Dr Bearman, who gained a Phd from Hull University, accuses Prof Purvis of endorsing the Suffragettes' claims in her book on Emmeline Pankhurst. "The leaders were brilliant propagandists but no more truthful than any other group of politicians or pressure group leaders. They lied shamelessly when the facts were not to the organisation's advantage or credit," he says. "Only when historians do their job and tell both sides of the story will it be possible to understand Suffragette militancy and its lessons for modern society."