Henry Richard and Anti-Militarism in Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington

'HENRY RICHARD,

BORN AT TREGARON,

CARDIGANSHIRE

3, APRIL 1812.

MINISTER OF MARLBOROUGH CHAPEL, LONDON,

1835–1850.

SECRETARY TO THE SOCIETY

FOR PROMOTING PERMANENT AND UNIVERSAL PEACE,

1848–1884.

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

FOR MERTHYR TYDFIL,

1868–1888.

DIED 20, AUGUST 1888,

AGED 76 YEARS.'

I had not as far as I'm aware heard of Henry Richard, who wrote several books – one of them on the abolitionist Joseph Sturge – until last month, when by chance I discovered his tomb in Abney Park Cemetery. Richard was widely known as 'The Apostle of Peace', and this post is particularly relevant in that this year marks the bicentenary of his birth. I was a little too late, as the celebration took place on 1 April this year.

Diane Abbott was present at the ceremony, and she's MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. She's also the first black woman to enter the House of Commons, but more importantly she was a Labour MP in a New Labour government who voted against the destruction of Iraq, as of course Henry Richard would have done.

Below is a list, taken from the Guardian,  of MPs who voted aginst the destruction of Iraq, and is very revealing:

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Diane Abbott, Graham Allen, John Austin, Tony Banks, Harry Barnes, John Battle, Andrew Bennett, Joe Benton, Roger Berry, Harold Best, Bob Blizzard, Keith Bradley, Kevin Brennan, Karen Buck, Richard Burden, Anne Campbell, Ronnie Campbell, Martin Caton, David Chaytor, Michael Clapham, Helen Clark, Tom Clarke, Tony Clarke, Harry Cohen, Iain Coleman, Michael Connarty, Frank Cook, Robin Cook, Jeremy Corbyn, Jim Cousins, Tom Cox, David Crausby, Ann Cryer, John Cryer, Tam Dalyell , Valerie Davey, Ian Davidson, Denzil Davies, Terry Davis, Hilton Dawson, John Denham, Parmjit Dhanda, Jim Dobbin, Frank Dobson, Frank Doran, David Drew, Huw Edwards, Clive Efford, Bill Etherington, Mark Fisher, Paul Flynn, Hywel Francis,George Galloway, Neil Gerrard, Ian Gibson, Roger Godsiff, Win Griffiths, John Grogan , Patrick Hall, David Hamilton, Fabian Hamilton, Dai Havard, Doug Henderson, Stephen Hepburn, David Heyes, David Hinchliffe, Kate Hoey, Jimmy Hood, Kelvin Hopkins, Joan Humble, Brian Iddon, Eric Illsley, Glenda Jackson, Helen Jackson, Jon Owen Jones, Lynne Jones, Martyn Jones, David Kidney, Peter Kilfoyle, Mark Lazarowicz, David Lepper, Terry Lewis, Tony Lloyd, Ian Lucas, Iain Luke, John Lyons, Christine McCafferty, John McDonnell, Ann McKechin, Kevin McNamara, Tony McWalter, Alice Mahon, Jim Marshall, Robert Marshall-Andrews, Eric Martlew, Julie Morgan, Chris Mullin, Denis Murphy, Doug Naysmith, Eddie O'Hara, Diana Organ, Albert Owen, Linda Perham, Peter Pike, Kerry Pollard, Gordon Prentice, Gwyn Prosser, Ken Purchase, John Robertson, Joan Ruddock, Martin Salter, Mohammad Sarwar, Malcolm Savidge, Philip Sawford, Brian Sedgemore, Debra Shipley, Alan Simpson, Marsha Singh, Chris Smith, Llew Smith, George Stevenson, Gavin Strang, Graham Stringer, David Taylor, Jon Trickett, Paul Truswell, Desmond Turner, Bill Tynan, Rudi Vis, Joan Walley, Robert Wareing, Alan Whitehead, Alan Williams, Betty Williams, Mike Wood, Tony Worthington, David Wright, Tony Wright, Derek Wyatt

· 16 Tory MPs who backed the rebel amendment were: Peter Ainsworth, Richard Bacon, Tony Baldry, John Baron, Kenneth Clarke, John Gummer, John Horam, Douglas Hogg, Edward Leigh, Humphrey Malins, Andrew Murrison, Richard Page, John Randall, Jonathan Sayeed, Ian Taylor, Andrew Turner

· All 53 Liberal Democrat MPs and 11 other MPs also backed the amendment.