i wonder will neath follow suit
A blogger made a brave stand against a council boss, now he’s making her homeless
November 1st, 2016 James Wright James Wright UK
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A blogger made a brave stand against a council boss, now he’s making her homeless
UK
Blogger Jacqui Thompson tried to film a public Carmarthenshire Council meeting in the interest of accountability. She’s now being ordered to sell her home after council boss Mark James sued her for libel, despite him unlawfully using taxpayer cash to pay legal costs.
Where it all started
Thompson began filming what she viewed as “the latest travesty for democracy” at the council back in 2011. She felt the council leadership was ignoring strong local opposition to its plans at the public meeting. After trying to film the proceedings on her mobile, the council had her arrested, handcuffed and detained at a police station for two hours.
She was arrested on peacekeeping grounds, despite only calmly filming from a balcony.
The Coalition government’s guidelines were at odds with the decision to phone the police. They read that kicking people out of council meetings only for filming is “at odds with the fundamentals of democracy”. The government’s statement, which may not apply to Wales but does reflect what a healthy democracy should look like, continues:
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The public should rightly expect that elected representatives who have put themselves up for public office be prepared for their decisions to be as transparent as possible and welcome a direct line of communication to their electorate
