Eighty-two-year-old took train and two buses on her own to visit Richard Ratcliffe on hunger strike

Date Published: 02 Aug 2019 @ 17:04 PM
Article By: Sue Learner

Eighty-two-year-old Beryl Hunter was so moved by Richard Ratcliffe going on hunger strike in support of his wife Nazanin, she took a train and two buses by herself from Buckinghamshire to Marylebone, to support him in his protest at the Iranian Embassy.

Nazanin, Richard and Gabriella Ratcliffe. Credit: Change.org

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been detained in Iran since 2016 where she is serving a five-year sentence for alleged espionage. Nazanin was arrested at Tehran Airport by the Revolutionary Guard after visiting her parents with her 22-month-old daughter.

Richard Ratcliffe recently went on hunger strike outside the Iranian Embassy for 15 days in support of his wife who was also hunger striking in prison.

During his protest, he was visited by numerous MPs and supporters as well as 82-year-old Beryl, who lives in supported housing at Abbeyfield House, Wendover in Buckinghamshire.

Beryl, who wants to make it clear that her views are her own and do not represent Abbeyfield Society, spoke to carehome.co.uk about why she visited Richard Ratcliffe.

“Three years ago, I signed the petition when Nazanin had to go into prison as Richard had put out a petition to get the government to sit up and take action.

'Richard's mother has no contact with her and no chubby arms to hold'

“I am a family person and I have a close relationship with my grandchildren. I was at my grandson’s birthday party and he came running to me with his chubby arms outstretched. And I thought Richard’s mother has no contact with her granddaughter and she has no chubby arms to hold. It is appalling for Richard and Nazanin to be without their daughter but there is wider family involved as well.

“My heart goes out to his mother Barbara and I thought I have got to do more than just put my name on a petition as that is the easy bit.”

Beryl Hunter
Nazanin’s daughter Gabriella is currently being cared for by her maternal grandparents in Tehran and can no longer communicate in English. She visits her mother in prison twice a week and speaks to her father regularly through a video call where she speaks Farsi and Richard speaks English and a family member translates.

Beryl took the decision to travel by herself to the Iranian Embassy, saying: “If no one wants to do the things I want to do, I just go and do them by myself. My husband died in 1985 but why shut your life down and not do things when there is so much life to be lived.”

Beryl met Richard as well as his mother Barbara and his brother, who is a doctor and was monitoring his health throughout the hunger strike.

“Going to the Iranian Embassy,” she said “was an incredible experience. Richard is so patient and balanced. I don’t know how he keeps his temper.

“When I visited, he had been on hunger strike for 14 days. He was lucid but was chatting quite slowly. He said he was slowing down mentally. He looked pale, calm and gentle.

“I took a candle along for Richard and I took a picture from some of the children at the swimming pool where I help out.”

Beryl condemned the way Boris Johnson, who was then Foreign Minister, is thought to have exacerbated the situation by saying in Parliament Nazanin was “simply teaching people journalism”, something she and her employer refute.

'They will never get that baby girl's childhood back again'

Beryl says she was “appalled” at Boris’s response, adding “we are talking about people’s lives. They will never get that baby girl’s childhood back again. That little girl is having to grow up without either of her parents. As a family person I find it completely outrageous.

“My opinion of Boris is that he is a philanderer, a liar and lazy and he didn’t bother to look up why Nazanin was in jail and he gave the wrong information which has made things worse for her. The Iranians seized on that. Boris is morally bankrupt. I don’t feel that as the new prime minister he represents me.”

She says that visiting Richard Ratcliffe was “so important to me. I am sure it hasn’t made any difference, but I wouldn’t want to not do it”.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Gabriella. Credit: Change.org
Beryl, who taught literacy and basic skills in prisons for most of her working life, has lived at Abbeyfield House in Wendover for nearly seven years.

“You get fed and your washing gets done. Who wants to do cooking and cleaning if you don’t have to. Here you can put your washing out and like magic it comes back all clean and I thought I like that kind of magic.

“It is good living here. We have all had to downsize and get rid of our family homes. When the chips are down we look after each other.”

Her granddaughter, Pamela Relph has inherited Beryl’s indomitable spirit, winning a gold medal at both the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics for rowing. “Plus an MBE,” adds her grandma proudly.

Standing up for what you believe in is something Beryl has done all her life. “I have been on various marches and I have spent a lot of energy and I don’t know if it has made any difference. I hope some good has come of it.

“I went to Greenham Common in the 70s and 80s and I joined Bruce Kent on a CND march. But now I can hardly walk to the post office.”

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