Alan Lodge's Blog

Andy Aitchison, arrested for ‘criminal damage’ after photographing peaceful demonstration, says he is relieved but raises concern about press freedom

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/journalist-arrest-napier-barracks-kent-andy-aitchison-b1798378.html

Stories cover recent arrests of photographers covering events.

I know there is covid- regs at the moment …. but his is such an ongoing story of police restriction on photographers covering their legitimate activities.:

’twas ever thus!

Arrest of photographer at Kent protest raises press freedom fears
Andy Aitchison tells Guardian of concerns after being held in custody for seven hours

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jan/30/arrest-of-photographer-at-kent-protest-raises-press-freedom-fears

I know there was probably considered to be a ‘covid dimension’ [ie key worers etc] to this, but I think police do yet again, need reminding of guidelines we’ve go to so much trouble to educate and inform.

and ….

https://1gov.uk/uk-police-just-arrested-two-journalists-in-one-week
Denise Laura Baker was arrested on Saturday 30 January as she attempted to cover the police evicting anti-HS2 activists from their protest tower in Euston.

NUJ supports photographer arrested for covering protest
https://www.nuj.org.uk/news/nuj-supports-photographer-arrested-for-covering-protest/

New committee for journalists’ safety promises national action plan as first priority
https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/national-committee-for-the-safety-of-journalists-john-whittingdale/

Kent police must be investigated after seizing photographer’s phone and memory card, says the NUJ. 5 February 2021
https://www.nuj.org.uk/news/kent-police-must-be-investigated-after-seizing-photographers

Case dropped against journalist arrested after taking photos of protest outside controversial asylum camp
Andy Aitchison, arrested for ‘criminal damage’ after photographing peaceful demonstration, says he is relieved but raises concern about press freedom
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/journalist-arrest-napier-barracks-kent-andy-aitchison-b1798378.html

Holders of other cards, such as the notorious ‘English Press Association’, have been given short shrift.
Here an example at a right-wing …. left-wing gig in Nottingham city centre.

I am a UKPCA card holder and hence you see me given access. The police did give proper access to those holding NUJ press card that day….. and you can see me gadding about here, being given such access.

In every country, journalists perform a vital function in highlighting injustice, exposing corruption and holding Governments to account.

A free media is one of the essential bulwarks of a free society. However, too often, journalists are subject to intimidation, violence, imprisonment and sometimes even murder.

One year ago, the UK Government hosted the first Global Conference on Media Freedom and called upon countries to do more to protect media freedom and journalists’ safety.

Sadly, since then, the number of journalists imprisoned or killed has continued to rise. Even in the UK, we have seen worrying incidents of journalists being threatened or abused.

In May I joined the National Union of Journalists, the Society of Editors and others in condemning threats made against journalists working for three Belfast-based newspapers. Today I will co-chair, with the Minister for Safeguarding in the Home Office, Victoria Atkins, the first meeting of the new National Committee for the Safety of Journalists.

It will bring together representatives from the police, prosecuting authorities, NGOs, the BBC and press organisations.

Our first priority will be to devise a National Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and set out what steps are currently being taken and can be taken in future so we can better protect journalists from violence or threats.

Nobody should have to fear for their safety when doing their job. The Committee will invite journalists to share their experiences and I look forward to hearing from and working with them.

The importance of their role in society cannot be overstated. The Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of misinformation we have seen over the past few months has demonstrated the value of accurate information and trusted news sources in times of crisis.

But the sad and shocking examples of journalists being targeted or attacked for simply doing their jobs, for example while reporting on protests, or the developing Covid-19 crisis, is completely unacceptable.

The UK is not without reproach, and while we don’t face the same challenges as some other countries, we must be proactive in creating a safer environment for journalists to work.

This Committee has a domestic focus, but observers have been invited to attend meetings to provide insight into the safety challenges facing journalists operating overseas.

I am pleased that representatives of UNESCO and the International Federation of Journalists are also attending as well as Lord Ahmad, Minister of State in the Foreign Office. I hope that by demonstrating our commitment to the safety of journalists then others will follow.

John Whittingdale (pictured) is Minister for Media and Data.

Kent police has returned the mobile phone and camera memory card to Andy Aitchison, who was arrested while covering a protest at Napier Barracks, Folkestone.

The freelance photographer was supported by the NUJ and Bindmans law firm following his arrest and confiscation of journalistic material. He was kept in a police cell for seven hours despite him clearly attending the demonstration, to publicise the treatment of asylum seekers, as a member of the press.

