffragettes and the harshness of forcible feeding. 'Railing at the unfairness of their punishment throughout the correspondence, the sisters remain angry and defiant. 'Most striking is the description by Frances of hunger strike and forcible feeding, believed by both sisters to be a necessary tool to achieve their aims, showing the bravery and fierce determination shown by their fellow inmates. 'The letters were smuggled out of Holloway Prison on scraps of paper by Suffragettes who were leaving prison so they are a rare survival. 'The items have come through the family so there is a very good provenance and we hope a Scottish institution may acquire them.' The suffragette movement was founded in 1903 and many campaigners were imprisoned before they were released to help with the First World War effort, which they did with distinction. In November 1918, months after the conflict ended, women over the age of 30, who met a property qualification, were given the right to vote. However, it would be another 10 years before this right was extended to all women over the age of 21 under the Equality of the Representation of the People Act. The sale takes place on June 19.
Telegraph
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer playing Russian roulette with jailed Briton's life, family claims
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of playing 'Russian roulette' with the lives of a British citizen illegally detained in Egypt and his mother. Laila Soueif, 69, began refusing food in September after her son, Alaa Abd El-Fattah, remained imprisoned in Cairo despite completing a jail sentence. Doctors now warn she is on the brink of death. 'It feels like the Government is playing Russian roulette with my mother and brother's life,' said his sister Mona, speaking to The Telegraph from a café opposite St Thomas' Hospital in Westminster, where Ms Soueif is being treated. Her sister Sanaa, speaking from Cairo, said both the Prime Minister and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Egypt's president, would have 'blood on their hands' if her mother died before her brother was freed. ' We're not even asking Egypt for a favour, he's a British citizen. Does his passport mean nothing?' she added. Mr El-Fattah, a British citizen who is also on hunger strike, was jailed in 2019 for sharing a Facebook post about the death of an inmate. A UN panel has found his continued imprisonment to be illegal and arbitrary. Sanaa said her brother was 'really anxious' about their mother's condition and described him as a 'hostage'. 'He's being used as a negotiating card by both governments. He's finished his sentence, Egypt is not even giving any legal argument to keep him.' The Foreign Office insists it is 'committed to securing Alaa Abd El-Fattah's release', and said David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, raised the case again last week. However, Sir Keir is seemingly unable to convince Mr El-Sisi, who has reportedly ignored his calls since May 22. Mona said: 'If you ask me personally, David Lammy on his own, Keir Starmer on his own, are both invested in the wellbeing of my family. But has this transferred into action? No. It hasn't led to any tangible change in Alaa's condition in prison.' She accused the Foreign Office of working 'against' families. 'The way the Foreign Office works – especially under this Labour Government – it doesn't feel like it is working with you.' Speaking from her hospital bed, Ms Soueif urged the Prime Minister to act fast: 'Mr Starmer, both Alaa and I are now in danger. Please get a result and get it quickly. We do not have weeks any more, we are lucky to have days.' Mr El-Fattah, a prominent writer and activist, had served previous time in prison before being re-arrested in 2019 and sentenced to three years in 2021. Shortly after his arrest in 2019, he was transferred to Egypt's notorious Tora maximum security prison, where he was blindfolded, stripped of his clothing, and beaten, according to Amnesty International. One police officer allegedly told him that prison was 'made for people like you' and that he would be there for the rest of his life. Sanaa, who visited her brother twice on her visit to Cairo, said her brother had received better treatment where he is currently being held, the Wadi el-Natrun Prison, a massive jail complex north of the Egyptian capital. 'I saw him behind a glass shield, he's lost a lot of weight. He looked weaker but at least he says he feels OK. The doctors are testing his blood sugars,' she explained. Mr El-Fattah's sentence expired in September 2024 – which was when Ms Soueif began her hunger strike. For months, she survived on black tea, black coffee and rehydration salts. In February, she began taking 300 liquid calories a day after Sir Keir personally called on Egypt to release her son. She resumed her hunger strike on May 20 and was readmitted to hospital days later. Doctors say she has refused glucose treatment, and her blood sugar dropped so low last week it was undetectable. 'I don't think any of us thought she could continue this far,' said Mona. 'This is why I feel extra angry with both governments.' Fiona O'Brien, UK director of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said the Government had multiple levers it could use to pressure Egypt into action, such as changing travel advice. 'British tourists should know they could be arrested for sharing something online in Egypt, and that they won't get any consular visits.' She urged ministers to consider sanctions or to refer Egypt to the International Court of Justice. 'Alaa is absolutely a hostage now… the world is watching to see what Britain is going to do,' she said. A Government spokesman said: 'We are committed to securing Alaa Abd El-Fattah's release. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have stressed the urgency of the situation in calls with their counterparts recently and further engagement at the highest levels of the Egyptian government continues. 'We are deeply concerned by Laila's hospitalisation. We remain in regular contact with Laila's family and have checked on her welfare.'
