Sunday, March 04, 2007

First they came for the photographers...



And whilst
still on the subject of futile protests, thanks to Minority Report for making me aware of a current petition on the Downing Street website. Somehow, I missed this one...


We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Stop proposed restrictions regarding photography in public places.

There are a number of moves promoting the requirement of 'ID' cards to allow photographers to operate in a public place.

It is a fundamental right of a UK citizen to use a camera in a public place, indeed there is no right to privacy when in a public place.

These moves have developed from paranoia and only promote suspicion towards genuine people following their hobby or profession.


I think back to time spent in countries with fairly ropey governments - being randomly challenged to show ID on the street, seeing armed security personnel all over the place and having to be careful which buildings I was pointing a camera at - and thinking to myself 'Fuck me, how lucky am I to have been born in Britain, I'm so glad I'm going home in a week or two'

Ooooh, the cruel irony of it all

OK, it's plain as day that signing the petition won't change anything but I have signed it anyway - it really wasn't any effort - and that's the problem, it really wasn't.

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