His arrest caused huge concern from members of the union, the News Media Association and questions were asked in the House of Commons of the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. Andy was offered support from his local MP Damian Collins.

Seamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary, said:

“The NUJ welcomes the return of the property but remains deeply disturbed by the actions of the Kent police. Our member was treated in an unacceptable manner. The police force’s behaviour must be fully investigated as it is at variance with the strong cooperation in many areas where the police recognise the legitimate role the media and the special status of journalists who present the UK press card.”

Kate Goold, partner at Bindmans, said:

“It is of great concern when the police arrest journalists and photographers for simply doing their job and has a chilling effect on press freedom. Public interest journalists are essential to our democracy to document and publicise events as they unfold, especially during Covid lockdown when the public cannot witness such protests themselves. Through the support of the NUJ, we were able to act swiftly to ensure that Mr Aitchison had no further action taken and his phone and memory card returned, without the police viewing this confidential journalistic material.”

Andy Aitchison said:

“Today I received a call from the arresting police officer on my case. She said that I had been refused charges as there was no evidence to charge me with criminal damage and that my bail conditions were cancelled. I attended the police station to retrieve my equipment and when asked for ID I again showed my NUJ press card.

“The NUJ has been fantastic with their support during a week of my life which has been a very tricky time for me and my family. I cannot thank them enough and for working with Bindmans one of the top solicitors in their field to ensure I received the best legal support possible.

“I’m in discussion now with the legal team about what should be my next move with my case but will continue to discuss things regularly with the NUJ. Their advocacy as well as support has been immense, to have a question put to a minister about my arrest in the House of Commons just blew me away!”

NUJ supports photographer arrested for covering protest/

TAGS: , photographers, andy aitchison, bindmans, journalist material, kent police, press card, press freedom

https://www.nuj.org.uk/news/kent-police-must-be-investigated-after-seizing-photographers/

4th February: Have started to migrate this blog from wordpress.com to hosting on mu host server. Following advice from this YouTube:

and then her blog at: https://thedotcomgal.com/migrate-wordpress

Still a work in progress … to check media also transferred.

But woooo!

Arrest of photographer at Kent protest raises press freedom fears
Andy Aitchison tells Guardian of concerns after being held in custody for seven hours

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jan/30/arrest-of-photographer-at-kent-protest-raises-press-freedom-fears

I know there was probably considered to be a ‘covid dimension’ [ie key worers etc] to this, but I think police do yet again, need reminding of guidelines we’ve go to so much trouble to educate and inform.

and ….

https://1gov.uk/uk-police-just-arrested-two-journalists-in-one-week
Denise Laura Baker was arrested on Saturday 30 January as she attempted to cover the police evicting anti-HS2 activists from their protest tower in Euston.

In spite of assorted agreements with the police, officers continue to be obstructive to photogaphy in the street. Although the trend of photographers getting hassle go’s up and down over time, It has always been thus!
The object of this page is to strengthen your knowledge regarding issues surrounding photography, both in ‘actions’ and subjects in a public place. In situations whether your photographing an action / demonstration, or people and buildings in the High Street …. it has become quite problematic and increasingly so. I think 4 main issues have a bearing here.

Policeman and assorted officers don’t want to be photographed, it might show some wrong-doing.
People involved in direct action, a photograph might be evidence against an individual breaking the law.
The notion that some believe people have a right of privacy in a public place.
The threat of terrorism and a photographer might be conducting ‘hostile reconissence’.
So, I think to start with, and since we are dealing with those interested in the sort of subjects Indymedia visitors might be interested to know about ….. I should say the first consideration is:

IS IT LIKELY THAT A PICTURE I TAKE, WILL PROVIDE EVIDENCE TO PROSECUTE ANYONE?

I struggle with this all the time and it is central in my mind when photographing activities. It might be argued that it is safer just to take pictures on your holiday and leave a camera at home otherwise. I don’t agree.

READ ON >>

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jan/30/arrest-of-photographer-at-kent-protest-raises-press-freedom-fears
Arrest of photographer at Kent protest raises press freedom fears
Andy Aitchison tells Guardian of concerns after being held in custody for seven hours

I know there was probably considered to be a ‘covid dimension’ [ie key worers etc] to this, but I think police do yet again, need reminding of guidelines we’ve go to so much trouble to educate and inform.

and ….

https://1gov.uk/uk-police-just-arrested-two-journalists-in-one-week
Denise Laura Baker was arrested on Saturday 30 January as she attempted to cover the police evicting anti-HS2 activists from their protest tower in Euston.