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
250 days on hunger strike: Can Laila Soueif secure her son's freedom?
Laila Soueif, 69, has been on hunger strike in London for more than 250 days in an effort to secure the release of her son, the activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, from jail in Egypt. As diplomatic pressure mounts, she is now in a critical condition. Alaa's sister Mona Seif describes to Michael Safi the toll that imprisonment has taken on her brother, her mother's determination to do whatever she can to secure his release, and the difficulty of coming to terms with her mother's decision to risk her life. The Guardian's diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, describes meeting Soueif and says she and her British-Egyptian family have a long history of activism. This includes a reported past incident between her husband, Ahmed Seif, and the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, that many believe may be influencing Alaa's potentially indefinite detention. The two discuss the attempts made by different British governments to secure her son's release, the Foreign Office's strategic considerations, and possible diplomatic options. Support the Guardian today:
Times
08-06-2025
- Health
- Times
Hunger striker Laila Soueif relents as jailed son is granted visit
Laila Soueif is more than 250 days into a hunger strike which, doctors warn, now puts her at risk of sudden death. Only one thing has a positive physical effect on her damaged body, according to her family: seeing her grandchildren Lana, two, and Khaled, 13. Khaled is the son of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, whose political imprisonment in Cairo is the reason for his mother's protest. Their visits are such a source of joy to Soueif that whenever there is a spike in her blood sugar or energy levels, a doctor friend of the family will ask 'was it Lana or Khaled who visited?', Mona Seif, one of her daughters, said. On Friday Soueif, 69, grudgingly agreed to accept limited glucose treatment after Egypt permitted a family visit for Abd El-Fattah on the first day of Eid al-Adha. The family decided his youngest sister, Sanaa, would go but she would not travel if there was a risk of her mother dying while she was El-Fattah, 43, a British-Egyptian activist and writer, was held in 2019 and has not seen Khaled, who lives in Brighton, East Sussex, since. Soueif's hunger strike started on September 29, the day after Egypt declined to release her son on the scheduled date because the authorities refused to take into account his time in pre-trial detention before he was charged with 'spreading false news and harming Egypt's national interest'. In February, she moved to a partial hunger strike of 300 liquid calories after Sir Keir Starmer pressed for her son's release in a call to President Sisi of Egypt, but has since returned to consuming only water, black coffee, herbal tea and salts following a lack of action. She has lost 40 per cent of her body weight. Speaking from St Thomas' Hospital, opposite the House of Commons in central London, Seif, 39, said: 'In her mind, the most important person in this equation is Khaled, who is autistic.' Her mother was admitted on May 29 with dangerously low blood sugar levels, the second time she has been admitted during her eight-month hunger strike. During Sanaa's jail visit in Cairo, she was allowed 20 minutes with her brother while he sat behind a screen. They were not allowed to hug each other. Seif, who is a cancer researcher in Cambridge and also an activist, said: 'It gave us a slight relief but Mama's body has reached a state where it's no longer about just taking glucose or not. She has consumed her body to a point that she is very weak. She can hardly pull herself up and we don't know how much of this damage is reversible.' • Jawad Iqbal: Lammy is failing to protect British citizens abroad From her hospital bed yesterday, Soueif said the glucose treatment made her feel 'more revived than other days', but 'mentally I am getting more and more pessimistic all the time'. She said: 'In the end I had to take the glucose because I did not want another visit lost. I could see that Sanaa really couldn't leave me without being assured I would not be dead within days. For me now, I question whether there is only one possible outcome.' Soueif has told her family she will stop only when she sees a tangible change in her son's conditions — either his release or perhaps the Egyptian government granting him British consular access for the first time. It was no longer enough for Starmer to be calling Sisi and 'just being nice', Seif said, especially after the United Nations ruled his detention was arbitrary and therefore illegal under international law. She said: 'The Foreign Office doesn't differ its diplomatic tactics whether it is dealing with a country with whom it enjoys a flourishing bilateral relationship, or whether it's an adversary like Iran or Russia. There is something completely wrong about that.' 