Alan Lodge's Blog

Royal shrovetide football is an ancient annual event that takes place in Ashbourne, Derbyshire on Shrove Tuesday. It has little to do with normal football, for the game has few rules. Murder and manslaughter are barred as is the transportation of the ball by vehicle. Play after midnight is also forbidden.

There are 2 goal posts, one at Sturton Mill, the other at Clifton Mill, a distance of 3 miles apart, and the 2 sides are made up of those that live north of Henmore Brook, called the Uppard`s, and those who live south of it, called the Down`ards. In reality anyone can join in the fun.

Ashbourne town centre is boarded up for the occasion and the game starts around 2pm, with a leather and cork ball being `turned up` at Shaw Croft by a local dignitary, usually after a short speech.

The ball is hardly ever kicked, but mostly `hugged` by a scrum which tries to move forward. At times there seems to be hardly any movement at all, except for players desperate to get into the scrum. Sometime or other, the ball has to go into Henmore Brook and everyone follows, regardless of the soaking they will get.

If a goal is scored before 5pm, a new ball is turned up at Shaw Croft, as the scorer is allowed to keep the ball. Women do take part and have occasionaly scored.

It is called `Royal` because in 1928 the ball was `turned up` by the then, Prince of Wales, later to become Edward the Eighth. In 2003 the ball was turned by by Prince Charles.

More pictures on my FotoBlog at: http://tashcamuk.fotopages.com/?entry=347178

The Green Man connection
Whilst the crowds gather to watch the game and the players enjoy a little pre-game refreshement, others are in the Green Man Royal Hotel continuing the Shrovetide tradition.

The Green Man Royal Hotel is the venue for the pre-game luncheon.

Here, the starter, the Shrovetide Football Game Committee and other dignitaries spend a couple of hours of socialising over drinks and a roast dinner.

The Shrovetide Anthem is sung and the starter is usually invited to make a brief speech after lunch.

It is here where the crowds get their first match-day glimpse of the ball as it is carried out of the Green Man (under guard!) and taken to the Shaw Croft car park.

The Green Man, a former coaching inn, has hosted the Shrovetide lunch since ancient times.

Once the ball has been carried out of the Green Man Royal Hotel, the starter is ‘guarded’ as he carries it along Dig Street and into the Shaw Croft car park. The guards are necessary to prevent over-eager players or souvenir-hunters from stealing the ball!

As it is paraded through the town crowds cheer and follow the ball to its starting point – a specially-constructed plinth. The starter mounts the plinth and holds the ball aloft for all to see.

The players are reminded of the rules which state that the game must not be allowed to wander onto church ground or the memorial gardens and that residents’ private property (including cars!) must be respected and should not be damaged.
After that, the National Anthem is sung and a chorus of Auld Lang Syne.

Then, at 2pm, it’s all up to the starter – he lifts the ball high and throws it into the waiting crowd.

Often, the ball is immediately lost from sight as it is grabbed by a large scrum of players, known as the ‘hug’.

From there, it’s anybody’s guess as to where the ball will go and it can often be stuck in the same spot for many, many minutes as the opposing teams push against each other.

Frequently, the ball ends up stuck in the River Henmore.

History
Shrovetide football has been played for centuries and possibly for over 1,000 years.
The origins of the annual Ashbourne Shrovetide football game have long been lost in the midsts of time after a fire at the Royal Shrovetide Committee office in the 1890s.

The earliest surviving reference to the game is from 1683 when Charles Cotton, who penned ‘The Compleat Angler’, wrote about it.

There are many versions as to the true origins of the game – but the most popular seems to be the theory that the ‘ball’ was originally a head tossed into the waiting crowd following an execution.

There have also been several attempts to ban the game – the most famous being in 1349 when Edward III tried to outlaw it as he claimed it interfered with his archery practice!

And in 1878 the game was briefly banned after a man drowned in the Henmore. Local land-owners signed petitions and refused to let the game take place on their properties.

The game has received true ‘Royal Assent’ only twice – in 1928 the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, turned up the ball. This is when the event officially earned the designation Royal Shrovetide Football.

Later, in 2003, HRH Prince Charles turned up the ball. He had agreed to start the game for the two previous years but had to cancel due to Foot-and-Mouth, which forced the cancellation of the game, and the death of his aunt, Princess Maragaret.

Records show that 1943 was the first year in which the ball was goaled by a woman. Doris Mugglestone goaled for the Up’ards and Doris Sowter goaled for the Down’ards – both on Ash Wednesday.

Rules
There are actually few ‘rules’ to playing in the Ashbourne Shrovetide Football Game – but there are some pointers to getting the best from the game and understanding it.

Many local traders have become wise to the ‘hazards’ of Shrovetide Football over the years and these days Ashbourne town centre is boarded up for the occasion.

This helps protect property from a surging ‘hug’ and protects the players from the possibility of broken glass.

The main rules of the game are:
Keep the ball out of churchyards, the cemetery and the Memorial Gardens.
Do not trespass on other people’s property.
You must not intentionally cause harm to others.
The ball must not be hidden in bags or rucksacks.
The ball must not be transported in motorised vehicles.
Murder and manslaughter are barred

One of the earliest rules, from ancient times, states that players must not murder their opponents!

The players are divided into two teams, the Up’ards (those born north of the River Henmore) and the Down’ards, but in reality anyone can join in the fun.

There are two ‘goal posts’ – one at Sturston Mill, the other at Clifton Mill, a distance of three miles apart.

The ball is hardly ever kicked, but mostly hugged by a scrum which tries to move forward as each team pushes towards its own goal post.

A ball is goaled by tapping it three times against a marker board attached to the stone goal plinth.

If the ball is goaled before 5pm, a new ball is turned up at Shaw Croft, as the scorer is allowed to keep the ball.

Ashbourne Town Site
http://www.ashbourne-town.com/events/football.html

Shrovetide Football Guide
http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/features/attractions/ashbourne_shrovetide_football

Shrovetide Game History
http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/features/attractions/ashbourne_shrovetide_football/history.shtml

http://www.guardian.co.uk/idcards/story/0,15642,1404479,00.html

The government’s plans for compulsory identity cards raise serious questions about human rights and the invasion of privacy, an influential all-party group of MPs and peers has warned.

The joint parliamentary committee on human rights has also sharply criticised ministers for claiming that their ID card legislation is compatible with human rights conventions without giving any explanation to support the claim.

The report from the committee of MPs and peers, chaired by the Labour MP Jean Corston, says they have serious human rights concerns over key parts of the legislation including:

· The extent of personal information held on the central computer register.

· The potential for personal information to be recorded without the knowledge or consent of the individual concerned.