Been doing more work on polishing my main website at:

https://alanlodge.co.uk

do take a peek… (definitely still a ‘work in progress’ )

Copyright notice: digital images, photographs and the internet

Govt. Intellectual Property Office
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/copyright-notice-digital-images-photographs-and-the-internet/copyright-notice-digital-images-photographs-and-the-internet

I wrote some notes on the advance of the law in June. From March, the country had been in ‘lockdown’ and some were holding events with little concern for public health. Events were also held in ‘nature reserves’ there was some violence and then leaving a humongous mess.
The covid-19 restrictions have been eased somewhat since then, but gatherings of more than 30 outside are still prohibited under new regulations. I have been concerned at increasingly obnoxious tightening of law and restrictions on gathering since the 1980’s, dealing with protest, gatherings, festivals, travellers etc …. High Court Injunctions, the Public Order Act 1986, Entertainments (Increased Penalties) Act 1990 and the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. All this before the next shed-load that I’ve been writing about and predicting that is still to come. All of those laws were brought about by government concerned at our ability to organise and enjoy events put on by ‘our tribes’ and wishing to live life free of their oppressive rule.
But, I do now find myself conflicted. I have done my best to advise and stand up against all of the above because the law was designed to favour those vested interests in governmental control, attempts to squash dissent and the centuries old practice of restricting access to ‘our land’. Now however, the current restrictions are trying to deal with public health. Surely, this is proper and we should have greater regard for the health and wellbeing of all of us. It is inconvenient I know, with people chomping at the bit to ‘get on down’ with each other and socialise in our tribes again. The health concern will be used by authorities as a convenient excuse to excerpt the control they have always been trying to do, but the issue is a real concern to society at large and I think we should have a care for others who may be affected. Hence my confliction.

Police break up an illegal rave in a Hackney railway arch
https://news.met.police.uk/videos/police-break-up-an-illegal-rave-in-a-hackney-railway-arch-110979

This from earlier in June 2020 ……

I have been asked to make some notes on the progress of more laws on aggravated trespass that are coming down the pipe. It seems things are delayed because of the Covid-19 lockdown and government being a bit distracted at the moment …. but the Home Office are still on the case and Priti Patel is most defiantly up for it!

Notes on law progress at:
The government has consulted on new police powers to criminalise unauthorised encampments
https://tashuk.wordpress.com/2020/06/22/the-government-has-consulted-on-new-police-powers-to-criminalise-unauthorised-encampments/

additions:
https://netpol.org/2020/11/26/government-plans-major-crackdown-in-2021-on-the-right-to-protest

1. To begin, can you speak about how you got into photography and what made you decide to focus on it?

I have been involved with photography since school [long time ago]. Taking it up more seriously when being involved with these gatherings. I come from a free festival and traveller background. Surprisingly to many, I also worked as an accident ambulanceman in the London Ambulance Service. I also volunteered and worked for ‘Release’ a drug and welfare organisation and helped set up the ‘Festival Welfare Services’ and the ‘Travellers Aid Trust’ charities that helped to provide medical, social and legal advice services to those living on the road attending festivals and related events. Those that the state excluded and made no provision for. We also felt that we should try to do many of these things for ourselves. DIY.

However, policing was becoming more aggressive and in addition, it was apparent that the ‘main-stream media’ were not accurately portraying events.

I took photographs initially with the mission of attempting to record the way the authorities reacted to a new group of social misfits as they were seen. Some of these photographs enabled people to be successfully defended in court. They showed circumstances that would have been otherwise unavailable. Thus my initial interest in photography was merely a means of gathering evidence.
I began to record more aspects of life on the road. There is no stereotype of a festival goer or traveller that is truly representative and so the project grew to take this into account.

Not very many people were trying to photograph these events at the time; the exception appeared to be the tabloid press intent on rubbishing events and the police looking for evidence. Against this background, it was clear that every effort and time should be given to reassure people of my intentions. This was hard to begin with because of many peoples past experiences. But my purpose was understood and I was welcomed and encouraged.

I was further able to lower suspicions by showing a “slide show”, perhaps next to a stage. Where for the first time, those assembled were able to see the work of one of these “photographer types” who came and went and nobody knew who they were! The show I did became known to the traveller’s circuit and seemed appreciated. It also of course exposed a bit of a “double standard” held by some that enjoyed seeing pictures of themselves and friends on home ground, but did not like having their photos taken. Some have still said that “I steal their souls” by taking photographs.

