Channel 4 News tonight carried the frankly scary story of masked private security guards garbed in black, black masks raised over their faces to create an anonymous and threatening-looking appearance, going up to British citizens on a public road in a public space along with a pinstripe suited lawyer and violating their freedom of speech, freedom of expression and clearly, to my mind, violating the freedom of the press. Locals in the area of Radley Lakes have objected to shameless energy company Npower chopping down trees and planning to use the nearby lake for a spot to dump waste ash from their power station in. Many locals have objected and been ignored, a study into the impact is under way but Npower are just carrying right on with their task while it goes on so the study will be academic. Worst of all these creep security guards who look like a cross between something from a totalitarian regime and a masked Old West bandits and the corporate lawyer have persuaded a judge to grant an injunction, based largely on some anonymous witness statements with no actual cross examination which has banned even accredited journalists from taking photographs in public spaces to cover issues which are clearly in the public interest based on little to no proper evidence.
Masked, black suited, menacing looking guards who spent most of the C4 report denying citizens and reporters their basic rights while happily filming everyone present themselves; the injunction the foolish judge gave the company on their flimsy 'evidence' (supposedly to protect staff, although so far no-one has proved there was any real threat) is so vague that apparently just watching the report means the viewer is also injuncted! How ridiculous is that? I'm glad C4 News reported on this because I hadn't heard of this until tonight and from what the usually highly dependable C4 team said other large corporations are using similar dirty tricks with corporate lawyers who would be at home working for Monty Burns and their own private rent-a-cops around the UK. I find myself getting irate quite often at some reports on the news, but this made me bloody furious, that some large company would not only ignore their local residents but then use a mixture of lawyer's tricks and sinister, masked security to violate one of our most precious freedoms. Npower, you are utterly despicable and shameless. Editorial Photographers UK has some more on this story.
I've taken a fairly careful look through the EPUK account, and the witness statements look pretty flimsy, in that they are uncorroborated, and that I simply don't believe that former squaddies would be seriously worried by a bunch of tofu-munching tree-huggers. If so, then shit, we're sending the wrong people to Iraq. Maybe we're keeping Swampy in reserve in case something really serious kicks off.
ReplyDeleteI guess that if you follow, really strictly, the letter of the law then there may be a case in favour of denying protesters the right to photograph security personnel - but only if it's reciprocal. The security firm would probably say that photographing protesters is an important part of doing their job, and that said photographs are only circulated among personnel active on that site. And other sites operated by the same security firm. And, of course, other security firms, and the polis...
In fact, it just sounds as if the protesters are responding in kind. Given the tit-for-tat, and that no law has been broken, and that no threat has even been alleged to be made which any reasonable person (me) would consider serious, then the whole thing bears a stunning resemblance to male bovine evacuation.
All I can think is that i) the judge is of the flog-'em-and-hang-'em school, or ii) has had a "who is Gazza?" moment, or that iii) npower are up to something seriously dodgy and that a quiet word has been had. In any case, a quick Google search suggests the protesters are not few and are well-organised, so one can only wish them well.
I note that one of the witness statements is from a former superintendent who was in charge of policing one of the mid-'90s environmental protests, but there is no indication of what he's doing in all this. Is he on the payroll of npower or the security firm, or did he just happen to be passing by at the time, and thought he'd lend a hand?
Last word on it: someone I used to know was involved in a protest at the BAe site at Brough, and was arrested for, I quote, "a blemish on the peace". That's like, what, getting it a bit scruffy? It's laughable, it's pathetic, it's always about power, and it is so much bullshit.
It's because they have so much money that they feel they can get away with it. However a small stormof anti-support accross sufficient blogs should hurt for some time to come.
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