· The potential for discrimination by making registration compulsory for certain groups, such as foreign nationals.

· Personal information that can be disclosed to public service providers as a condition of access to public services.

· Provision for extensive data sharing across both the public and private sectors.

The committee said: “The information which the bill envisages will be held on the register allows for significant intrusion into private life.”

The committee’s report was welcomed by the Liberal Democrats and by Liberty, the civil rights organisation. The Lib Dem president, Simon Hughes, said Charles Clarke “must listen to this crystal-clear warning”. Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty said it was meticulous in pointing up the numerous flaws in the legislation.

But the Home Office said it would respond in due course to the committee’s concerns, adding that the MPs and peers had also concluded that the European convention on human rights did not prevent the issue of any form of identity card.

“Twenty-one out of the 25 European states have identity card schemes, which underlines the point that ID cards do not raise concerns under the convention,” said a Home Office spokesman.

* * * * * *

ID cards put human rights at risk, say MPs and peers – Independent 3 Feb 2005

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=607251

Proposals for ID cards which lie at the heart of Tony Blair’s pre-election programme were dealt a devastating blow yesterday as senior MPs and peers declared they risked infringing human rights.

Plans for compulsory biometric ID cards and a national identity database could breach the right to privacy and protection against discrimination enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, a powerful committee of MPs and peers said. A report by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, which checks that all law complies with the convention, warned that the legislation contained a string of potential breaches.

Human rights campaigners and MPs condemned ID cards for heralding a “surveillance society” and said yesterday’s report struck at the core of the Government’s plans. But Downing Street insisted planned ID cards would not violate international human rights law. It warned that doubts had been raised about the use of cards in preventing terrorism or crime, one of the key justifications for ID cards in human rights law.

Wide-ranging powers to hold information without consent, make cards compulsory for people applying for passports and allow organisations inside and outside government to access information about people all raised serious questions, the committee said.

In a letter to Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, the committee demanded answers to 14 questions about the impact of the ID Card Bill on human rights. Their 30-page report was published before members of the committee question Mr Clarke about his proposals next week, with the ID Cards Bill going through the Commons.

The report rejected claims by ministers that ID cards would initially be voluntary, saying people would be forced to join a national identify database if it was linked to passport or driving licence applications.

The committee also raised questions about information to be held on ID cards, which could include previous addresses, immigration history and details of previous requests to access information by police, prospective employers or other bodies. The report warned that the Bill was “potentially highly intrusive of private life”, raising the prospect of any organisation asking people to produce an ID card or agree to an identity check before dealing with them.

The committee expressed concern at the lack of safeguards in the legislation and attacked the former home secretary David Blunkett, condemning as “deeply unsatisfactory” his failure to explain how the Bill conformed with human rights law.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of the pressure group Liberty, said the report was a “road map” for future legal challenges.

Its been a thing on the news of late, with the anniversary of Auschwitz liberation that first, young folk don’t know where / what that is, and on realising that, a few journo went off to ask a few more samples of young people, we’ll you don’t know about that then, what about Hitler? Who? so, education and history is worse than many of us thought …..

I had no interest in history myself at the secondary modern school I went to. I raised a laugh in the corridor a few time with the funny “History, no, future in it!”

HoHo. But not true is it. Those who don’t know any history are condemned to repeat mistakes etc …. and stuff seems to ‘come round again’, which means you stand a better chance of prediction, if you’ve got some idea what’s’ happened before.

Gypsy evictions all over the place, since the passing of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. A lot of the gypsies thought it didn’t apply to them, only these hippy convoy types, and we don’t like them, so, ‘good riddance’. Some of us on this side of the fence said, they do mean you also. We saw a divide and rule mentality going on here. So on the day of enactment of the CJA at 9.30am, ‘Gypsies’ were the first to have some of the provisions applied. Downhill for all of us, ever since. Shame we couldn’t have stood more together, but, to late now. Most of my tribe has left, years ago, fearing yet more laws against them, and perhaps, a re-run of history.

http://www.travellerslaw.org.uk

Aside from my ‘alternative’ credentials, I am also a member of the National Union of Journalist. I have recently qualified from the NUJ ‘Reps’ Course. An effort for us to get better skilled and ‘stick-up’ for members against ever tightening restrictions ….

I was asked to produce a seminar, and made these notes to cover, some of my issues of concern.

* * * * * *

As a ‘Freelance Photo-Journalist’, issues of concern are very different to those ‘office based’ workers

The main issue of concern to me, at the moment, are primarily in ‘Public Order’ matters.

· Press card recognition by the authorities, the police in particular, since they frequently control access to locations. So often, the press card raises little more than a chuckle.

· Advice in defence in court after charges. Primarily arrest for obstruction.

· Civil claims for wrongful arrest and assaults.

· Identity: The wearing of NUJ ‘bibs’. Attitudes of police and protesters to this.

· Dealing with requests from police and authorities for film and footage. They say: ‘for the investigation of crimes’ [this became public as an issue, after the Metropolitan Police request to media organisations and freelances, after the Poll-Tax Riot in London]

· Giving evidence in court after ‘actions or events. ? An impartial observer, or not. Is work available to police or public / protestors, equally?

· Only one solicitors firm now accredited by NUJ, Thompson’s. But, they don’t have depth of experience to handle most of this. Their main experience is in employment rights, contacts etc. They know little on the issues, faced out here on the street. (NUJ, saving money after loose RSI case a while ago).

Thus, many of us have to organise amongst ourselves, aside from the NUJ. Shame, wasn’t always like this!

Other Freelance concerns

· Widespread theft of copyright.

· Media customers asking / demanding ‘All Rights’ perpetual (i.e. Not licensed for specific use or time. This was how we used to do business, and generate an income.

· Competition from ‘Royalty-free’ libraries / sources. This activity lowers standards for photojournalism. (Now the Sunday Supps, are full of ‘lifestyle’ and food and ‘posh house’ pictures. Used to be an outlet for the photo-essay, on issues of concern)

· Freelances not adequately trained for dangerous assignments. They are considered ‘dispensable’ compared to sending ‘staffers’.

· Much difficulty in getting adequate insurance for person and kit. Staff journalists are frequently in the same dangers, but company deals with insurance and looking after dependents etc.

· Under representation of freelancers to get any ‘muscle’ within main union activities.

· All the usuals about pensions, representation, fair dealings etc.

My degree in Photography at Nottingham Trent University [a while ago now], didn’t cover any of this.

