A new clause (amendment 54) protecting journalists, legal observers, academics, and bystanders, was added to the bill. The amendment was brought forward following backlash against journalists recently arrested in Hertfordshire while covering a JustStopOil protest on the M25.
The clause states that there will be a protection for journalists and others monitoring protests and that a police officer may not exercise any police power to prevent that person from observing or otherwise reporting on the protest or any activities related to the protest.
Nigel Dickinson of the Photographers’ Council said there was a continued lack of understanding by some police forces and their officers of the rights of journalists and photographers.
Delegates commended the excellent work conducted by the union to build relationships with the police, judiciary and the security industry, but called for urgent action to address continued problems encountered by reporters and photographers.
In particular conference expressed concern about the unacceptable arrests of those covering the ‘Just Stop Oil’ protests. Proposing the motion, Nigel Dickinson of the Photographers’ Council said there was a continued lack of understanding by some police forces and their officers of the rights of journalists and photographers. There were numerous examples of members being obstructed and there was a need to widen engagement with police forces, he said.
Seconding the motion, senior organiser David Ayrton, said the issue should not be seen as separate from debates on the pay of journalists because it was about the capacity of members to earn a living without being harassed.
Under the terms of resolution, the NEC was instructed to re-engage with the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing to further inform and educate police officers. It was further instructed to seek information from the NPCC and CoP and each police force to establish what guidance is available to officers in dealing with photographers at a crime scene and in public places generally.
Under the composite motion, chapels and branches are to be assisted to improve relationships with police. Existing work by the union had already resulted in the speedy resolution of problems and the development of new training procedures.
Conference noted the union’s participation in the Ministry of Justice’s Media Working Group helping to draw up a Reporters’ Charter applicable to all courts in England and Wales, setting out journalists’ rights to attendance, access to documents and notice of proceedings. The union had also agreed guidelines with the Professional Security Association which were now widely adopted within the industry which aimed at removing points of conflict.
Following consultations with the union, the London Metropolitan Police had drawn up guidance which explains the rights of journalists. Discussions between Bristol branch and Avon and Somerset Police had improved the knowledge of officers on the role of journalists.
An amendment to the motion, calling for the use of the Freedom of Information Act to discover the attitude of police forces, was defeated. Delegates argued that it would ‘not be helpful’ to the relationship with the police and that the FoI should be kept as a back-up.
As part of DM’s examination of relations with other organisations, conference narrowly passed a resolution calling on the NEC to consult the membership about the union’s contact with Google. The NEC argued that the union’s contact with the organisation over training in particular was invaluable. But the motion, tabled by London Freelance Branch, said serious concerns had been raised by branches about the significant copyright, reputational and ethical damage the NUJ’s partnership with the organisation brought. The resolution said that any existing relationship with Google should be terminated if necessary.
For heaven sake! I have been blocked for 24 hours from posting on Facebook because I had uploaded this image. Now I know the ‘community guidelines’ go on about nudity and sexual activity etc ….. but if anyone sees rudeness or unacceptable behaviour in this image …. then I think something is wrong with them, not me. But I guess a human hasn’t seen it, it is the way the algorithm is set up. I wrote to them of course to appeal, but as far as I know, they never write back!
This is at the Norwich – Eaton by the River Festival, August 1980. How on earth do you tell the story of the early free festivals without the kids roaming free and with freedom?
Peers voted to add a new clause stating that officers may not exercise any police power for the purpose of preventing someone from observing or reporting on a protest or the exercise of police powers in relation to a protest-related offence.
Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti, who led the amendment alongside Liberal Democrat peer Lord Paddick and crossbencher Lord Hope, said it was “totally uncontroversial” to protect journalists from the “abuse of police power”.
Legal observers, academics and bystanders who observe or report on protests would also be protected by the amendment. The Government opposed the amendment but it was voted for by 283 to 192, a majority of 91.
Boycott, a former editor of The Independent and the Daily Express, said: “Charlotte, like Ed Lawrence was handcuffed for doing her job. She was held in a cell with a bucket for a toilet for five hours; she was fingerprinted and her DNA was taken, and she was not allowed to speak to anyone. Her arrest took place just two weeks before Ed Lawrence’s. Is this the kind of world we want to live in?”
Boycott said the right to protest is a “fundamental right” and that it is a “duty” for journalists to report on them “because demonstrations are where we see where society is fracturing and where people really care.
“I cannot believe, as a former newspaper editor, that I would now have to think that it might be more dangerous to send a journalist to Trafalgar Square than to Tahrir Square [in Cairo, Egypt].”
