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The "Cat and Mouse Act" (officially the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913)...

The "Cat and Mouse Act" (officially the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913) was an Act of Parliament passed in Britain under Herbert Henry Asquith's Liberal government in 1913. It made legal the hunger strikes that Suffragettes were undertaking at the time and stated that they would be released from prison as soon as they became ill. After the act was introduced suffragettes were no longer force-fed during their time in prison, which had previously been common practice to combat the hunger strikes. Rather, suffragettes on hunger strike were kept in prison until they became extremely weak, at which point they would be released to recover. This allowed the government to claim that any harm (or even death) which resulted from the starvation was entirely the fault of the suffragette. After this, any wrongdoing on the part of the suffragette would see them put straight back in prison. To attain the goal of universal suffrage, the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU, known colloquially as the suffragettes) engaged in acts of protest such as the breaking of windows, arson, and the "technical assault" (without causing harm) of police officers. Many WSPU members