I came across this quote the other day in Howard Chapnick¹s book – Truth Needs No Ally:

On Giving Away Pictures

“Every professional photographer, at one time or another, has received a phone call or letter reading as follows: “Our organization would like to use your photograph in a brochure [or advertisement, or magazine, or audio-visual presentation]. We are a non-profit organization that has no budget for the purchase of the photograph, and we hope that you will provide the picture without charge.” My standard answer is an emphatic “no.” I am tired of the exploitation of creative people by non-profit organizations. You may think this a crass and overly commercial response, but let’s consider it for a moment.

What about the person who wrote that letter or made that call? Does that person get paid for his or her job as the editor or art director of the publication? What about the rest of the staff of that non-profit organization? Do they get paid for their efforts? Does the paper company charge for the paper used: in the brochure or publication? Do the typesetter, color separator, half-tone maker, printer, and binder get paid? The answer is a categorical “yes.” So why should the photographer be the one who is asked to contribute the work without compensation?

My position is that if everybody is donating their services, and no one is getting paid for a project that is altruistic and idealistic, then, and only then, should a photographer ever consider donating the reproduction rights to his or her photograph.”

Chapnick, H. (1994) Truth Needs No Ally: Inside Photojournalism.

Columbia: University of Missouri Press. P334-335. / change in my lifestyle.

* * * * * *

http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/01/304467.html

As people maybe aware on mayday 2001 over 3,00 people were cordoned in at oxford circus & held as part of the mayday protests. They were detained for over 7 hours, denied the right to leave (effectively held prisoner) without access to toilet facilities. Many at the time believed this to be illegal by the police.

The trial is now being held at the royal courts of justcie to determined whether the police had the legal authority to do what they did.

This is the second week of the trial. The first was taken up with people (some protestors, some not) recounting their experiences of being caught up in this cordon. Extensive video footage was shown in court of just how the police effected their operation throughout mayday.

This week has been taken up with the police officers actually in charge of the operatioon. They explained the operational tactic employed & why they thought it was necessary to do what they did. (This tactic was actually devised some months beforehand as: containing the crowd & i quote “boring them to death”).

As with all police who swear to tell the truth under oath in a court of law they lied through their teeth. Special reference has to be made to chief superintendent french (silver commander on the day & effectively the decsion maker) who attempted to deny an reponsiblity for the instigation of these tactis (despite his signature being on the briefing notes) & denied any knowledge of just what was happening on the ground (despite supposedly being in the command centre at the time monitoring everything that was happening at oxford circus. (He said he was in a diferent room at the time!).

When asked where was the recorded evidence (in police radio logs) of him giving the order to cordon people in, he said he must have given the order on his moblie phone. When it was explained mobile phones were actually forbidden in the police command centre he changed his mind & said it was from a landline in a different room!!!).

Despite having constant radio contact with every commander on the ground on the day in one room, he chooses to go to another room, phone from a landline & issue the single most important order of the day!

The point made by the claimamt’s barrister was that all the officers in charge were briefed days beforehand that a cordon was to be put in place at oxford circus regardless & so didn’t need a direct order from french).

This is an incredibly important case the outcome of which will determine policing operations (both positive & negative) on future mass actions.

I urge as many people to go to the royal courts of justice (1) for entertainment value of watching the highest ranking coppers in the country squirm & lie & generally make fools of themselves but more importantly to witness just how & why the police get away with what they do at that level.

The trial will last until next week.

Court 14

Royal Courts of Justice

The Strand

Aldwych

London WC2A 2LL

Court sits from 10.30 am finishes 4.30pm everday

More pictures of this event, can been seen at the following links

http://tash.gn.apc.org/gal_mayday2001-1.htm

http://tash.gn.apc.org/gal_mayday2001-2.htm

http://tash.gn.apc.org/surv_mday1.htm

http://tash.gn.apc.org/surv_mday2.htm

http://tash.gn.apc.org/gal_action10.htm

Found in the village of Slack, three miles north of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.

I guess it’s an address, just like any other. But to some, a bit rude 🙂

So, I just had to stop to take a piccy…….

Went out for a weekends tree planting with ‘Treesponsibility’. Folks from local area, Leeds, Nottingham contributed their labour at Lower Benthead Farm about 5 miles north of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.

Map: OS Ref SD967294

Treesponsibility in Calderdale is a not-for profit community group, based on mutual accountability and consensus. They have a small ‘core’ group of members with a wider circle of people who subscribe to our newsletter and turn up to tree plantings. So far, managed to plant about 40,000 trees and hedge plants.

http://treesponsibility.com

aims are to:-

1. encourage, empower and enable people to take responsibility for their own carbon dioxide emissions through tree-planting, as one urgent response to climate change

2. bring back our lost woodlands and hedgerows to increase biodiversity

3. spread the idea and practice of land-connectedness, co-operation and community as a possible future, and the most sensible way out of the present environmental crisis. We can each choose not to contribute to global warming. Instead, we can contribute to climate change of a rather different kind – a shift towards connectedness, community and love of the land. We also intend to have fun, while we’re doing all this!

Treesponsibility contact:

PO Box 38, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire HX7 8YR

Telephone / fax: 01422 843222

thomas@treesponsibility.com

http://treesponsibility.com

Indymedia entries at:

Treeplanting in Calderdale: Indymedia-UK

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/01/304257.html

Treeplanting in Calderdale: Indymedia-Leeds Bradford

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/leedsbradford/2005/01/304257.html

and ….

On Heptonstall Moor, just off the Pennine Way, on open [and very windswept] moorland. I ‘took five’, at lunchtime, to stride off across the moor, to find this Triangulation Pillar at SD951302

http://www.trigpointinguk.com/trigs/trig-details.php?t=3740

more piccy in this project at: http://www.trigpointinguk.com/trigs/view-album.php?u=1529 onwards.

Well, some people are trainspotters, I spot these 🙂

* * * * * *

We plant ’em. They saw them down

Earlier entries on Indymedia and hebdenbridge.co.uk, may give an idea as to why we need to accelerate planting. People protest and attempt to stop [by law and protest], yet more environment destruction by nerds! The other side of the coin is of course, trying to ameliorate just some of their damage, by us planting more than they fell. If only tree grew quicker.

Chainsaw massacre in Hebden Bridge

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/leedsbradford/2004/10/299660.html

Battle of the Mill Pond: http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/news/news04/46.html

http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk

“The flame of hatred that burned our people to smoke in Auschwitz is still consuming us today”

On the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, the words of Toma Nikoleaff, editor of the Roma newspaper De Facto must be a wake up call.

Today 40,000 Travellers and Roma face UK ethnic-cleansing – through violent destruction of their caravan parks and mass forced deportations.

Roma living “illegally” are being hunted down by Immigration “snatch squads”; Traveller families, who bought land on Government advice, now see their homes and their lives wrecked by police and private security men.

