 House
of Commons
26th April 2009
Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab):
Can I seek an assurance from my right hon. Friend that the circumstances that
led to the photographs being taken in Downing street do not lead to further
pressures on the rights of photographers, both professionals and amateurs, to
take photographs in this country, especially as this event coincided with an
incident in the past few days where somebody was allegedly challenged by a
police officer for taking photographs of a bus garage? We need to learn lessons
from the event and draw together the common-sense work being led by my hon.
Friend the Minister for Security, Counter-Terrorism, Crime and Policing to come
up with the right code of practice to ensure that photographers can do their
jobs and amateurs can take photographs with freedom.
Jacqui Smith: I strongly agree with my hon. Friend, who has met the
Minister for Security, Counter-Terrorism, Crime and Policing to discuss his
concerns. I see no reason why the unfortunate events on 8 April should limit the
ability of photographers to take photographs, and neither do I believe, as he
knows, that some of the limits result from recent legislative changes that we
have made, as has been suggested. There is more work that we can do to ensure
that photographers are clear that their right to take photographs is protected
in all cases where it is not causing a specific risk. That is certainly a right
that my hon. Friend and I would uphold.
So presumably all the police officers so frequently preventing photographers
from taking pictures are corrupting the law for their own convenience
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