Similarly, Conservative peer Lord Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, said: “It is astonishing that we are proposing in this country the sort of thing which we would denounce if the Chinese Communist Party were doing it in Hong Kong.”
Lord Hope cited Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to freedom of expression.
He added: “It may be suggested that the point being made by the amendment is so obvious that it is unnecessary, but I simply do not believe that.
“In the highly charged atmosphere of the kind of public protest we are contemplating in these proceedings, it is too big a risk to leave this without having it stated in the bill and made part of our law.”
Conservative peer Lord Garnier agreed, adding: “If we are not careful, we will move to preventing the media from creating fair and accurate reports of our courts and even of this place.”
However Lord Hogan-Howe, the former Metropolitan Police commissioner, objected to the amendment, saying that although it is “very obvious” a journalist should not be arrested for doing their job, the bill would mean they could only be challenged for illegal behaviour.
He added: “There is no general defence of being a journalist to any criminal offence. There is protection of legally privileged material, including journalistic material, and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act provides quite proper protection for that.
“However, that is not the same as providing a general defence for criminal behaviour to a journalist. In my view, that is what this proposes.”
Hogan-Howe also said that police may struggle to define the non-journalists covered by the amendment, saying: “An observer, somebody who is monitoring: how are the police to know who these people are? I guess that as soon as a protester is challenged, they might decide that they are a monitor, an observer or any of the groups that might be protected.”
He added: “Journalists complain that many people now claim to be journalists but are merely reporting online. Is that group included in this definition as well?”
The Green Party‘s Baroness Jones, whose daughter is a journalist, pointed out in response that accredited journalists have press cards. She also said: “I do not see why anyone here would have a problem with it, except the Government. What are they frightened of? What do they think journalists will report that would look so bad for them? Obviously, almost anything.”
The peers also debated whether it was necessary to introduce legislation covering something that is already unlawful, but as Lord Paddick put it: “…the fact is that Charlotte Lynch was taken out of the game for five hours and detained in a police cell, where she could not observe what was going on. We need upfront protection for journalists and observers, and not to rely on a defence that they can put after they have been handcuffed, arrested, and put in a police cell even though they are in possession of a police-accredited press pass.”
The bill, with the new amendment, will now return to the House of Commons. Lynch said following the debate: “It’s vital journalists are not deliberately prevented from reporting on legit protects. We don’t get to decide the facts, our job is just to give them to you. I hope this amendment continues to receive support.”
✨ Protection for journalists! ✨
Thrilled to have been in the House of Lords tonight to see Public Order Bill amendment pass with majority of 91, to ensure protection of journalists reporting on protests. Thank you to Baroness Chakrabarti for tabling it following my arrest. pic.twitter.com/uwYk5dT1go— Charlotte Lynch (@charlotterlynch) February 7, 2023
Welcome to an evocative collection of freedom themed photographs, a generous visual response by over two hundred talented photographers.
Individually the images illustrate personal notions of freedom, collectively they articulate the nuance of freedom itself from multiple perspectives. A compelling mix of peace, nature, play and love have been captured, alongside urban patterns, portraits, and images articulating identity and the need for equality.
As you move through the gallery, you’ll hear sounds playing, pausing, overlapping, and halting. Musician Juga-Naut responded to visual moments in the photographs to produce ‘Fragments of Freedom’.
A collage of recorded sounds and voices, gently connecting us to the photographs and each other in new ways.
In a time of societal challenge, enabling people to contribute to something collectively and freely is an intentional moment of solidarity, openness, and creative joy. Thank you to everyone who joined our very first open call exhibition, to our award selection panel Brian Griffin, Ofilaye and Amanda Sinclair, and the Arts Council England for supporting this project.
Police officers are to be given journalist awareness training as a matter of urgency following the M25 arrests controversy.
Hertfordshire Constabulary has confirmed it will undertake a review to ensure that any Public Order Public Safety officers and commanders who have not yet carried out journalist awareness training do so within 30 days.
The move comes after an independent review was carried out into the force’s arrest of LBC reporter Charlotte Lynch, documentary maker Rich Felgate and photographer Tom Bowles while they were covering a Just Stop Oil protest on the M25 earlier this month.
The awareness course was devised by the College of Policing and National Union of Journalists, with the latter body now calling for “a consistent approach” to such training across all UK forces.
The independent review, carried out by Cambridgeshire Constabulary, also made a series of operational recommendations related to the way the force polices such protests.