EVICTIONS

In the latest eviction, at Ridge near London, Twin Oaks caravan park was bulldozed and raised (6 Jan). Five persons, including a crittically ill women of 72, were assaulted and two men arrested. Four mobile homes were wrecked.

Among property needless destroyed were two wheel-chairs, television sets, and countless household items and heirloom china.

The eviction, carried out by Constant & Co, cost Euro 250,000. Damage to property exceeds Euro 200,000. Two cases under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act are being prepared against Hertsmere District Council and Constant.

In two years, l5,000 Roma have been “removed” from Britain, and more than 1,000 Travellers “cleared” from their own land under policies experienced by the victims as akin to those imposed in Nazi Germany during the l930s.

Next in line for destruction is the Woodside caravan park at Hatch, in Bedfordshire. Home of Cliff Codona, chair of the National Travellers Action Group, this was to be the location for the Roma Holocaust and Heritage Centre.

++++++++++++++++++++++

HOLOCAUST DAY RALLY

Please join the rally outside Parliament at 2pm on Thursday 27 January (Westminster Tube) on the occassion of the official Holocaust Memorial Day event STOP 2nd.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

ANTI-EVICTION MEETING

3pm Sunday, 23 January, 4 Sutton Street, Whitechapel, London

1) EVICTION at Woodside, Bedfordshire expected on or after 1 Feb.

Cliff Codona appeals for supporters to join Human Rights Monitoring team.

2) EVICTION at Dale Farm expected on or after l3 May.

Contact Grattan on 01206 523528 for details

ustiben.5 ustiben.5@ntlworld.com

Home Office: Stop and Search Action Team – Guidance & Policy

Home Office have been consulting about new Stop & Search Powers. Cop this lot…..

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs3/Guidance26July.pdf

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs3/SSATPolicydoc.pdf

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs3/Raceleaflet.pdf

Home Office circulars and other documents about police powers http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crimpol/police/system/powers.html

For more information on progress, keep an eye on Statewatch http://www.statewatch.org

This is it, as I know it so far:

Feb 12 Kyoto Climate March www.campaigncc.org 11.30 am Lincoln’s Inn Fields 02088553327

Mar 19 National No War demo www.stopwar.org.uk

March Dragon Festival www.partyvibe.com/conspiracy

May 1 Mayday London

Apr 29- May 1 Rocket Festival, Andalucia www.rocketfestival.com

Apr 30 – May 1 Newcastle Green Fest 01912321750

May 1 Swindon May Morning www.swindonfestivalofliterature.co.uk

May 5 – 8 WOMAD Cáceres, Spain www.womad.org

May 7 Ganja Day www.thecannabisfestival.co.uk

May 7-29 Brighton Festival Fringe www.brightonfestivalfringe.org.uk

May 14-21 Hes Fes 07833794062 www.hesfes.co.uk

May 30 Kingston Green Fair 02089748608 www.kingstongreenfair.org.uk

May 27th BATH FRINGE FESTIVAL Bath Somerset, UK, http://www.bathfringe.co.uk

June 1 Beanfield trashing 20th Anniversary

June 4th Strawberry Fair www.strawberry-fair.org.uk

June 12th Walcot Nation Day

June 18th-19th Leamington Peace Festival www.peacefestival.org.uk

June 20- 21st Summer Solstice Stonehenge

June 24-26 Pilton www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

June 30-July 3 Fusion Festival www.fusion-festival.de

July 4 Big Blockade at Faslane nuclear submarine base. www.tridentploughshares.org

July 6TH Global Day of Action at the opening day of the G8 Summit www.agp.org www.dissent.org.uk

July 15-17 Guilfest www.guilfest.co.uk

July 15-17 Glade Festival www.gladefestival.com

July 13-17 Buddhafield 01647 24539 www.buddhafield.com

July 13-17 Larmertree Festival www.larmertree.co.uk

July 16-17 Ashton Court Festival www.ashtoncourtfestival.com

July21 Ruigoord Landjuweel, Netherlands www.ruigoord.nl

July 29-31 WOMAD Reading www.womad.org

Aug 3-7 Big Green Gathering 01458 834629 www.big-green-gathering.com

Aug 5-7 The Big Chill www.bigchill.net

Aug 7-29 Edinburgh Fringe www.edfringe.com

Aug 11-13 Cropredy www.faircrop.co.uk

Aug 14-20 European Juggling Convention www.eja.net

Aug 20-21 Beautiful Days www.beautifuldays.org

Sept 21-24 Robodock Festival Amsterdam www.robodock.org

still lacking the anarchistic peace convoy type do’s, but one day again perhaps …..

This is it, as I know it so far: [link to my new bulletin boards]

http://tashuk.proboards12.com/index.cgi?board=Festivals&action=display&num=1106162204

Not everyone in the NUJ, goes to thier Branch Meetings! Imagine that’s the same with any club!

So, any members out there may not know this has happend. My local Nottingham Branch has taken a leap in eDemocracy and member involvement, and has recently set up a ‘Bulletin Board’.

http://nujnottingham.proboards43.com

You have to be a member of the NUJ to join of course, so, if you are, please sign up.

Taoism: Shit happens

Confucionism: Confucius says: “Shit happens”

Buddhism: If shit happens, it isn’t really shit

Zen: What is the sound of shit happening?

Hinduism: This shit has happened before

Islam: If shit happens, it is the will of Allah

Protestantism: Let the shit happen to someone else

Catholicism: If shit happens, you deserve it

Judaism: Why does shit always happen to us?

Sufism: The wise man notices shit happening

Christian Science: If shit happens, pray for it to get better

Solipsism: Shit happens because I wish it

Mysticism: Just experience shit happening

Asceticism: If shit happens, renounce it

Agnosticism: We don’t know why shit happens

Gnosticism: I know why shit happens

Atheism: Shit just happens and that’s all there is to it

Cartesianism: Shit happens to me, therefore I exist

Platonism: There is ideal shit happening somewhere

Stoicism: I don’t care if shit happens

Epicureanism: Let’s party while shit doesn’t happen

Cynicism: Of course shit happens

Occultism: Shit materializes from other planes of existence

Terrorism: Shit will happen unless you do as I say

Pollyanism: It’s so nice that shit happens!

