In message
,
" writes
I am going to reproduce below the entire Section 9 statement I have
made in respect of being accosted by Network Rail staff at Birmingham
New Street Station last Friday.

Thank you for posting this Marc. Please keep us informed about future
developments on this matter, as and when this is possible.

I am becoming seriously worried about the way in which things are being
taken in Britain with regard to the treatment of individuals and they
way in which terms like "threatening" and "abuse" are used against
anyone who decides in a polite or calm way to disagree with authority.

Although there are always two sides to any story, from the tone of your
posts here, I'm reasonably sure in my own mind that your account is an
accurate one and that "authority" starts to make all sorts of threats
when it is itself challenged and becomes unsure of itself. Reactions
then can be frightening.

My own experience (not rail related)of:

being threatened by a TWM bus driver for photographing his bus

being challenged by two PCSOs in Camden earlier in the year for carrying
an umbrella on a sunny day"

and the case of a lady challenged in Birmingham's Bullring for taking a
photograph of the outside of the Selfridge's store (because, said the
security guard, she "might be trying to steal the design" ) show just
how far the spirit of paranoia in Britain is proceeding.

In the eighties, I photographed trams and buses in the then DDR without
any problem (although I would have avoided heavy rail installations).
I never thought I would be concerned about picking up a camera on a
British Street, let alone in a railway station.

I am perhaps better to keep to myself my views of the station staff
involved, lest my blood pressure should become a problem.

As I say, I look forward to hearing more in due course.
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk