“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985). (Post by Manick Govinda.) Western civil society prides itself on freedom of speech and free expression, particularly in the creative arts. Writers and artists are…
Richmond council is planning a PSPO targeting anti-abortion protests outside an abortion clinic on Rosslyn Road. Here is the Manifesto Club response to this proposal. Dear Richmond Council, The Manifesto Club would like to register its opposition to your proposed text for a PSPO, on the grounds that the text is too broad, and fails to target harmful or nuisance detrimental behaviour. We specifically object to the prohibition on Protesting, namely engaging in any act of approval or disapproval or attempted act of approval or disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means, including, without limitation, graphic, verbal…
The Manifesto Club is supporting members of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, who have been prevented from handing out leaflets in Woking Town Centre. They were told that they must gain prior approval from the council, and submit the leaflets they wish to distribute. They were also told that they must get public liability insurance before distributing leaflets. Both of these requests are based on the council’s Public Realm Usage Policy. Both are also entirely unjustified, and have no legal basis. Members of the group wrote a letter to Woking News, outlining their position (see the letter here). We wrote a letter to…
If this PSPO goes though it will be a crime to protest with megaphones in Birmingham city centre. It will also be a crime to play violin, acoustic guitar or flute with amplification. That is, the city centre – including the law courts, police station, and council house – will be an area within which amplification of all kinds is prohibited. The council says it has been ‘inundated’ with complaints about noise: I would like to know how many complaints they have received. What’s more likely is that such measures represent the official view that any spontaneous expressions of life in public…
There are growing calls for boycotts of artistic endeavors – including performance art installations, visual artist exhibitions, performing arts groups, erotic movies, exhibitions and art biennials. The boycott, as a public declaration of not attending an ‘offensive’ exhibition, festival or film, has…
The Manifesto Club Campaign Against Leafleting Bans has achieved significant protections for small groups and events, in new statutory guidance published today by Defra. In our report, Leafleting – A liberty lost? we showed how large numbers of city centres were now…
On Armistice day there was the depressingly familiar story of the banning of poppy wearers – most prominently including footballers, but also in a Blackpool shop, and in Derry airport. Yet in another case, two youths were charged with incitement to hatred, for allegedly burning a poppy and posting a video of the event on Facebook. So one cannot be for poppies – and what they represent – or against them. It seems that what is banned is not a particular opinion, but any expression of views at all. The only inoffensive person is one who keeps their opinions to themselves.
Teacher and Manifesto Club member, Michele Ledda, launched a petition against the banning of Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, ‘Education for Leisure’. The exam board AQA has removed the poem from its GCSE anthology, and has asked schools to destroy old copies containing…