Mark Thomas
Capital of Culture?
For Police Eyes Only
This is enlarged from an image I took in 2004 which shows a police officer with named photo ID’s of individuals on a Stop the War coalition protest outside an election fundraising dinner where George Bush Senior was after dinner speaker (pic is used in the Guardian story related today)
Not only does it contain prominent peace activists but also outrageously, two journalists (names and faces have been blurred to protect the identity of individuals listed)
The spotter card is used by police to identify potential ‘trouble makers’.
See Guardian article; Police in £9m scheme to log ‘domestic extremists’ here
and Domestic Extremist blog piece here
© Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk
Images available from www.reportdigital.co.uk
The Bay Tree Gets It
Comedian and political activist Mark Thomas and supporters hold hostage Margaret Morans MP’s Bay Tree on the Fourth Plinth. It faced execution by radical pruning unless she resigned over the expenses scandal. Trafalgar Square, London.
© Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk
Images available from www.reportdigital.co.uk
See Web Gallery here
Open letter from Mark Thomas here
Images showing in Mark Thomas’s Edinburgh show at The Stand.
More Custard – Less Tax Dodgers
Middle Class Summer of Rage
Mark Thomas, comedian starts the Middle Class Summer of Rage by having a picnic outside New Scotland Yard. Westminster, London.
© Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk
See Web Gallery here
Images available from www.reportdigital.co.uk
The Pound Shop
Mark Thomas, comedian campaigns for The Bank of England to be renamed The Pound Shop. City of London.
© Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk
See Web Gallery here
Images available from www.reportdigital.co.uk
Occupy the Treasury!
Mark Thomas calls for workers to occupy the Treasury and have a rent stike against the building owner who has his money off-shore. London.
© Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk
See web gallery here
Images available from www.reportdigital.co.uk
Mark Thomas Pimps Peers
Lords calling cards left in public phone boxes advertising corruption, perversion of the political process and 100% discretion. Mark Thomas, comedian and other activists use stunt to highlight allegations that peers told undercover reporters that they were willing to use their influence to help to amend legislation in return for money.
See web gallery here
All images available from www.reportdigital.co.uk
I’m A Photographer …Not a Terrorist
Seeing as the police don’t seem to recognise the legitimacy of press card these days. We thought we would make our status clear with our own badge..
“The relationship between photographers and police could worsen next month when new laws are introduced that allow for the arrest – and imprisonment – of anyone who takes pictures of officers ‘likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’.”
Read the full BJP article
here.The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has teamed up with Mark Thomas (writer, broadcaster, comic and political activist), Chris Atkins (the BAFTA nominated director and writer of the feature film documentary Taking Liberties), and many more for a “media event” outside New Scotland Yard on Monday 16 February 2009. The plan is simple, turn up with your camera and exercise your democratic right to take a photograph in a public place.
More info about the background to this “media event” visit the NUJ here
Belching Out The Devil
Earlier on in the year I had the privilege of working with activist, journalist and comedian Mark Thomas on his new book Belching Out The Devil