Here is a link to an article by Michael Peel, FT Legal Correspondent; James Boxell, FT Home Affairs Correspondent and yours truly in The Financial Times today on police surveillance. Do you want to know what a left-wing Labour MP, the deputy Prime Minister’s ‘interfaith and extremism’ adviser and maybe you have in common? If so then read on or pick up a copy.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 02.05.08. A civilian police photographer films and photographs working journalists outside City Hall on Friday 2 May 2008 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2008.
Jason Parkinson and I have won our Greek Embassy case against the Metropolitan Police. This is a significant victory for press freedom.
Here is the police apology in full:
“On 8 December 2008 well-respected political journalists Marc Vallée and Jason Parkinson were reporting a protest outside the Greek Embassy, Holland Park, London. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has accepted liability for breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The MPS apologise for this and have paid compensation. The MPS confirms its recognition that freedom of the press is a cornerstone of democracy and that journalists have a right to report freely. The MPS recognise that on 8 December 2008 they failed to respect press freedom in respect of Mr Vallée and Mr Parkinson.”
Here is a Comment is free for Liberty Central by yours truly on the right to strike, civil liberties and press freedom. This Roy Greenslade piece is also worth taking a look at.
The Hostile Reconnaissance rally is tonight! Very much looking forward to it. I will be speaking along side Jeremy Dear, General Secretary National Union of Journalists; Paul Lewis, Guardian journalist & British Press Awards Reporter of the Year 2010; Keith Ewing, Professor of Public Law at King’s College London & author of Bonfire of the Liberties; Henry Porter, Observer columnist, author & London editor of Vanity Fair and Chez Cotton, Head of Action Against the Police at Bindmans Solicitors & a co-ordinator of the Police Action Lawyers Group.
I’m one of the speakers at the London Photographers’ Branchpre-election rally next week along with Jeremy Dear, General Secretary National Union of Journalists; Paul Lewis, Guardian journalist & British Press Awards Reporter of the Year 2010; Keith Ewing, Professor of Public Law at King’s College London & author of Bonfire of the Liberties; Henry Porter, Observer columnist, author & London editor of Vanity Fair and Chez Cotton, Head of Action Against the Police at Bindmans Solicitors & a co-ordinator of the Police Action Lawyers Group.
Hostile Reconnaissance: Terror Laws, Civil Liberties & Press Freedom at 7pm on the 13th of April at Friends Meeting House in Euston.
Last night I was at the launch of Keith Ewing’s new book Bonfire of the Liberties – “a provocative book which confronts the corrosion of civil liberties under successive New Labour governments since 1997.”
I was one of the speakers at this packed out event held at NUJ headquarters along side Jeremy Dear, NUJ general secretary; Henry Porter, novelist and political columnist for The Observer; Dave Smith, from the Blacklist Support Group; Cerie Bullivant, who was on a control order for two years and Pennie Quinton, who took Section 44 to Strasbourg.
Dave Smith’s contribution on blacklisting in the UK construction industry and the attacks on trade unionists was very powerful.
We have to keep an eye on databases of multinationals as much as the states. It is important to defend our Article 11 rights as trade unionists to meet without being put under surveillance and harassed, by either the state or private companies.
The investigations on police surveillance of protesters and journalists as well as the covert state targeting of environmental activists that I worked on with Paul Lewis at The Guardian are mentioned in Ewing’s book which was a nice surprise.
Here are a few of the better press clippings I have found of the 3,000 strong I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist! event in Trafalgar Square yesterday. It is a shame that the BBC News 24 broadcast is not up online as I have been told it was pretty good. Feel free to let me know of anything I have missed that is worth taking a look at. It was great to see so many photographers in one place – until next time!
Publications: Front cover of Cultures Of Resistance magazine, Winter 2009/2010. Link. (PDF)
Above is a tearsheet of the front cover of Cultures Of Resistance magazine – my 2005 picture of a Hizb ut-Tahrir protest (below) was used on both the front a back of the magazine.
The magazine has a very interesting feature article on the government’s Preventing Violent Extremism programme (Prevent) which my picture goes with. Prevent we are told is a “community-led approach to tackling violent extremism” but Arun Kundnani makes the case it has in effect become “the government’s Islam Policy” and that it’s not working – well worth a read.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 10.12.05. Members of Hizb ut-Tahrir – a right-wing Islamists political party – demonstrate on Satuardy 10 December 2005 in London, England. The demonstration was called to protest against anti-terror laws and other government proposals which they claim attack all Muslims. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2005.