Puritanism: Shit can happen all day as long as you don’t call it that

Behaviourism: You are conditioned to having shit happen

Freudianism: If shit happens, it’s your mother’s fault

Parapsychology: Shit happens without material causes

Surrealism: Purple shit happens near melting clocks

Cubism: If shit happens, you won’t recognize it

Cultural Relativism: Shit happens everywhere differently

Optimism: If shit happens, we’ll find a way to use it

Pessimism: If shit happens, there won’t be enough for everybody

Tabloid Sensationalism: Green shit from Mars happens to Elvis clone

Biblical Creationism: Shit happens because God created it

Secular Humanism: Shit happens because it evolved from primitive shit

Scientific Reductionism: If shit happens, find out what kind exactly

Scientific Obscurantism: Amorphous excrement does occur in given cases

Bureaucracy: I don’t care if shit happens as long as you fill out the forms

Feminism: Women demand to have shit happen

Ecology: If organic shit happens, it’s OK

Capitalism: Let’s profit from shit happening

Socialism: If shit happens, let’s distribute it equally

Patriotism: Our shit is better than your shit

Conservatism: They don’t make shit happen like they used to

Liberalism: Shit shouldn’t happen tomorrow

Classical Physics: Shit does not ‘happen’, it just moves around

Quantum Physics #1: Shit happens but you can’t say both where and when

Quantum Physics#2: Shit happens in discrete quanta called shitons

Holistic Physics: If shit happens, it happens everywhere at once

Microcomputing: If shit happens, we’ll fix it in the next version

Computer Science: All shit can in principle happen on a Turing Machine

Applied Mathematics: The probability of shit happening approaches unity

Engineering: When shit happens, paint over

Medicine: If shit happens, take two Aspirins and call me in the morning

Economics: Shit happens because there’s a great demand for it

Politics: If shit happens, make a deal with it

Diplomacy: Let’s pretend shit doesn’t happen

http://tashuk.proboards12.com

I have been running a Message Board and Guestbook for some time now. People have been kind and left quite a few entries, so thanks to all who have contributed.

However, regular readers will know that I have become increasing ‘pissed-off’, with the porn merchants and their robots, ‘spamming’ these boards, trying to sell us their wares.

Earlier entry on my blog about all this at:

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2004_12_05_tash_lodge_archive.html#110243774550524834

I don’t know if this is going to work, but have just started a new ‘Bulletin Board’ eventually to replace these services.

I haven’t integrated it within the main website links yet, ‘cos I’m still learning about adjustments and setting them up. But, if you want a sneak preview, here is the direct link:

http://tashuk.proboards12.com

As I say, it will take me a while to shut down these, and ‘officially’ open the bulletin board, so, in the meantime ……

Contibution welcome [except porn, thanks]

Waterstone’s says bookseller brought firm into disrepute

Wednesday January 12, 2005

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/weblogs/story/0,14024,1388466,00.html

This is what it’s all about: http://www.woolamaloo.org.uk

A bookseller has become the first blogger in Britain to be sacked from his job because he kept an online diary in which he occasionally mentioned bad days at work and satirised his “sandal-wearing” boss.

Joe Gordon, 37, worked for Waterstone’s in Edinburgh for 11 years but says he was dismissed without warning for “gross misconduct” and “bringing the company into disrepute” through the comments he posted on his weblog.

Published authors and some of the 5 million self-published bloggers around the globe said it was extraordinary that a company advertising itself as a bastion of freedom of speech had acted so swiftly to sack Mr Gordon, who mentions everything from the US elections to his home city of Edinburgh in the satirical blog he writes in his spare time.

Mr Gordon, a senior bookseller who rarely mentioned work in his blog and did not directly identify his branch of Waterstone’s, said he had offered to stop posting anything about his working life online when the company called a disciplinary meeting. According to his union, Waterstone’s rejected his plea despite it not having any guidelines on whether its employees are allowed to keep weblogs.

“This wasn’t a sustained attack,” Mr Gordon told the Guardian. “I was not deliberately trying to harm the company. I was venting my spleen.

“This was moaning about not getting your birthday off or not getting on with your boss. I wasn’t libelling anyone or giving away trade secrets.”

Mr Gordon joined Waterstone’s while a student in 1993, a year after he began a satirical newsletter which evolved into his blog, called the Woolamaloo Gazette.

Named after Monty Python’s fictional University of Woolloomooloo, the blog contains the typical musings of online diarists across the world, linking to interesting websites and sounding off about current affairs and favourite films. There is much to please Waterstone’s: most of the blog is devoted to extolling the virtues of reading and Mr Gordon’s favourite science fiction and graphic novels.

In the past two months, the bookseller, who helped set up a branch of Waterstone’s, ran bookclubs and appeared on radio and TV for his company, mentioned his work twice.

On one occasion, he ranted about his “sandal-wearing” manager he nicknamed “Evil Boss”, which he said was a caricature like the “Pointy Haired Boss” in the Dilbert cartoons. In another posting, Mr Gordon joked about “Bastardstone’s”.

After he was suspended pending an investigation into his blog, he was called before a formal disciplinary meeting and sacked last week.

“The book trade can only exist with freedom of speech and information,” he said last night. “It is a big personal blow to me to lose my job and it also has grave implications beyond that – for anybody who works for any company and blogs, which is thousands of people.”

The move has also alarmed the global internet community. Mr Gordon has received dozens of emails from other bloggers who have heard about his plight, with some pledging to boycott Waterstone’s.

While Boris Johnson wrote about his sacking from the Tory frontbench on his blog, it is believed to be the first time in Britain a blogger has been dismissed for what they published on the web.

In the US, Ellen Simonetti was sacked from her job as a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines after her bosses saw pictures of her posing in her uniform on her website, which recounted the adventures of an anonymous flight attendant who worked for “Anonymous Airline”.

Jessica Cutler, a 24-year-old secretary at a senator’s office who wrote about selling sex to officials in Washington under the online name of Washingtonienne, was outed on the internet and sacked from her job.

The literary world has also spoken out against the sacking. Richard Morgan, the science fiction author, has written a letter of protest to Waterstone’s.

“This bears comparison with taking disciplinary action based on private conversations overheard in a pub, and raises some disturbing issues of freedom of speech,” he said.

“Waterstone’s is, after all, a bookseller, whose stock in trade is the purveying of opinion, not all of it palatable to those concerned. The action that has been taken so far bears more resemblance to the behaviour of an American fast-food chain than a company who deal in intellectual freedoms and the concerns of a pluralist liberal society.”

Five years ago, an award-winning advertising campaign for Waterstone’s focused on the importance of freedom of speech. One image featured a burned book with the slogan: “Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot & Mao Tse-Tung were right about one thing. The Power of Books.”

A spokeswoman for Waterstone’s confirmed Mr Gordon had been sacked. “At this stage we can’t comment on it,” she said. “He has two opportunities to appeal after he receives his letter of dismissal through the post.”

The Retail Books Association, which represents 6,000 people working in the book trade, said it would help Mr Gordon appeal against his dismissal. If an appeal with a regional area manager is rejected, the blogger could take the matter to an employment tribunal.

