Put Gordon Brown in jail

[Peter]

Help me put Gordon in jail

Mark Thomas
13th December 2007
 
If MPs pass ridiculous laws to limit our freedom, they should be forced to abide by them too
 

Rarely 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.

This is partly Mr Brown's own fault. It began when MPs rushed the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 through, forcing anyone wishing to demonstrate within an area around parliament to get police approval. This is the law that Maya Evans was arrested and convicted under, for reading out the names of the British and Iraqi war dead.

In the past 18 months I have legally demonstrated in every corner of the area this law covers, from Hungerford Bridge (demanding more trolls) to the Mall (demanding human rights in Saudi Arabia). The definition of what constitutes a protest is such that I had to apply for permission to wear a red nose in Parliament Square on Red Nose Day. Not to do so would have risked arrest. Last month I had to get police approval to hold a banner saying, "Support the Poppy Appeal".

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.

· 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

[Lucifer]

mark thomas is fucking hilarious.  did you hear his mass protest about demonstrating within a mile of the houses of parliament?  i nearly wet myself laughing. 

the first part is here:

[duncvis]

Our country needs Mark Thomas.

[Peter]

mark thomas is fucking hilarious.  did you hear his mass protest about demonstrating within a mile of the houses of parliament?  i nearly wet myself laughing. 

the first part is here:

"You're back on Hungerford bridge, Mark.  What do you want this time?"
"I want a troll."

[Peter]

Just got to the bit where he has a personal police escort to protect him from the other police officers.  I used to watch him on TV, but I haven't seen any of his stuff for years.

[Lucifer]

i'm listening to the whole thing again, and choking myself laughng - he's just a genius!

i the troll. 

Our country needs Mark Thomas.

QFT.

[Lucifer]

"You're back on Hungerford bridge, Mark.  What do you want this time?"
"I want a troll."

best bit is his reply:  "of course you do."

[Dexter Morgan]

He reminds of Bill Hicks

[Pyraxis]

 

Where can I find more?

[Lucifer]

i tried to listen to bill hicks, but he's sooooooooooooooo fuuuuuuuuuckiiiiiiiiiiing slooooooooooooooooooooow!  liked his material, but couldn't stay awake for the end of his sentences.     all those bloody pauses...

[Lucifer]

Where can I find more?

it's on youtube - mark thomas life in serious organised crime, parts 1-3.

[Peter]

Where can I find more?

it's on youtube - mark thomas life in serious organised crime, parts 1-3.

I watched the nuclear power one too.

(After having soil samples from beside the rail track servicing Sellafield independently analysed and inquiring about whether the high levels of radioactive isotopes are from leaking fuel rod containers on the trains or general site pollution:)
"If you could please write to us and say A:  trains, B: area shagged, C: both."

[Lucifer]

mark thomas can Do No Wrong.

 

[Peter]

Now the police themselves have been denied permission to stage a protest over pay, so they've staged a mass-queue instead:

How can police protest at Parliament?
WHO, WHAT, WHY?
The Magazine answers...

Refused permission to protest in Parliament Square, police are staging a "mass queue" to highlight their grievance about pay. How can they do this without breaking the law?

If anyone knows how to operate within the law, it's a police officer.

So those who gathered outside the Palace of Westminster knew not to shout or wave placards.

Nor is what they are doing a protest in the usual sense - it's a queue to lobby their MPs, all wearing white baseball caps emblazoned with the slogan saying "Fair p(l)ay for police".

   
THE ANSWER
It's not a protest but a "mass queue"
Protesters cannot hold placards, banners or use loudhailers
Police used same tactic in 2002, copied by other groups since the law banned unauthorised protests
Organisers had wanted to hold a march but were refused permission by their colleagues at the Metropolitan Police because Parliament was sitting. Under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill, passed in 2005, the Met has to grant approval for protests to be held within a half-mile of the Houses of Parliament.

A Police Federation spokeswoman hoped there would be as many as 10,000 queuing for the "bobby lobby", although as it turned out there were barely hundreds.

"We're policemen and we have to work within the law and we're happy to do that. We're just doing what we did six years ago in 2002 and it worked well then."

Back then they did it because it was a dignified way of getting their point across. This time, with their march on Parliament outlawed, it had greater meaning.

The march was re-routed to avoid Westminster, and in the afternoon, members unable to squeeze into the rally in Central Hall instead formed a line outside the St Stephen's entrance to Parliament to lobby their MPs.

The point, protesters have told the BBC, is to make a highly visible statement.

Thin blue line

So do scores of officers wearing baseball caps and T-shirts making a point constitute a "protest"?

The authorities cannot say. A Home Office spokeswoman says it's up to the Met Police to interpret the law. The Met says it's definitely the Home Office's responsibility.

What is certain is that it's a tactic that others have tried before, such as the Stop the War coalition last October.

"We did have banners and it wasn't really a queue, it turned more into a demonstration but we had discussed just marching to Whitehall and then having a queue but the police would not agree to it," says Chris Nineham.

"This is a loophole and I'm pleased the police have become another group that is making its point through one means or another."

Jeremy Corbyn MP, who strongly opposes protests being banned, says: "It's [lobby queuing] a partly-effective tactic but the real issue is that we shouldn't have to accommodate this particular law. We should be allowed to participate in democracy inside and outside Parliament."

Brian Haw has overcome the ban on unauthorised protests, exempted by the High Court after successfully arguing that his one-man protest, which has been going on for seven years, pre-dates the legislation.

But others have been prosecuted, including Mark Barrett, who organised tea parties in Parliament Square in protest at the law change and was fined £250.

[Lucifer]

"a mass queue"!!! 

i love the british.