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I have just received notification of the following response to an e-petition filed last year by Adam Jones, which stated “We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to clarify the laws surrounding photography in public places”:

Thank you for your e-petition asking for clarification of the law on photography in public places.

There are no legal restrictions on photography in public places. However, the law applies to photographers as it does to anybody else in a public place. So there may be situations in which the taking of photographs may cause or lead to public order situations, inflame an already tense situation, or raise security considerations. Additionally, the police may require a person to move on in order to prevent a breach of the peace, to avoid a public order situation, or for the person’s own safety or welfare, or for the safety and welfare of others.

Each situation will be different and it would be an operational matter for the police officer concerned as to what action if any should be taken in respect of those taking photographs. Anybody with a concern about a specific incident should raise the matter with the Chief Constable of the relevant force.

This simply reiterates what photographers already know; that what we have been doing for over one hundred years is not against the law. Clearly causing an obstruction constitutes a legitimate offence, however if we try and be too discrete then we face being arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act, as happened recently. And this is not an isolated case, see here, here, here, here, here.

Whilst it’s good to see that the petition actually solicited a response, in this case it pretty amounts to a denial that a problem exists, despite the fact that Austin Mitchell MP tabled an early day motion on the subject in March of last year.

A petition was never going to really solve anything. If you want to make a difference, the website theyworkforyou.com allows you to find out who your MP is so you can write them directly about the issue. If they were one of the 245 MPs to sign Mitchell’s EDM they might just listen. In the meantime we must still fear unwarranted searches when engaging in a perfectly legal activity.

MG