Hertfordshire chief constable Charlie Hall, pictured, said: “I fully appreciate the legitimate concerns raised by the arrests of the journalists, which was why I commissioned the review. I also rang and apologised to the accredited journalists who we arrested on 11 November.
“Whilst the review has correctly concluded that the arrests of the journalists were not justified, and that changes in training and command need to be made, it found no evidence to indicate that officers acted maliciously or were deliberately disproportionate. They made mistakes and I now reiterate my apologies.
“The review also affords some valuable learning, which we are acting on immediately, so that it can be used when policing future protests, and we will also be sharing the learning nationally.”
Séamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary, said: “The National Union of Journalists welcomes the outcome of the independent review, which vindicates the strong stand taken by the NUJ.
“The journalists were carrying out their work in a legitimate manner and should never have been arrested and detained. The behaviour of police officers signals the need for urgent training and planning processes to ensure a repeat of recent incidents does not occur.
“We have worked closely at local and national level to promote a greater awareness of the importance of media access and a greater understanding of how journalists operate.
“Journalists were shocked to uncover the treatment of colleagues and the clear threat to media freedom and freedom of expression. We welcome the important recognition that police powers were not used appropriately.
“Hertfordshire Constabulary should now adopt the recommendations including improving officer training through resources provided by the union.
“We need a consistent approach across all police so that journalists are not restricted on the whim of individual constabularies.”
BBC The Media Show Does the Media Report Climate Protests Responsibly? How should journalists cover climate protests? The climate conference Cop27 ends this week. But you might have seen more about the activists who threw oil on a Gustav Klimt painting in Vienna. Or the protesters who brought the M25 to a standstill. In an era of apparently increasing direct action, what’s the media’s role? And by giving the latest stunt publicity, is it fanning the flames? The guests are: Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent, The Guardian; Cameron Ford, spokesperson, Insulate Britain; Rich Felgate, documentary-maker; Wolfgang Blau, managing partner, the Climate Hub at the Brunswick Group, and Danny Shaw, former BBC home affairs correspondent. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001fj0v/the-media-show-does-the-media-report-climate-protests-responsibly
An independent review following arrests by Hertfordshire constabulary has outlined police powers were not used appropriately.
The report by Cambridgeshire constabulary was requested by Hertfordshire chief constable Charlie Hall, following intervention from the NUJ and widespread public anger over the arrests of journalists Tom Bowles, Rich Felgate and Charlotte Lynch earlier this month.
The NUJ condemned arrests and raised significant concerns about police officers disregarding requests from journalists to show their press cards, and called upon the National Police Chiefs’ Council to take immediate action to ensure such incidents were prevented in future.
When considering proportionality, the review states:
10.23 The Review Team believed that the Bronze Plan almost exclusively endorsed arrest as the only intervention available to This approach did not differentiate between people and did not consider the balance of rights (no distinction on activity).
10.24 Police powers were not used appropriately. When considering the rights, duties and responsibilities connected to the function of journalism, it is important to note the judgement resulting from Gsell v Switzerland. There is evidence to suggest the potential for the arrests to amount to an ‘unlawful interference’ with the individual’s freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR.
10.25 Commanders are obliged to make professional judgements based on information and experience. The direction to arrest was given to officers and no alternative was considered or captured within a plan/log. The interactions of officers all suggest that arrest was the likely outcome regardless of the information obtained.
Séamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary, said:
“The National Union of Journalists welcomes the outcome of the independent review, which vindicates the strong stand taken by the NUJ.
“The journalists were carrying out their work in a legitimate manner and should never have been arrested and detained. The behaviour of police officers signals the need for urgent training and planning processes to ensure a repeat of recent incidents does not occur. We have worked closely at local and national level to promote a greater awareness of the importance of media access and a greater understanding of how journalists operate.
“Journalists were shocked to uncover the treatment of colleagues and the clear threat to media freedom and freedom of expression. We welcome the important recognition that police powers were not used appropriately.
“Hertfordshire Constabulary should now adopt the recommendations including improving officer training through resources provided by the union. We need a consistent approach across all police so that journalists are not restricted on the whim of individual constabularies.”
Five recommendations were proposed in the review, including that “Hertfordshire Constabulary should consider ensuring that all officers engaged with public order activity complete the NUJ package and identified learning is shared.”
The accepted recommendation is vindication of the NUJ’s position and the union’s consistent work in improving understanding of the role of the media and advocating for the right of journalists to undertake their work.
