Arrowsmith was a peace campaigner and worked to campaign for nuclear disarmament, an end to the
Vietnam War, the removal of British troops from Northern Ireland, an end to the
Gulf War, and feminist and lesbian issues.
Peace campaigning Arrowsmith was a co-founder of the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and was one of its vice-presidents. She was one of the organisers of the first
Aldermaston march. She was also one of the original signatories of the
Committee of 100. From 1958 onward, she served eleven prison sentences for her political activities. She also worked for the human-rights organisation
Amnesty International for 24 years up to 1994,
1974 conviction for incitement In 1974, Arrowsmith was convicted of offences against sections 1 and 2 of the
Incitement to Disaffection Act 1934, and sentenced to 18 months in prison for having handed out leaflets at a British army base, urging soldiers to refuse to serve in Northern Ireland.
Escape from prison On 7 September 1974, Arrowsmith absconded from
Askham Grange open prison. After walking out from prison, Arrowsmith spoke at an anti-fascist demonstration in
Hyde Park and befriended lesbian and gay attendees. In an interview with the
5 Cally Road research project, Nettie Pollard (a member of the
Gay Liberation Front), recalled Arrowsmith saying to LGBT protestors, "Well, why don't we go to
Housmans?" The group took sanctuary at the 5
Caledonian Road premises shared by the radical bookshop Housmans and the pacifist newspaper
Peace News. Upon arrival, the group contacted
The Press Association to say: "There's a fugitive at Housmans, 5 Caledonian Road." Their photographs appeared on the front page of
The Sunday Telegraph. When arresting officers appeared at the scene, Arrowsmith refused to walk downstairs and was carried down three flights of stairs.
Appeal In 1975, the Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal, describing her conduct as "mischievous" and "wicked". However, it upheld her appeal against the sentence, reducing it so that she would be immediately released. Arrowsmith filed a case against the United Kingdom (
Arrowsmith v. United Kingdom) in the
European Commission of Human Rights, claiming her conviction violated the
European Convention on Human Rights' protections of her rights to liberty and freedom of belief and expression. In 1978, the Commission found her conviction "a necessary restriction on the exercise of free speech in the interests of national security and for the prevention of disorder", and so did not violate the Convention.
Running for Parliament Arrowsmith was an unsuccessful candidate of the
Radical Alliance, a CND splinter group, for
Fulham in the
1966 and
1970 general elections. During Callaghan's customary acceptance speech on re-election, Arrowsmith carried on sustained
heckling. Callaghan, in response to the heckling, remarked that it was the first time he had "conducted a
duet in returning a vote of thanks, and that it was not a particularly tuneful duet." He then suggested that Arrowsmith might be invited to take the platform, which she did, while he, his supporters, all the other candidates and the returning officer left the hall. However, her short speech was broadcast on the BBC. It demanded a withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland and
self-determination for its people. ==Personal life==