Politician Austin Mitchell has urged AP readers to lobby their local MP to support his House of Commons petition backing AP?s photography rights campaign.
Many MPs have already backed our fight against measures – announced by the authorities last month – that threaten innocent photographers? right to take pictures in public.
This followed a warning by London Mayor Ken Livingstone – supported by the Metropolitan Police – that photographers using digital cameras and camera phones to take pictures of children in London?s parks and other public spaces could be paedophiles. The Mayor is considering plans to put up signs across London to warn parents of what he sees as the potential danger.
Furious at the moves Austin Mitchell (pictured), Labour MP for Great Grimsby, tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons to garner the backing of fellow MPs following our news story on the controversy (see AP news 11 June).
Austin – the MP for Great Grimsby who chairs the Parliamentary All Party Photography Group – has now urged fellow enthusiasts to lobby their own MPs to get behind his EDM.
To find details of your local MP and how to contact them call the Parliament information line direct on 020 7219 4272 (if this is busy try the main switchboard on 020 7219 3000 and they will put you through). Or visit the parliament website at www.parliament.uk
? For more on this story ? including a follow-up statement from the Mayor?s office ? keep an eye out for AP, out every Tuesday
