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Brighton council "take legal advice" after campaigner cleared

4:00pm Wednesday 18th August 2010 in News By Anna Roberts

Council bosses are considering legal action to prevent an explosion of charity collectors and campaigners after a landmark ruling.

The decision by Brighton and Hove City Council follows an acquittal of a campaigner who was collecting without a license.

Activist Tony Greenstein was picked up by police in Brighton city centre after he was found to be without a council-issued permit while collecting for the Brighton Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

But last week magistrates dismissed the charge against Mr Greenstein under the Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1916, and said he was acting in good faith.

The ruling could potentially set a precedent and see more campaigners and charity collectors crowding the city’s streets.

For a full report see today's Argus.

Comments(10)

PeteBrighton says...
5:20pm Wed 18 Aug 10

I am going to Harrods tomorrow and shall steal a lot of lovely expensive items. I shall be doing so in good faith. Good faith as I firmly beleive I have the right to those things, even though I don't earn enough for them. I am therefore being discriminated against for being poor. Hope it works.

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Comment Sense says...
5:28pm Wed 18 Aug 10

An "explosion of charity collectors" sounds horrific. Just think of the mess.

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Angryoldman says...
5:40pm Wed 18 Aug 10

The Council are only kicking off because they're not on the make.

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Andy R says...
6:23pm Wed 18 Aug 10

Talk about a self-inflcted wound! Political campaigners have had collecting tins on their stalls since time immemorial. If people were interested enough they were free to put something in the tin. Blind eyes turned all round. But this time Palestine Solidarity had the misfortune to be sited next to a Smash EDO stall which the police had "staked out" (stop sniggering back there), as usual looking for any obscure pretext to make life difficult for the campaign which has been running rings round them for years.

Quite why the council thought it was a good idea to bring this case only they will know. If it has opened up an awkward legal precedent then they have only themselves to blame.

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Morpheus says...
6:29pm Wed 18 Aug 10

We do have a choice about whether to give to charity collections. Why should they be licenced? My rule is never give on the street, give officially.

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leobrighton says...
7:08pm Wed 18 Aug 10

Licensing leaves charities vulnerable to political interference. Look at the case of the advertising space on Queens Road banned by the council because the Green Party hired it for a while. The council obviously dont mind spending money on fighting against those with different views from themselves. How much will this legal advice cost?
Tens of thousands I suppose.

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JHunty says...
9:03am Thu 19 Aug 10

AndyR in whatr sense have Smash Edo been running rings around the police for years, Smash Edo is the longest running and therefore least successful campaign in Brightons history only the Save Omhar campaign received less support from the people who actually live in Brighton. Do you remember the police getting the fanatics of the Smash Edo campaign to get a license for their film? That was hilarious. It seems that yet again a judges decision flys in the face of common sense and what ordinary people actually want. Tell me Andy did the fragrant Caroline make statements in court in support of this charity collector that when looked at actually turned out to be completely factually incorrect? Has she admitted yet that her statement about there being a bomb factory in Brighton was a complete nonsense?

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Andy R says...
10:51am Thu 19 Aug 10

So you think that the people of Brighton are up in arms that a table with some leaflets on it that they are perfectly free to walk past and ignore might have a money tin on it? Yeah...I find it's the sole topic of conversation on the 49 bus of a morning!

Do you not also find it strange that something which had not bothered the police or the council for years, suddenly becomes the subject of an expensive prosecution?

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rashidk says...
3:55pm Thu 19 Aug 10

JHunty: There's no such word as 'flys'. Your comment would carry more weight if it were literately presented.

As to the subject matter, it might be that the boycott of Israeli goods is having the kind of effect which has alerted the usual suspects and their allies to rally round.

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tonygreenstein says...
1:53am Fri 20 Aug 10

Leaving aside the absurd coments of JHunty that EDO is not an arms factory (a chocholate manufacturer?) this discussion misses the main point of the decision.

This was NOT a charity collection. PSC were holding the same regular stall they have done for 10 years now. They have never made any claims to be a charity.

The Police use and abuse of the Factories and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1916 relates to one-off events or a series of events like the Argus Appeal. Not to campaigning and information providing stalls. People donate money if they wish, they are not asked, and this helps replenish the literature which is a vital component of any democracy. But maybe those who like to see the Police clamping down on any dissent would also like to prevent the ability of groups to be self-financing in order to inform others.

Of course the corporate media are treated differently because they can buy the right to provide 'news'. that freedom of expression is based on.

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