Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 The Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act, commonly referred to as the Cat and Mouse Act, was an Act of Parliament passed in Britain under Herbert Henry Asquith's Liberal government in 1913. Some members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU, commonly referred to as suffragettes) had been imprisoned for acts of vandalism in support of women's suffrage. In protest at being imprisoned some of the suffragettes undertook hunger strikes. The hunger strikers were then force-fed by the prison staff leading to a public outcry. The act was a response
Evelyn Sharp (suffragist) ladders to enable politicians to climb down from untenable positions. Sharp was an active member of the Women Writers' Suffrage League. In August 1913, in response to the government tactic of keeping prisoners that would hunger strike until they were too weak to be active by means of the Cat and Mouse Act (Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913), permitting their re-arrest as soon as they were active, Sharp was chosen to represent the WWSL in a delegation to meet with the Home Secretary, Reginald McKenna and discuss the Cat and Mouse Act. McKenna was unwilling to talk