Comedian and political activists Mark Thomas seems to be intent on getting the notorious Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 ss 132 - 138 Designated Area around Parliament Square to be applied equally also to politicians and journalists as well as to sundry peaceful demonstrators.
The Guardian reports:
Help me put Gordon in jailIf MPs pass ridiculous laws to limit our freedom, they should be forced to abide by them too
Mark Thomas
Thursday December 13, 2007
The GuardianRarely do first lines have the potential to cost thousands of pounds (outside of libel), and rarely do I get to write words quite like those that follow; so forgive me an over-dramatic opening sentence, but yesterday lawyers acting for me started an attempt to get Gordon Brown into the dock.
With lawyers and police working on the ongoing Donorgate inquiries, Downing Street can be quite crowded if you are trying to bring a legal action. Nonetheless, my lawyers delivered a letter to the director of public prosecutions yesterday afternoon calling for an urgent investigation into allegations that the prime minister broke the law by demonstrating unlawfully in Parliament Square last summer. If found guilty he could face 50 weeks in prison - though, after serving 10 years at No 11, he should do his bird with ease.
[...]
If the wearing of a brightly coloured proboscis constitutes a protest, then the unveiling of Nelson Mandela's statue must do so too. After all, it celebrated the collapse of apartheid (a political cause), honoured a man who organised the armed struggle in South Africa (definitely political and quite possibly glorifying terrorism), and pledged to fight poverty. So, being civic-minded, I wrote to the police asking if I needed permission for a gathering at the statue. My event had speeches - in fact, they were extracts from the original speeches made on the day by Mr Brown and Mr Mandela. Yes, the police informed me, I did need permission to demonstrate - which I duly applied for and received. Unfortunately for the prime minister, it seems no one bothered to get police approval at the event he spoke at.
Mr Brown, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. One person can constitute a demonstration, but what exactly is a demonstration? In law, there is little to go by, but for various dictionary definitions, such as "an expression of opinion". It is my duty as a law-abiding citizen, therefore, to add to the legal letter served the names of MPs seen holding forth on political issues on College Green, urging the DPP to investigate them for breaking the law and demonstrating without permission. It does not matter that they are being interviewed for news programmes - the law allows no exceptions or exemptions. In fact, the news organisations could be guilty of organising unlawful demonstrations by asking MPs to speak, so I have reported them as well.
All of this may seem ridiculous, but, hey, they started it, and making a crap law does not exempt you from its provisions. So I am calling on all fair-minded citizens to report any MPs seen giving interviews on College Green or in Parliament Square. You can do so by photographing the offending MP and posting it to Shopanmp.com.
Currently there is not much to see on this website, except an email sign-up form. The alternative URL of Shopanmp.co.uk.seems to point to the same place.
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- Mark Thomas is a comedian and political activist; to support the action, you can buy an "I put Gordon Brown in the dock" badge for £2 at Markthomasinfo.com
- Any money not used in the legal challenge will be donated to Index on Censorship
Great idea!
Surely all they need do though is wear a poppy in the vicinity of Westminster to be breaking the law?ps. Reading that back, I kind of wasn't so explicit about what I was implying - that there should be plenty of photo evidence of MPs breaking SOCPA out there in library footage and photos...