To take things yet more seriously, in my 40’s I completed a BA(hons) in Photography. Then in my 60’s did and MA in Photography. All trying to ‘keep my pencil sharp’ and to keep ideas alive! I am currently an Alumni Fellow at Nottingham Trent University.

2. Could you speak about how you got involved in photographing the early “free festivals” in the late 1970s, and give us a sense of what these events were like?

‘Free Festivals’ developed from people being fed up with the exploitation, rules, squalor and general rip-off that so many events came to represent. They discovered something. It is a powerful vision. People lived together, a community sharing possessions, listening to great music, making do, living with the environment, consuming their needs and little else. Parallel to all this, the squatting movement was taking off in the cities and groups such as the ‘San Francisco and ‘Hyde Park Diggers’ were beginning to question land rights.

It is from these beginnings that the 1970’s saw the establishment of many commercial and free events. The Windsor People’s Free Festival became an annual event over the August Bank Holiday.

As numbers continued to rise, and with the politics of the situation, (after all, we were in the Queen’s back garden), in 1974 Thames Valley police eventually acted. Forcibly breaking up the site with much violence and injury. I was drinking a cup of tea; sitting on a log round a fire when a line of police arrived and little ol’ naïve me thought that they would just say something like …. “Now come along now, move along” or somesuch. Not a bit of it. A police sergeant, without a word being spoken raised his truncheon and whacked me round the side of the head. I fell off my log, spilt my tea …… and I’ve never been the same since! Quite an education that has continued to shape some of my attitudes and politics. (They have been hitting us with sticks for over fifty years now!)

After finding a sense of community and purpose, some for the first time in their lives, many adopted an alternative lifestyle and travelled between events in the ‘season’. They didn’t go ‘home’ in between. You got to choose your neighbors and defeated the alienation that many had felt back in the cities. A regular summer circuit had been established. From May Hill at the beginning of May via Horseshoe Pass, Stonehenge, Ashton Court, Inglestone Common, Cantlin Stone, Deeply Vale, Meigan Fair, and various sites in East Anglia, to the Psilocybin Fair in mid-Wales in September, it was possible to find a free festival or a cheap community festival almost every weekend. Young people from traditional travelling families began to come into the festival scene and people from the cities began to convert vehicles and live on the road. As the habit of travelling in convoy caught on, larger groups of performers were established. They were joined by a wide variety of traders of different kinds. So the New Traveller culture was born.

The following years the gathering at Stonehenge became the People’s Free Festival at the summer solstice. People looked at the various examples provided by gypsies here and in Europe. To nomadic people across the world. To try life outside the house in many different ways and to pick and select those means that make life comfortable, easy and meaningful. The ‘bender’, the Indian ‘tipi’, the Moroccan ‘yurt’, the Romany ‘bow top’, the western two-man tent, the truck and the double decker bus.

Suddenly, life on the road in an old £300 1960’s bus, truck or trailer seemed like a bloody good option weighed against the prospect of life on the dole in some grotty city where the only values being espoused by the Tory Government were those of me, me , me and more me – what was a poor boy to do. Five of you – £60 each , forget about the Tax and Insurance (fascist claptrap), let’s just chuck a few mattresses in the back of the Bella Vega and head for the nearest festival where we will be welcomed with open arms and be swallowed up into the new age traveller family bosom. Simply making do!

The temperature had been rising for some time. Assisted by the representation in the press and their invention of the ‘Peace Convoy’, a moral panic was created. The papers were full of the shock – horror that we have come to expect. The Sun’s – “Gun convoy, hippies attack police” (No mention of gun in the article!). The News of the World contributed – “The Wild Bunch – Sex-mad junkie outlaws make the Hell’s Angels look like little Noddy.” These were headlines read my millions of people and made modern day `folk-devils’ out of essentially peaceful people.

At a meeting of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), in early 1985, it was resolved to obtain a High Court Injunction preventing the annual gathering at Stonehenge. This was the device to be used to justify the attack at the “Battle of the Beanfield” on the 1st June in Hampshire. Well it wasn’t a battle really. It was an ambush.

A distance from Stonehenge, just short of the A303 and the Hampshire / Wiltshire border, two lorry loads of gravel where tipped across the road. So many policemen running down the convoy ahead of me smashing windscreens without warning and ‘arresting’ / assaulting the occupants, dragging them out through the windscreens broken glass. 1600 police officers attacked.

