THE GUARDIAN: The bloody clash that changed Britain

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Peterloo remains a milestone in the long road to political reform, which stretched by slow, incremental changes across the 19th and into the 20th centuries. Hannah Barker, professor of British history at Manchester University, said: “Peterloo was one of the major events in Manchester’s history, and it became a national event almost immediately too, commemorated in vivid cartoons, on plates and teapots and even on handkerchiefs. It was a symbol of the struggle for democracy against state suppression and the fight of ordinary people for civil rights and liberties – these are still important issues today.”