So we are tending to see less about clubs as more and more councils have made their decisions about if the new regulations should be applied so I will be a little quieter than in the past until such time as something is worth reporting. Typing to boost my own ego is not something that I want to do but when the need occurs then obviously I will respond.
So Birmingham, a city of over 1 million people has decided that a limit of 8 at the present time is what they should have with councillor Sam Burden wanted to reduce the number more but they have taken note of the issues in Leeds in trying to reduce the number of clubs and have taken some advice from their legal services about grandfather rights. Now the consultation for this massive and diverse population had a total of 52 responses, this including from "stakeholders" who still seem to think that after all the work and results of Pentameter I and II that clubs are havens of trafficking. If only stupidity could be used to rule out responses rather than the council just answering the issues in the report.
So the 52 response had a comment field and apart from the reference to trafficking which the council pointed out the police had no issues with we also saw the tired claim that clubs promote sexual violence and I want to put here in the blog the council response "West Midlands Police have been included in this consultation and have, as yet not provided any evidence to suggest SEV premises contribute to the number of sexual assaults." Bit of an OMG moment that the police having seen the death of Lilith and no doubt with the ability for people to ask for FoIs have decided honesty is the best policy. So 52 people responded and yet only 23 comments were made. Interesting to note the Violence Against Women and Children Steering Group have offered to help gather information and evidence to prove that clubs are bad it seems.
Having read the documents associated with the meeting which was broadcast on the council website (thanks to SEV Licensing for the link here) I have to say there are some very "moralistic" statements being made in the comments fields along with some awful attempts to make claims of things that have no foundation in the real world. If a club is shown to be causing problems then this blog is not here to cover up issues but to encourage best practice. But when the stupid and the misinformed can influence decisions based on"facts" which have no value then the consultation process seems just a little flawed. I did find it amusing that the consultation has not been closed by the council so you have to wonder just how accurate the data was given how few people responded.
Something you see the blog regularly comment on is the fact that so few people actually complain, the response of 52 to the consultation including three people elected to represent the people of Birmingham yet the people of Birmingham seem to not be bothered to limit clubs. The opposite position could also be held to be true but with the Stigma of responding and being required to enter your name in that response the worry of being "outed" as a supporter of clubs would weigh heavily, perhaps a disclaimer that no names would every be disclosed would have garnered more responses. Certainly a response of 0.005% of the population can hardly be considered an opinion, it is little more than a blip on a deviation curve.
Finally readers of this blog would have seem on the last blog piece a link in the comment field to pictures of Object campaigning against XBiz. Now remember the challenge to them to stop people misusing the term rape, the pictures (here) do show that rhetoric, hate speech and misjudged abuse are the tools of people whose arguments hold no value. Still be and shouty with no regard for the law is I guess one of the best things we can now expect from Object as they are disorganised and desperate to raise their profile to the heady heights of being called a hate group.
TonyN (tonyprince@acdcfan.com)
From the Pervlens Media article linked to above (http://pervlens.com/blog/object-hold-hostile-protests-during-xbiz-eu-in-london/), re the Object Now protest outside Spearmint Rhino in the Tottenham Court Road:
ReplyDelete"I arrived with Jerry [Barnett, of Sex & Censorship] and two females who were not performers to what can only be described as a mob converged on the entrance to Spearmint Rhino. There were so many Police and police vehicles that I thought it was something else entirely – no it was Object, objecting.
I had to educate two of the Women what the correct use of a doorway was for, they were blocking the entrance to a building with the occasional chant of ‘pornographers are rapist’ and the always welcome ‘loser’ as we tried to enter.
Literally all that was missing here for it to be termed a riot was bricks and Molotov’s. Once we were inside, the protest didn’t last fifteen minutes before the Police dispersed the hostile crowd.
It appeared from communication on Object’s Facebook that they didn’t fully understand the laws in relation to photographing them and their silly protest. The way the law reads to me and reads to most others with a camera is simple – the ‘subject’ has to have a reasonable expectation of privacy for a Photographer to be wrong in shooting an image of them. Object must have believed they had such an expectation, with placards, offensive signs and hostile chants. But if you are protesting for a cause or campaigning for a specific goal on a public street with signs, t-shirts and loud hailers – doing your very best to attract attention then that reasonable expectation becomes unreasonable and photographers – from whatever industry or publication – are free to snap, snap, away. Unlucky for Object."
Apparently, they also hadn't notified the Metropolitan Police of their intention to hold a protest. And the article is accompanied by some rather compromising photographs of Object Now supporters!
Object having to break the law and misuse the rape claim. They are busy shooting themselves in the foot.
DeleteIt would be gratifying to see some legal action taken against them off the back of this...
DeleteProsecuting "feminists" would never read well in the Graun so we can expect the CPS to duck it's collective head. Object probably feels safe committing criminal acts knowing they will just get a slapped wrist.
DeleteIf policing tactics now are anything like they were in August 2011 (when we had the riots), the Met will be taking their time viewing the CCTV footage to see if any Public Order or similar offences were committed by the protesters.
ReplyDeleteAnd I see that Object Now are planning to get up to the same tricks again outside Spearmint Rhino on the evening of the 24th of November, when the club hosts the Paul Raymond Awards:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/events/923817614313816/
I wonder if the Metropolitan Police have been informed THIS time...
Well they may not have been informed by the protesters but I would think someone has told the police.
DeleteNo counter protests planned?
DeletePlacards could include slogans like
Object - fascists not feminists
or Object - the group that lies about rape.
If we were to do a counter protest we would need to follow the legal guidelines and you are going to have to have some feminists turn up. Last time, judging by pictures, maybe 10 turned up and if it is raining or really cold there may be a lot less. Would be funny if Roz and a couple of the Object cronies were the only ones to turn up.
DeletePersonally, I think that the idea of a counter-demonstration is missing the point somewhat, i.e. that in an ideal world, adult human beings would leave each other alone to engage in whatever consensual behaviour suited them. Better to let Object Now get on with their ragtag demonstration, film them at it and upload the footage to YouTube (and share it with the Met, if requested to do so)! ;-)
DeleteSome of the updates on the wall for the forthcoming protest on the 24th have been...interesting! One in particular was taken down a few hours after it was put up - which is not surprising, given that it linked to a tweet on someone's personal Twitter account (which Object Now reposted from a supporter who could best be described as a stereotypical Stalinist gender bigot),and attracted comments from someone who had been called at rapist at the previous protest.
Delete