Sometimes its hard to know whether our current government are obtuse or devious. The public are rightly concerned about the activities of lobbyists in Parliament, particularly those pushing particular commercial interests. Part of the reason we’ve yet to get effective environmental policies is undoubtedly the activities of lobbyists on behalf of the big energy companies, though perhaps they really have enough politicians in their pockets to get policies tailored to their needs in any case. And it would be hard to exaggerate the number of them who have direct interests in issues like the privatisation of the NHS which is going on apace while being denied.
But back to lobbying and the gagging bill. Rather oddly it turns out to be something with very little effect on commercial lobbying, but likely to effect all the charities and other groups which use elections as a legitimate way to put their causes forward, as well as the campaigning activities of trade unions.
My own feeling is that government is in a mess, with little real examination of the affects of policies, and some fairly unscrupulous if not dishonest and misguided individuals in cabinet offices. We have a bunch of crooks who are prepared to tell lies about what is happening, to misrepresent statistics and to flout the law to pursue policies which benefit themselves and their friends. If the courts rule against them, they appeal. If the appeal fails they change the law. Previous governments often got things wrong, often made a mess of things – both Labour and Conservative – but I think we now have something different, with the deliberate misleading of the people. Its perhaps something that really first became obvious with Tony Blair, lying to us, spectacularly over Iraq, but which has got far worse, far more endemic.
A photographer in the background I could have done without
But perhaps I’m just getting old and even more cynical. Of course there are still members of parliament in all parties who are there for the best of motives, working hard for the people they represent, plugging away at good causes, rebelling against bad laws, but few are likely to end up as cabinet ministers, and if they do it will mean compromising their beliefs.
I’m not sure there is a solution to this, but if so it would be most unlikely to be palatable to parliament and stand no chance of being enacted. At least not before our civilisation collapses – and with luck it will see me out, though I don’t give it too long.
I didn’t sit down to write a political rant, but to write about photographing this and possibly another protest against political madness. In the morning it was the about the misguided gagging bill, or to give it a more official title, the Transparency in Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning, and Trade Union Administration Bill. Protests like the one I photographed have actually had some effect, and the government has had to undertake further consultation having realised it had little chance of passing through the House of Lords. Part 1 of the bill completely fails to tackle corporate lobbying, part 2 would basically suspend democratic debate by non-party advocacy groups for a year before every general election and part 3 would involve trade unions in unnecessary and restrictive red tape. I think it unlikely that it can be transformed into a satisfactory piece of legislation in the five weeks proposed.
Photographically the main problem was other photographers getting in the way, most notably when the organisers of the protest were setting up some photo opportunities. I don’t always want to take part in these, but I’d try to keep out of the way and out of the picture for those who do, and found myself wishing others did when one walked into the background to take a different picture just as I was taking mine. The top image was taken during the main photo-op, though it is only a detail and not the whole view, which to my mind was very boring. But it was a rather more boring picture than this showing most of the whole group that a national newspaper chose to use, despite being offered several more interesting pictures.
After I’d been photographing this protest, essentially about freedom of speech, I was flabbergasted when a woman approached me and suggested I should not use some of the images I had taken. I had photographed – mainly at their demand – a group of teenage girls who had been taking part in this public event, and somehow she thought I should not use these. It was hard not to be rude.
More pictures at Don’t Gag Free Speech.
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My London Diary : Buildings of London : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage
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