'I hate to admit this but it kind of pushes Mama's resolve to take this to the end. The only times they started shifting up their pace a bit were the two times she was hospitalised.' • Jailed writer honoured with prestigious literary award The Foreign Office said: 'We are committed to securing Alaa Abd El-Fattah's release. The foreign secretary stressed the urgency of the situation in a call with his counterpart on June 1, and further engagement at the highest levels of the Egyptian government continues. 'We are deeply concerned by Laila's hospitalisation. We remain in regular contact with Laila's family and have checked on her welfare.' Today marks 100 days of Abd El-Fattah's own hunger strike in solidarity with his mother. His sisters also adopted the tactic in 2014 when the government stopped him and Sanaa, both in prison at the time, from seeing their dying father. Seif is concerned that her brother has threatened to 'escalate' his hunger strike, which could involve refusing water. Seif held her daughter's second birthday party at the hospital last weekend so Lana could show her 'sitti' — Arabic for grandmother — her dress. When her mother was at her lowest ebb she focused on Khaled. Seif said: 'She says this kid needs his father far more than you need me now that you are older.'
The Guardian
04-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Egypt's president ignores Starmer's pleas over mother of jailed activist
The Egyptian president is refusing to take a call from Keir Starmer, knowing it will be a plea to save the life of the mother of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a famous human rights activist and British Egyptian dual national. Laila Soueif is in St Thomas' hospital with very low blood sugar levels as she suffers from the effect of nearly 250 days on hunger strike. The 69-year-old is seeking the release of her son, who has spent more than 10 years in jail as a non-violent campaigner for freedom in Egypt. He should have been released in September on the completion of his last sentence. Doctors have warned she is in a highly dangerous condition, and are surprised she is conscious. It is understood Starmer has been trying to speak to Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ever since she was hospitalised, but after taking two previous calls earlier in the crisis, the Egyptian president is so far refusing to take a third. Starmer last spoke to Sisi on 22 May, and urged him to 'end the anguish of the family'. A diplomatic source said Sisi is adamant that he does not regard Abd el-Fattah as anything to do with Britain, since he won't recognise his dual citizenship. 'One can only assume he is indifferent to what happens to his mother, but we have been relaying through all the channels available how serious and urgent this matter is,' said one government source. The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, has asked for options to be drawn up to demonstrate the UK's anger at what has been happening, but the possibility that any will stick to make Sisi relent seem slim. The UK has not upgraded its travel advice for Egypt to 'dangerous'. Starmer has enlisted the help of European allies to put pressure on Sisi to relent. Sending a message from her hospital bed, Soueif said she was overwhelmed by those who supported her. 'I feel I have reaped what I have sowed hundred fold. All that is asked (of) us is that we don't stop fighting for what is right. We do not have to be winning, but I believe there will come a time when we prevail.' Laila's daughter, Sana'a, said on Tuesday that the doctors believed her mother may have found a limited pocket of energy. 'She is fighting, and we hope the Foreign Office is using the time,' she said, adding that her brother is aware of his mother's plight. Sana'a said that along with her sister Mono, they had already told the doctors that if she loses consciousness, they would not ask to revive her. She explained: 'Our mother has told us: 'I had a good and happy life. I had a good marriage and I had a good job and lived 69 years. I do not want to sit and watch my grandchildren's life be stolen. It has been 10 years'. 'Of course I do not want to lose my mum, but I also do not want her to go through this hospital business again. The only reason she wants to stay alive is us. She really does not want to continue life like this and I understand it.' She said Lammy had called for the ambassador's access to Whitehall departments to be limited while he was in opposition. 'He was very happy to say this when the Tories were in power, but it is not happening now.' John McDonnell, the independent MP who has been at the forefront of the campaign to bring the family's plight to parliament, said: 'My concern is that we are running out of time. There is a whole range of things that specialists and diplomats have advised the government to do around trade and travel advice. There do not as yet seem to be any consequences.'
