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hannah festival celebrates The North

The Hannah Mitchell Foundation: A radical voice for The North

12.30 Thursday June 6th 2013

PRESS RELEASE:

hannah festival celebrates The North

A new festival celebrating ‘great things happening in the North’ takes place in Leeds between June 12th and 16th, with over 25 events covering an amazing range of topics from future transport systems to ‘tweetart’, poetry, digital creativity, ‘radical regionalism’, the history of women’s suffrage, craft beer and ‘monsterology’. Most of the events are free.

hannah festival is inspired and informed by the work of the Hannah Mitchell Foundation, named after Hannah Mitchell (1871 – 1946). Festival organiser Andrew Wilson says “The Hannah Mitchell Foundation is ace and the festival is a tribute and celebration of a great Northerner who loved the culture and creativity of seemingly ‘ordinary’ people who did extraordinary things. And there will be plenty of extraordinary things happening during the festival.”

Foundation secretary Paul Salveson says “we are a radical voice for the North…our aim of democratic decentralisation must mean that we get lots more of the great stuff that is celebrated in the festival. The new regionalism is about creativity, innovation and ‘speculations on the soul’. We are delighted that our work has inspired this festival and we hope lots of people will come along to the events in Leeds.”

“Hannah is a celebration of great stuff going on now, and it’s also a space for connecting and sharing so that more of it can happen, said Andrew.”

The event has been organised with no grant aid, just contributions from supporters. It’s hoped that the hannah festival will become an annual event, in cities and towns across the North. This year’s festival includes an event in Manchester on Saturday June 15th which will discuss policies and ideas for a new North.

The full programme is at www.hannahfestival.com

Ends/

For more information on the festival ring Andrew Wilson  07980 224927; For more on The Hannah Mitchell Foundation Paul Salveson 07795 008691

Note for editors

The Hannah Mitchell Foundation is a broadly-based campaign for Northern devolution, supported by many Northern MPs and peers. Linda Riordan is president of the Foundation. The Foundation was founded in March 2012 to lobby for devolution to the North of England and is rapidly building up support across the North of England. Its patrons include Lord Prescott, several MPs and the grand-son of Hannah Mitchell. Hannah (1871-1946) was a radical activist who was imprisoned during the agitation for women’s votes. She went on to become a popular councillor in the Newton Heath ward of Manchester. Although she had just two weeks of formal schooling she was a talented writer.

Download the press release as a word doc, click here.

The Future Governance of England

Dr Andy Mycock, Academy for British and Irish Studies at the University of Huddersfield, writes:

“The past decade has been marked by an increased resonance in the profile of debates regarding Englishness and English political nationalism. However dispute endures amongst commentators about whether the metaphoric English nationalist ‘dog’ remains docile or has begun to bark when compared to so-called ‘Celtic’ nationalisms elsewhere in the UK. The prospect of referenda on Scottish independence and the UK’s membership of the European Union will surely intensify debates about the future of England.

Paramount to such discussions will be attempts to provide satisfactory answers to the so-called ‘English Questions’ of constitutional reform and governance and the perceived ‘Anglicisation’ of the Westminster parliament in the wake of devolution. The debate on the Future Governance of England will bring together two leading proponents who will offer alternative solutions to current English constitutional dilemmas.

Eddie Bone is currently the Chairman of the Campaign for an English Parliament (www.thecep.org.uk) and is editor of England! magazine. He has campaigned widely both radio and television for the need for a Parliament for England, arguing English democratic concerns are being ignored. He passionately believes that England needs its own parliamentary voice and to promote a positive civic nationalism that would benefit all of England.

Paul Salveson is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Transport and Logistics at the University of Huddersfield and a councillor for the Golcar ward. He is General Secretary of the Hannah Mitchell Foundation (www.hannahmitchell.org.uk). The Foundation works for a fair and prosperous North of England through devolution to local and regional government. It is non-party political and has support from a broad progressive coalition based around values of democracy, fairness, inclusivity, self-reliance, enterprise and co-operation. Paul argues the North is missing out while Scotland, Wales and London have their own devolved administrations.

The debate is sponsored by the Academy for British and Irish Studies at the University of Huddersfield and the Politics Studies Association Britishness Specialist Group. It will be chaired by Dr Andy Mycock and will allow Eddie and Paul to outline their proposals for the future governance of England. The event is free and open to all those interested in issues concerning English political and cultural nationalism.”

The debate will take place on Thursday 28th February 2013 at 4.15pm-6.15pm in The Researchers’ Hub, Peter Higgs Suite (RH1/09). To book a place, please email Angela Sprawson a.c.sprawson AT hud DOT ac DOT uk