Chief constable Hall has made changes in line with recommendations, including:
A further review to ensure that any Public Order Public Safety officers and commanders who have not yet carried out the College of Policing National Union of Journalists awareness training are identified and do so within 30 days.
From my past experiences … this was quite predictable. It is why I continue to bat at this, since I’m quite sure the continued lack of training and press card recognition is the cause.
Senior officers ordered ‘unlawful’ arrests of journalists at Just Stop Oil protests Review finds arrests of four journalists covering climate protests last month were directed by senior officers http://bit.ly/3V8vlRu
BPPA : The report into Hertfordshire Police’s actions in arresting members of the media during recent Just Stop Oil actions has come out. We received a request for a response from reach plc and gave the following reply: http://bit.ly/3Xy43FC
Review finds arrests of four journalists covering climate protests last month were directed by senior officers
Four journalists were arrested during the Just Stop Oil protest, which saw protesters climb gantries above the M25 motorway. Photograph: Just Stop Oil/PA
Senior police officers ordered the potentially unlawful arrests of four journalists detained while covering climate protests on the M25, a review has found.
The review makes clear that the arrests of the LBC reporter Charlotte Lynch, the press photographer Tom Bowles, the film-maker Rich Felgate and one other person who has not been named were not simply an overreaction or a mistake by police officers on the ground.
Their arrests were instead directed by more senior officers at Hertfordshire constabulary, who had formulated a policing plan that failed to take into account the likelihood that journalists may be on the scene, the review said.
“Police powers were not used appropriately,” said the review, carried out at the request of Hertfordshire constabulary after accusations that the arrests this month were a threat to press freedom.
“The review team believed that the bronze [policing] plan almost exclusively endorsed arrest as the only intervention available to officers,” it added. “This approach did not differentiate between people and did not consider the balance of rights.”
Furthermore, it said, “there is evidence to suggest the potential for the arrests to amount to an ‘unlawful interference’ with the individuals’ freedom of expression under article 10” of the European convention on human rights.
The review comes two weeks after questions were raised in parliament and a spokesperson for the prime minister expressed his unease at the arrests of journalists on the scene as supporters of Just Stop Oil climbed gantries over the M25.
All four journalists were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance in relation to the protests, despite their having been challenged by police while on a public footpath and all showing officers valid press IDs.
The review, by the chief superintendent of Cambridgeshire constabulary, John Hutchinson, noted that officers on the ground cannot exercise their powers of arrest simply on the say so of a senior officer, unless the superior has conveyed “sufficient information in order for the arresting officer to develop reasonable grounds”.
The review said: “The evidence in this case indicates officers were directed to arrest and did not develop sufficient grounds prior to exercising their power.
“Having reviewed the evidence and the information available to the officers at the time, there seems to be a disconnect as to how they arrived at the outcome they did. The interactions of officers suggest that arrest was the likely outcome regardless of the information obtained.”
Despite the widespread coverage of Just Stop Oil across the media, Hertfordshire constabulary’s plans for the M25 protests had failed to take into account the possibility that journalists would be on the scene.
“It was believed that officers had a lack of understanding as to the role of the media and how they operate,” the review said. “The Just Stop Oil activity spanned at least four other police forces, none of whom arrested members of the press.”
Kevin Blowe, a campaigns coordinator at Netpol, said he was not surprised that the arrests had been ordered by senior officers. He said Hertfordshire constabulary’s actions fit a template where police forces’ approach was to “disregard people’s rights to protest … and to deal with any fallout later”.
The review showed the actions of frontline and senior officers were potentially unlawful, Blowe said. “Yet nobody is individually accountable for what amounts to false imprisonment and that just leaves a civil action, which the police will settle in a couple of years’ time without admitting liability,” he said.
“Basic questions about how to protect the right to protest and the rights of those who monitor and report on demonstrations are rarely asked. All the police are interested in is what is convenient for them.”
The chief constable of Hertfordshire constabulary has written to the wrongly detained journalists saying he is “truly sorry” for his officers’ actions. He wrote: “While policing public order incidents is fraught with difficulty and there was no malicious intent from my officers, on this occasion we clearly got things wrong.”
Jun Pang, a policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, said: “A free, independent press is a vital part of a functioning democracy and should not be interfered with. The actions of Hertfordshire police arresting journalists covering protests was a dangerous overreach – indeed, this report acknowledges that ‘police powers were not used appropriately’.
“But these recent arrests of both journalists and protesters must be placed within the wider context – they have been enabled and encouraged by a government that keeps handing out sweeping powers to the police, creating a hostile environment for protesters and an increasingly dangerous working environment for journalists.”
