mtbfix":24lecih8 said:
For a moment of balance, the police do not pass laws. They simply enforce laws put in place by the poloticians that we elect. The article itself says 'The law states that if anyone takes a picture of a policeman/woman/officer in duty it will be considered illegal if they prove connections to terrorism.' So if you are not a terrorist you are unaffected.
Are we really going to lump all the police out there doing a job we do not want to into the same rotten pot as the guys alledgedly 'lashing out' at protesters (even if no evidence is put forward to prove or disprove any aggravating circumstances leading up to the incident)?
You are not allowed to take photos in museums either and we own the stuff in them. Does this deserve a petition?
Come on folks, lets not fall into the 'police state' panic that certain sectors of society would have us believe that we are 'sleep walking into'.
And breathe....
I personally believe in the rule of law and the necessity of a police force, as i'm sure do most people if given the alternative of anarchy.
The sad thing to me here is that rulings such as this are open to personal interpretation and abuse.
I don't know any terrorists. Yet I do know many photographers that have been stopped and had their memory cards inspected under 'anti-terrorist; legislation in London in the last year or two. This rule is just another little slide in the wrong direction. If they refuse to hand them over, they are threatened with marching orders and arrest. Ridiculous. But that's a previous ruling along the lines of not being allowed to photograph a public building without a permit. I kid you not. :roll:
I'm all for more power for the police. But if it's used wisely. Too often these days, common sense is bypassed in favour of what can only be cynically looked at as revenue collection and or abuse of power unecessarily. Easy collars. Control. Sad.
You know what? I wish my govt would stop banging on about the amount of terrorists running about Britain about to undermine our way of living and eroding our civil liberties (govt doing a pretty good job of that on it's own) and threatening us all on an hourly basis.....
...and would start to tackle issues like actual crime and violence caused by your common or garden 12yr old.
I bet you're much more likely to get killed by a yoof than a terrorist in modern day Britain.
Change the rules. Make things better, not worse. There's a target for a govt.