According to the RBA, Waterstone’s should introduce guidelines determining what its employers can say online about their work.

“We are hopeful we can get him reinstated,” said David Pickles, president of the RBA. “We feel it was heavy-handed and they have overreacted. The company has no guidelines to say ‘please don’t’ [write about work on a weblog]. They shouldn’t use a hammer to crack a nut.

“Some of the products they sell that are on open view to the public upset people far more. If MPs can slag each other off in parliament and the press, then surely Joe having a bad day and putting it down on the website should be allowed.

“As long as there is no one being discriminating or offensive, if it is just fun and opinion, then I can’t see it being a problem. It’s just how he felt on the day.”

Adventures with Evil Boss

Monday, Dec 13 2004

On the way home from a dreadful day at work (I should really have phoned in sick but couldn’t face the hassle this causes), I walked rather than catching the bus to get the blood flowing a little. Not far from my flat is a new bakery/pastry store, The Old Bakehouse, which also has an art gallery in the basement. Delicious pastries and artwork? Now how cool is that? Groovy.

Tuesday, Nov 16

Bad things recently. Having to pay Edinburgh bastard moneygrubbing council’s tax, may they choke on every penny. Return to shift working as Evil Boss decrees even those now in stockroom must do late and early shifts, which is a waste of time for that post.

Xmas working hours brought in early – first shift now starts at 7.30 bloody am, which is fucking ridiculous.

Evil Boss fucking me off by refusing my requests for a day’s holiday on the 31st of December for my birthday and the first week of January off as I have taken for the last few years …

Evil Boss then has cheek to ask me to work one of the bloody bank holidays in the week he refused me off. Cheeky smegger. Said no.

Noticing he has put me down for one of those days anyway, the sandal-wearing bastard. Words will be exchanged – if he gives me my birthday off I will do his bank holiday day. If not, he can kiss my magnificent Celtic ass, since it is voluntary.

Monday Nov 8

Yes, my day slaving for Bastardstone’s was lightened (never an easy task on a Monday) by one of the avalanche of humour books that appear before Xmas, Far From [Dull] and Other Places by Dominic Greyer …

Amusing myself this week with Rich Hall’s excellent biography of his redneck “uncle”, Otis Lee Crenshaw: I Blame Society, and probably pissing everyone in our staffroom out by laughing my arse off

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/weblogs/story/0,14024,1388466,00.html

This is what it’s all about: http://www.woolamaloo.org.uk

Mapperley Road, Redcliffe Road, Elm Bank & Villa Road, Nottingham

********

TrigpointingUK – Trigpoint Logging System http://www.trigpointinguk.com

Here is my gallery of trigs on TrigpointingUK

http://www.trigpointinguk.com/trigs/view-album.php?u=1529

More pictures of Trig points on moutains at: http://tashcamuk.fotopages.com/?entry=305772

and benchmarks at:

http://tashcamuk.fotopages.com/?entry=313679

http://tashcamuk.fotopages.com/?entry=311475

Benchmark Database http://www.bench-marks.org.uk

and very detailed map: Nottingham Nomad Map Nottingham City Council

http://webgis.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/website/nomad

Millions of people across the UK and Europe have observed a three-minute silence on Wednesday to remember the 150,000 killed by the Asian tsunami.

The silence started in Britain at 1200 GMT, but was held across Europe one hour earlier.

In Nottingham, the silence was observed across the city, with folks coming together in Market Square.

More piccys on my FotoBlog at: http://tashcamuk.fotopages.com/?entry=310647

A Blog for short news and information about resources, aid, donations and volunteer efforts.

http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com

http://tsunamiupdates.blogspot.com

Help is only available, by what us humans can do.

There is no god!

Dear colleagues,

I am writing to you to ask you to do what you can to help your journalist colleagues whose lives have been devastated by the terrible events of recent weeks.

None of us can have failed to have been moved by the devastation wrought to lives and communities by the terrible events across Asia and parts of Africa.

More than 150,000 people have lost their lives and upwards of 5 million have been left homeless. The effects of this tragedy will be felt for years to come.

The response of members of the public has been overwhelming. I am sure many of you have already contributed to the various relief funds which have been established. Thank you for that.

Over New Year I received many calls from NUJ members anxious to find out information about the fate of journalist colleagues in the affected countries. The news is grim.

In the Aceh province of Indonesia alone most of the 80 staff of Serambi Indonesia, the only daily newspaper are dead or missing after the tsunami tore through its offices.

Since its founding in the 1990s, the paper has been one of the only sources of information from the war-ravaged Aceh Province. Its journalists have routinely faced violent attacks, threats and intimidation from both sides of the conflict in the region.

The Alliance of Independent Journalists reports that almost two-thirds of its members in Banda Aceh have been killed or are missing. Throughout Northern Sumatra around 200 journalists are missing.

The General Secretary of the AJI, Nezar Patria, lost 20 members of his family in the disaster.

The NUJ, along with other international journalists’ organisations has already pledged funds and support for the AJI to help its members in affected areas. We will be working closely with the International Federation of Journalists who have set up a special disaster fund http://www.ifj.org.

Members have already responded magnificently to this tragedy but assistance is still badly needed. Please do all you can to help your fellow journalists rebuild their lives and communities.

Donations should be made payable to IFJ Safety Fund and sent to

Jeremy Dear, General Secretary, NUJ, Headland House, 308 Grays Inn Road, London, WC1X 8DP

Alternatively you can make a payment by credit card by calling the NUJ on 020 7278 7916.

Thank you in advance for your assistance – and best wishes for the new year.

Yours sincerely

Jeremy Dear

General Secretary NUJ

icSurreyONline

A GAMEKEEPER and her assistant opened fire at an illegal rave they came across while hunting rabbits.

Jessica Allinson, 46, of Pursers Lane, Peaslake, and her 28-year-old underkeeper, Alexander Szyndel, of Scotland Lane, Haslemere, stormed among 600 revellers, blasting away with double-barrelled shotguns at the loudspeakers.

They shot out car tyres and Allinson grabbed one of the organ-isers round the throat during a fierce argument, Guildford Crown Court heard last Tuesday.

Allinson and Szyndel pleaded guilty to four charges of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and causing criminal damage while in possession of firearms.

Before sentencing them Judge John Bull, QC, heard a trial of issue to decide the exact sequence of events and how many shots were fired in total.

Iain Wicks, prosecuting, told how the illegal rave was taking place in woodland at Netley Heath, near West Horsley.

The event had brought a flood of calls to the police – some from people living as far as seven miles away – after a group calling themselves FOC (Free of Charge) set up loud speakers, turntables and generators at 11.30pm.

