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Major John Cartwright, the gentleman radical who paved the way for working-class democracy
MAT COWARD traces how ill health and voracious reading transformed a military man into the Father of Reform, championing American independence, universal suffrage and secret ballots against Establishment resistance
Major John Cartwright
PAUL ATKIN argues that we must avoid being tied to the millstone of US energy policy — a death sentence paid for by big oil — and embrace co-operation with the world’s green leader for a renewable, sustainable future
The move against alleged PKK members that sparked outrage as a community centre in north London was raided last year has now come to trial, writes TONY BURKE, but in the meantime, the peace process abroad has changed the situation almost entirely
NICK WRIGHT reports from Italy, where 80 cities saw Gaza strikes as unions paralysed transport and massive crowds clashed with police in Milan — but France is also kicking off, and Westminster, in a very different way, is facing a crisis of legitimacy too
The modern railway network turns 200 this month and is currently one of the greenest forms of transport. But unless focus shifts from profits to people, Britain won’t benefit from it, argue ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
ZHANG HE highlights pressure coming from the global South for a more multilateral approach to global governance and a more equitable world order
IF YOU were to rescue four people from drowning on four different occasions, the first in your early twenties and the last in your fifties, you might expect to be famous for doing so, and perhaps even to have received a little medal or scroll which you could modestly display in the downstairs loo.
But the achievements of Major John Cartwright were such that the four rescues he carried out during his lifetime, one at sea and three in rivers, are nothing but a curious footnote to the story of the man known to history as “the Father of Reform.”
He was born in Nottinghamshire in 1740 to a landowning family, which, while still well connected, had once been rich but was now merely comfortable. John joined the navy on leaving school, saved a comrade from drowning, and rose in rank rapidly.
Serious health problems resulting from his service forced him to return home in 1770 as a convalescent. This turned out to have a significant effect on his life since he spent much of his time reading — and he began to develop ideas about constitutional matters which would eventually lead to this distinguished military veteran appearing in court at 80 years old charged with sedition.
As the war between Britain and its US colonies approached, Cartwright became convinced that it was the US rebels who had right on their side. Though still a serving naval officer, in 1774, he published a pamphlet arguing that the colonists had an inalienable right to govern themselves.
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