Hello, I'm an expert in historical legislation, and I'd be happy to explain the term "Cat and Mouse Act" for you.

The Cat and Mouse Act was a colloquial name given to the Prisoner's Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health Act 1913 in the United Kingdom. The name is a metaphorical reference to the way the legislation operated. In this context, the "cat" represents the authorities, and the "mouse" represents the prisoner. The act allowed for prisoners, particularly those on hunger strike or in ill health, to be temporarily released from prison for health reasons. Once their health improved, they were expected to return to prison to serve the remainder of their sentence. This back-and-forth process was likened to a cat playing with a mouse, hence the name.

The act was controversial because it was seen by some as a way to undermine the effectiveness of hunger strikes as a form of protest, especially during the suffragette movement when many women were imprisoned for their activism and used hunger strikes as a method of resistance.

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The government sought to deal with the problem of hunger striking suffragettes with the 1913 Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health) Act, commonly known as the Cat and Mouse Act. This Act allowed for the early release of prisoners who were so weakened by hunger striking that they were at risk of death.read more >>