It was still in full swing when Allinson and Szyndel, both armed with 12-bore shotguns, set out to go rabbiting at dawn.

Allinson, who works for Netley Heath Shoot, pointed her gun at a man and fired towards his car while Szyndel shot in the direction of a Ford Fiesta driving through the woods.

They also abused and threatened another man before manhandling a group of people and ramming their car with their Land Rover.

Mr Wicks said by about 6am, when the defendants reached the heart of the rave, Szyndel was clear-ly very angry and one of them fired a shot into the air.

He said: “The two defendants approached the speakers and four cartridges were discharged into them causing £1,700 in damage.

“Mr Syzndel is described as turning back to the speakers and firing a further two shots.”

Mr Wicks said there was an angry row between Allinson and Simon Scott, one of the organisers, during which she grabbed him by the throat and pointed her shotgun at him.

As the gamekeepers finally drove away Szyndel fired at a blue Proton which was being driven around the woods.

The court heard a woman who had turned up with a friend to collect her daughter from the rave was walking through the woods to try to find it.

They came across the Land Rover and stopped to ask for directions but were met with abuse. On returning to their car they found two of the tyres had been shot out, causing £500 damage.

Mr Wicks said Allinson finally called the police and they arrived to find her weeping and in a distraught state.

Both she and Szyndel were arrested. Sentencing is expected in the new year.

icSurreyONline

They say …… we’ll see.

Press Release:

The Freedom of Information Act, which comes into full effect today, marks a radical change in the relationship between Government and the citizen – giving individuals for the first time the statutory right to see a massive amount of information held by Government departments and thousands of public bodies.

People have a right to information about the way decisions are made, and public money is spent, by more than 100,000 public authorities, including Government departments, schools, NHS Trusts, police forces and local authorities.

Anyone, of any nationality, and living anywhere in the world, will be able to make a written request for information, and expect a response within 20 working days. For the majority, there will be no charge.

Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs Lord Falconer said:

“The introduction of the Freedom of Information Act is a major achievement. For too long, UK has lagged behind many other countries which implemented Freedom of Information years ago.

“We have caught up with other countries, and, in many cases, we have overtaken them. We have studied the experience of other countries to enable us to introduce one of the most generous Freedom of Information regimes in the world.

“The need to know culture has been replaced by a statutory right to know. Previously invisible information will become visible.

“I am convinced that the laws which take effect today will make Government more open, and the balances we have built into the system, will ensure that effectiveness is not compromised. Good Government is open Government, and good Government is effective Government.

“Our long-term goal is strengthen the link between the state and the citizen, and it will be many years before we can make a realistic assessment, but I am confident we will look back on this day with pride.”

Public authorities have already published details of the types of information which will be released proactively on websites – far more will be available on request.

The far-reaching legislation will lead to factual material behind decisions being made by the Government and public bodies shared with the public for the first time.

As well as introducing a statutory right to know the legislation also heralds an important change of culture towards official information for all public authorities.

Notes to Editors

1. Further information about the Freedom of Information can be found at: http://www.foi.gov.uk

2. About 100,000 public authorities are subject to the Act. A full list of types of public body: http://www.foi.gov.uk/coverage.htm

3. The Freedom of Information Act was passed on 30 November 2000. Full text: http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000036.htm

4. The Freedom of Information Act was a 1997 manifesto commitment and followed the Government White Paper Your Right to Know: http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/caboff/foi/foi.htm

5. The independent Information Commissioner monitors and supervises the implementation of the Act. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

If disagreements arise, which could concern the amount charged, the time taken to respond or whether an exemption has been properly applied, the ICO arbitrates. The ICO could either support the public authority’s decision or request it to take steps to comply with the legislation. If a public authority fails to comply, the ICO will notify the High Court, which will deal with it as if it had committed a contempt of court. Both the complainant and the public authority have a right to appeal to the Information Tribunal and thereafter, on a point of law only, to the courts. When the ICO and a public authority dispute whether an exemption has been correctly applied to retain information ‘in the public interest’ a department can issue a ‘Ministerial veto.’ However, this will be subject to judicial review and will be reported to Parliament by the ICO for scrutiny by MPs and peers.

6. Personal Information is still covered by the Data Protection Act 1998, which came into effect on 1 March 2000: http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980029.htm

7. For more information about exemptions see: http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00036–e.htm#21

8. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. See the Scottish Executive website for The Freedom of Information Act Scotland 2002: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/FOI

9. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 will supersede the Code of Practice on Access to Public Information, introduced in 1994, and those parts of the Public Records Acts (1958 and 1967) which relate to rights of access to public records.

10. There will be no charge for requests which cost central government less than £600 to answer (£450 for the rest of the public sector). Where costs exceed this, the public body can help the requester reformulate the request, so that it falls within this limit. It can also decline the request, provide the information at full cost or provide the information and waive the fee. For more details about fees: http://www.dca.gov.uk/foi/feeguidesum.htm

T 020 7210 8512/8513 F 020 7210 8633 E press.office@dca.gsi.gov.uk

http://www.dca.gov.uk

* * * * * *

Earlier info and article of interest

The Freedom of Information Act has now come into force from 1st Jan 2005.

Before you read the following. I think this paragraph should catch your attention

The FOI Act is only part of the new openness package. Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs), which implement an EU directive, come into force at the same time. These provide a more powerful right to information about pollution, conservation, the natural environment, land use, road building, genetically modified organisms, air and water-borne diseases, food contamination and many other issues. The regulations include the utilities and private contractors acting on behalf of a public authority.

GOOD EH?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Freedom of Information Act comes into force next month. At last we’ll be able to find out what the officials have been hiding, says Maurice Frankel

Tuesday December 14, 2004

The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/story/0,,1373016,00.html

On January 1, the long-awaited Freedom of Information Act finally comes into force. The act gives the public important new rights to the information held by public authorities. Worried about possible changes to your local school or hospital? The act should allow you to see the evidence for them. Want to know whether the police are doing enough about burglaries? Use the legislation to probe their response times and clear-up rates. Unhappy about a regulatory body that never seems to do anything when people complain? Ask for its internal guidance on handling complaints and see if its staff are doing what they’re supposed to do.

The FOI Act is only part of the new openness package. Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs), which implement an EU directive, come into force at the same time. These provide a more powerful right to information about pollution, conservation, the natural environment, land use, road building, genetically modified organisms, air and water-borne diseases, food contamination and many other issues. The regulations include the utilities and private contractors acting on behalf of a public authority.