Kim Sabido of ITN, a reporter used to visiting the worlds ‘hot spots’ did an emotional piece-to-camera as he described the worst police violence that he had ever seen. “What we – the ITN camera crew and myself as a reporter – have seen in the last 30 minutes here in this field has been some of the most brutal police treatment of people that I’ve witnessed in my entire career as a journalist. The number of people who have been hit by policemen, who have been clubbed whilst holding babies in their arms in coaches around this field, is yet to be counted…There must surely be an enquiry after what has happened today.”
There wasn’t. Things were never the same again and some parts of the lifestyle, turned into a refugee column with no means of economic support. Then came the free party / rave scene.

3. Could you give us a sense of the various alternative cultures celebrated at Stonehenge Free Festival, and what it was about these groups that most resonated most strongly with you?

By the end of the 1970s a regular summer circuit had been established. From May Hill at the beginning of May via Horseshoe Pass, Stonehenge, Ashton Court, Inglestone Common, Cantlin Stone, Deeply Vale, Meigan Fair, and various sites in East Anglia, to the Psilocybin Fair in mid-Wales in September, it was possible to find a free festival or a cheap community festival almost every weekend. Young people from traditional travelling families began to come into the festival scene and people from the cities began to convert vehicles and live on the road. As the habit of travelling in convoy caught on, larger groups of performers were established. They were joined by a wide variety of traders of different kinds. So the New Traveller culture was born, emerging into public view at Inglestone Common in 1980 with the New Age Gypsy Fair.

The Stonehenge Free Festival had been held at the Summer Solstice since 1974. However at 1977 event, numbers suddenly increased and this became the Annual People’s Festival. Since then, the numbers involved doubled each successive year. The 1984 festival attracting hundreds of thousands over a six week period. For a significant number, the stones of the Henge became THE place to be to hold the hippie/punk/anarchist/biker/ traveller ritual of festival ….. Many didn’t go home after. The circuit helped provide an economy. Strolling players, service, food, vehicle maintenance etc. Skills learned, barter and exchange.

The word ‘environmentalist’ hadn’t been applied yet, but in conducting experiments how things might otherwise be … I think we were making a contribution.

4. Could you share the aims of the Stonehenge Free Festival, the activities that transpired here, and the kinds of people who came out to celebrate summer solstice over the years?

There was a whole festival circuit. It was all about travelling and building communities, tribes, and societies. A kind of anarchy [which is a very scary word for some … but they have had a bad press].

Stonehenge has cosmic and so very great historical significance and people have probably gathered there for around 6,500 years. It is thought strange by me / some that after all that ‘use’ you can now commit crime by gathering there and then being charged with ‘aggravated trespass’.

It became a large event where conversations and meetings took place on where to go next and round the year’s circuit.

Most didn’t go into the stones, the festival was on fields nearby, but on the solstice morning many did. I think the pictures selected in the Café Royal book show a wide variety of people having a spiritual ‘pull’ to the place that is so difficult to explain. To some of the more’ Viking like’ amongst us of course, the tribe can party and have fun.

5. Could you describe what it was like to attend these events and share any particular memories that stay with you over the years?

The prehistoric monument at Stonehenge has long held a fascination for the mystically inclined and so it was only natural that those within the counterculture who believed that the ancients situated their sites at places containing special powers would want to hold a festival there. After all, at their best when the music was right, when the people acted in unison and that rare communal shared pleasure came to pass (if only fleetingly) that festivals could conjure up a heightened awareness. It was this search for IT that inspired many folks to take the annual pilgrimage to the Henge, in addition to the general feeling amongst hard core hippies that their psychedelic explorations happened to mimic the mind-set of the ancients I suppose. Also, of course, an excuse to get down and party hard for increasingly long amounts of time until 1985.

6. Lastly, looking back at this era, could you give us a sense of some of the lessons and wisdom of the period that would be particularly pertinent today?

Through the 1970’s and into the 1980’s I remember as a pretty scary time locally and in the world. Locally; unemployment, inner city unrest, crap housing, squatting, policing. Internationally; Economic stress, Thatcher & Regan scary nuclear developments with cruise missiles and the like. Folks banded together looking for ‘alternatives’ to what can we do differently.

Many developed a sense of common purpose and identity. There was an acceptance that modern life was too fast, expensive and polluting to the environment. We had discovered Anarchy in action, and it worked! [well sort of]. People began working out and managing relations within ‘our’ communities, without reference to Them. So many that the state excluded and made no provision for. Many felt that we should try to do many of these things for ourselves. ‘DIY’.

Thing globally, act locally!

Political liberation and questioning how we live, consumption, recycling and trying out different shelters. Concluding that nomadic folk have quite a few solutions and all comes to nothing, if you don’t have access to land.

So, we took some!