English: Women demanded the vote as much in the interests of men as of women. They wanted it for the good of the whole community, so said my great-aunt, Eleanor Rathbone, who was the ninth woman elected to the UK Parliament. She firmly believed that it was entirely necessary to take the whole community with her, which is why she spoke at hundreds of public meetings across north Wales, Liverpool, Cheshire and Lancashire. Because we have to remember that people in those days, ordinary people, couldn't afford to buy a newspaper, and they certainly couldn't afford to buy a radio, so how else were they going to get information about the importance of the fight for the suffrage of all women and all men, because most men were also excluded at that point? We have to remember that in 1918, only 17 women managed to become candidates in the general election, and only one of them was elected, Countess Markievicz - and because she was a Sinn Feiner, she never took her seat. So, it took an awful lot more struggle to ensure that women really became part of the political fabric. Indeed, Eleanor's view, having spent 40 years campaigning for family allowances, based on her observation of how women and children were treated during the first world war - when their men all went off to war, they were all left destitute. She spent the rest of the war dishing out welfare to all these families as the only woman on Liverpool City Council. That really did focus her mind on the importance of the role of the family as the producer and reproducer of the future labour force. She firmly believed that family allowances had to be society's contribution to all children, because whether we have children or not, it is everybody's duty to support the well-being of children. The family allowance became child benefit under Barbara Castle, but now it is being seen as withering on the vine. Child benefit has reduced in value since 2010 - by 20 per cent since the Conservative Government came in. As well as that, we've got in-work benefits also being reduced at less than the rate of inflation, and children are suffering the brunt of this austerity campaign. We need to remind ourselves that it is children and their well-being that have to be at the forefront of our minds in ensuring the well-being of our whole community. So, we won a battle, but we certainly haven't won the war.
Welsh: Mynnodd menywod gael y bleidlais er budd dynion lawn cymaint â budd menywod. Roedden nhw am ei chael hi er lles y gymuned gyfan, felly dywedodd fy hen fodryb, Eleanor Rathbone, a oedd y nawfed fenyw i'w hethol i Senedd y DU. Roedd hi'n credu'n gryf ei bod yn gwbl angenrheidiol i ddwyn y gymdeithas gyfan gyda hi, a dyna pam y siaradodd mewn cannoedd o gyfarfodydd cyhoeddus ledled Gogledd Cymru, Lerpwl, Swyddi Caer a Chaerhirfryn. Oherwydd ei bod yn rhaid inni gofio na allai pobl yn y dyddiau hynny, pobl gyffredin, fforddio i brynu papur newydd, ac yn sicr ni allen nhw fforddio i brynu radio, felly sut arall y gallen nhw gael gwybodaeth am bwysigrwydd y frwydr am bleidlais i bob menyw a phob dyn, oherwydd eithriwyd y rhan fwyaf o ddynion bryd hynny hefyd? Rhaid inni gofio mai ym 1918, ddim ond 17 o fenywod a lwyddodd i ddod yn ymgeiswyr yn yr etholiad cyffredinol, a dim ond un ohonyn nhw a gafodd ei hethol, Iarlles Markievicz - a chan mai o blaid Sinn Fein yr oedd hi, nid eisteddodd fyth yn ei sedd. Felly, cymerodd lawer iawn fwy o ymdrech i sicrhau bod menywod mewn gwirionedd yn dod yn rhan o'r adeiladwaith gwleidyddol. Yn wir, barn Eleanor, wedi treulio 40 mlynedd o ymgyrchu am lwfansau i deuluoedd, yn seiliedig ar ei sylwi ar sut roedd menywod a phlant yn cael eu trin yn ystod y rhyfel byd cyntaf - pan aeth eu dynion nhw i gyd i ffwrdd i'r rhyfel, cawsant eu gadael heb yr un geiniog. Treuliodd hi weddill y rhyfel yn rhannu taliadau lles i'r holl deuluoedd hyn fel yr unig fenyw ar Gyngor Dinas Lerpwl. Canolbwyntiodd hynny ei meddwl yn wirioneddal ar bwysigrwydd y teulu fel cynhyrchydd ac epiliad gweithlu'r dyfodol. Roedd hi'n credu'n gryf y dylai lwfansau teulu fod yn gyfraniad gan gymdeithas i bob plentyn, oherwydd pa un ai oes gennym plant neu beidio, dyletswydd i bawb yw cefnogi lles plant. Aeth lwfans teulu yn fudd-dal plant o dan Barbara Castle, ond bellach y mae'n cael ei weld fel ei fod yn gwywo ar y gangen. Mae budd-dal plant wedi lleihau yn ei werth ers 2010 - gan 20 y cant ers dyfodiad y Llywodraeth Geidwadol. Yn ogystal â hynny, mae gennym fudd-daliadau mewn gwaith hefyd yn cael ei lleihau yn llai na'r gyfradd chwyddiant, a phlant yn dioddef gwaethaf yr ymgyrch hon o galedi. Mae angen inni ein hatgoffa ein hunain fod yn rhaid i blant a lles plant fod yn flaenllaw yn ein meddyliau wrth sicrhau lles ein cymdeithas gyfan. Felly, ennill brwydr a wnaethom ni, ond yn sicr nid ydym wedi ennill y rhyfel.