Amendments to the Data Protection Act also come into force in January, improving your rights to see personal data held about you by public authorities, though not the private sector. You can already see computerised personal data and your own medical, social work, housing and children’s school records. But other records are available only if held in a structured form that allows specific information to be located easily. That restriction is now removed, allowing you to see “unstructured” information too.

Some 100,000 public authorities are subject to the new FOI regime, which covers government departments, local authorities, NHS bodies (including individual GPs, pharmacists, dentists and opticians), schools, colleges and universities, the police, the armed forces, museums, quangos, regulators, advisory bodies, publicly owned companies, the devolved assemblies and parliament itself – but not the security and intelligence services or the courts. Scotland has its own FOI Act (which covers the Scottish executive and Scottish public bodies – the UK act covers everything else) and EIRs, which also kick in on January 1.

Using the laws couldn’t be simpler. Send a letter, email or fax to the authority describing the information you want. If you want photocopies, or prefer to have information emailed or to inspect it in person, say so. The authority must complywhere practicable. Send your request to the FOI officer, whose contact details should be on the authority’s website, or directly to the official who handles the matter, if you know who that is. You don’t even have to mention the FOI Act or EIRs, though it’s safer to do so. The authority has to treat any written request for information under the right legislation, whether or not you ask it to. If you’re after environmental information, even a telephone request will count, though putting it writing is still a good idea.

You can ask for any recorded information held by the authority, regardless of when it was recorded. Old government files, which until now have been secret for 30 years, will have to be disclosed, subject to the act’s exemptions.

Make your request as specific as possible. Work out as clearly as you can what it is you want or think might exist. Don’t be afraid to phone the authority and ask what kind of material it holds. Both the act and the EIRs require authorities to provide reasonable advice and assistance to people who make requests.

The authority must reply to your request “promptly” and in any case within 20 working days. Under the UK act, this can be extended for a “reasonable” period where decisions are taken under the act’s public interest test. Extensions are allowed for requests received by schools during the holidays, for closed files held by the National Archives, or for information held overseas or that has to be obtained from military personnel on active service. These don’t apply to the EIRs, where the only permitted extension is for complex, large requests when up to 40 working days is allowed.

As long as your FOI request isn’t too sweeping, you won’t have to pay anything, apart from photocopying, printing and postage costs. However, if the cost of finding and extracting the information you want exceeds a set limit, the authority doesn’t have to provide it at all.

For government departments, this limit is £600, equivalent to three and a half days’ work at a set rate of £25 an hour. For other bodies it is £450, or two and a half days’ work. A £600 limit also applies in Scotland, though the first £100 of all charges, including photocopying, are waived and you pay only £1.50 an hour for staff time. Crucially, the time spent deciding whether to release information can’t be included in any of these calculations. There are no cost limits under the EIRs. So if the information you want is environmental, be sure to point this out.

You won’t be able to split a large request into several smaller ones to avoid the limit. The costs of related requests to a single authority within 60 working days of each other can be aggregated under the UK act (though not in Scotland). This is still a generous deal compared with some countries. Ireland’s FOI legislation allows a fee of up to £500 for information that would be free under the UK act.

The FOI act contains plenty of exemptions. Information is exempt if its disclosure would be likely to prejudice (or in Scotland “prejudice substantially”) interests such as defence, international relations, law enforcement, commercial interests, the economy, the frankness of internal discussions or the “effective conduct of public affairs”. However, most exempt information will have to be released if the public interest in disclosure is greater than the public interest in confidentiality. The benefits of disclosure, in protecting public safety, exposing wrongdoing, preventing the public from being misled, accounting for public spending or ensuring informed debate may swing decisions in favour of openness.

Some exemptions have no “prejudice” test and disclosure depends solely on the public interest test. These include exemptions for legal advice, information obtained during investigations by the police or prosecuting authorities and information relating to the formulation of government policy. This doesn’t mean you won’t get such information: the public interest test will still apply. Expect no access at all to court records, information about the security services or information whose disclosure is prohibited by other laws. Personal information about others won’t be released if disclosure would breach the Data Protection Act. Information whose disclosure would be a breach of confidence is exempt, but this involves a public interest test. The EIR exemptions are different and fewer – and all subject to the public interest test. One notable feature is that emissions data cannot be withheld on commercial confidentiality grounds.

If you are refused information, the authority should tell you under which exemption and why it thinks disclosure is not in the public interest. The first step in challenging a decision is to complain to the authority itself, which should review it at a more senior level. It’s not your job to prove that the information should be disclosed. Say why you think the decision is wrong, if you can, but a simple request for it to be reconsidered will be enough.

After that you can complain to the information commissioner. His decisions are legally binding and authorities that ignore them could face action for contempt of court. Under the UK act, though not Scotland’s, there is a right of appeal against the commissioner’s decisions, to an information tribunal. All decisions can be challenged in court on a point of law.

Unfortunately that’s not the end of the story. The legislation’s most contentious feature is a ministerial veto, allowing cabinet ministers to override the commissioner if he orders a government department to release information on public interest grounds. Scottish ministers have a slightly more limited power of veto over Scotland’s commissioner. The veto’s use can’t be kept secret and could be judicially reviewed. But no one is putting any bets on the likelihood of ministers resisting its use where politically damaging information is at stake.

Don’t let that put you off asking and don’t give up after an initial refusal. Public authorities are likely to be forced into much greater openness by the act. No one yet knows where the line will be drawn – it’s up to you to find out.

· Maurice Frankel is director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information. For further information see www.cfoi.org.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/story/0,,1373016,00.html

and, other good sources on the BBC site at:

BBC NEWS Magazine Your right to know Your chance to know

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4096563.stm

BBC NEWS Magazine Your right to know

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4096313.stm

New Age Travellers: BBC Timeshift on BBC4 Sunday 2nd January 8.20pm

It has been repeated before, but, I’ve just checked the Radio Times Listing, and discover that it’s on again, on Sunday night at 8.20pm. Do take a peek, if you can

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/timeshift/travellers.shtml

Sunday 2 January 2005 8.20pm-9pm; 2.50am-3.30am

Time Shift looks at the historical, cultural and political influences that have shaped the lifestyles of Britain’s New Age Travellers

Travellers have roamed Britain for centuries and New Age Travellers have adopted many Gypsy traditions in an attempt to become genuine nomads themselves. Challenging mainstream society has been central to their motivation, Inevitably this has brought them into conflict with landowners and the police.

Fergus Colville’s Time Shift documentary takes a fresh look; following the story from the early 1970s search for an alternative way of life, to the present day, where legislation and increasing fragmentation have eroded both the appeal and viability of being a New Age Traveller.

We managed to get some unique and previously unscreened archive of the Stonehenge festivals which helps to give a different perspective on the news reporting of the time.