Posted in.|Taggedarrest, journalist, M25, nuj, protest, stopoil|Comments Off on Just Stop Oil: Filmmaker and photographer arrested while covering protest
Ten organisations have highlighted the chilling effect of arrests on freedom of expression and urged Suella Braverman to reconsider plans under the Public Order Bill.
Following the wrongful arrests of three journalists for “suspicion of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance”, the National Union of Journalists has raised concerns over the arrests by Hertfordshire constabulary with the Home Secretary.
The union has also joined others in calling on her to commission an independent review into the public nuisance offence, and reconsider plans under the Public Order Bill.
The letter to the Home Secretary:
Dear Secretary of State,
We are writing to you to express concern at the policing of journalists at Just Stop Oil protests that took place on Tuesday 8 November.
As has been reported in the media, three journalists covering the demonstrations, including a reporter from LBC, were arrested by officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary under suspicion of “conspiracy to commit a public nuisance”.
Whilst we understand that no further action has been taken against the journalists in question, it is clear that the officers making these arrests knew that the individuals were journalists. In a statement referring specifically to the journalists’ arrests, Hertfordshire police said:
“Seven people were arrested yesterday. Of these seven, two were subsequently charged and two were released on police bail with conditions. Three of them were released with no further action following extensive enquiries.
Though as a matter of course we do not comment on the circumstances surrounding individual arrests, these circumstances did give us grounds to hold them in custody for questioning in order to verify their credentials and progress our investigation.”
These arrests threaten press freedom in the UK. Journalistic ethics require journalists to protect their sources. Arresting journalists for simply attending a demonstration is unjustifiable, unlawful, and highly likely to be a breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights as incorporated into domestic law by the Human Rights Act 1998. Preventing or deterring journalists from reporting on issues of public interest such as environmental protests – will furthermore create a chilling effect for freedom of expression and access to information.
The offence of intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance was placed on a statutory footing by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. The offence was criticised by Big Brother Watch, Liberty and others during the passage of the legislation through Parliament for being too broad in scope and unduly limiting a wide range of democratic activities.
The offence criminalises any act or omission that causes, amongst other things “distress”, “annoyance”, or “inconvenience” but also the risk of someone feeling those things. The arrests of journalists this week regrettably evidence our concern that this power is dangerously broad and poses a threat to British democracy and respect for fundamental human rights.
In light of these events and in the context of creating additional police powers to restrict the right to protest, we call on you to commission an independent review into the new public nuisance offence and both pause and reconsider plans to curtail individuals’ right to freedom of expression through the Public Order Bill, which will disproportionately affect communities for whom this right is most urgent. A copy of this letter has also been sent to the Chief Constable for Hertfordshire Constabulary and the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Posted in.|Taggedjournalist, law, M25, nuj, police, protest, stopoil|Comments Off on NUJ signs joint letter to Home Secretary after police arrests of journalists
An ongoing diary of stuff, allsorts, and things wot happen ……
I am a photographer with a special interest to document the lives of travelling people and those attending Festivals, Stonehenge etc, what the press often describe as ‘New Age Travellers’ and many social concerns.
With my photography, I have tried to say something of the wide variety of people engaged in ‘Alternatives’, and youths’ many sub-cultures and to present a more positive view.
I have photographed many free and commercial events and have, in recent years, extended my work to include dance parties (’rave culture’), gay-rights events, environmental direct actions, and protest against the Criminal Justice Act and more recently, issues surrounding the Global Capitalism.
Further, police surveillance has recently become a very important subject for me!
In recognition of this work, received a ‘Winston’ from Privacy International, at the 1998 ‘Big Brother’ Awards. The citation reads: “Alan Lodge is a photographer who has spent more than a decade raising awareness of front-line police surveillance activities, particularly the endemic practice of photographing demonstrators and activists”.
I am based in Nottingham, UK.
Quotes & Thoughts
“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But, conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance.
In Switzerland they had brotherly love – they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock!!”
Harry Lime [Orsen Wells] The Third Man 1949
“Civilization will not attain to its perfection, until the last stone from the last church, falls on the last priest.”
Emile Zola
“….I have an important message to deliver to all the cute people all over the world.
If you’re out there and you’re not cute, maybe you’re beautiful, I just want to tell you somethin’- there’s more of us ugly mother-fuckers than you are, hey-y, so watch out now…”
Frank Zappa
