Ellee Seymour

A guest post by Curly who was shocked to become a police suspect after innocently taking pics at a funfair:

This guest post highlights an issue I feel strongly about and and has recently been featured by the media, including the BBC, Amateur Photography, Radio 5 Live, as well as the House of Commons.

Misplaced and irrational fears over terrorism and paedophiles is leading to situations where innocent amateur photographers and professional photo journalists are being detained by police and PCSOs for simply taking pictures in public places. I have recently been in this situation when taking pictures such as the one above. It causes alarm and fear when you know that you have not transgressed any law. I was left confused and angry after thinking that all of my movements had apparently been watched on CCTV, yet despite this an officer of Northumbria Police was still detailed to come and apprehend me. Should fears be allowed to interrupt the good administration of the law? You can read what happened to me here.

There are number of issues confronting us here, and the first that needs to be dealt with is the motive and fear of the individuals who make the judgement call in the first place (to either telephone the police, or to respond to that call and despatch a police officer.) To call the police because another member of the public is taking pictures, legally and openly, leaves me dismayed to say the least. I ask myself: “What has happened to neighbourliness and community spirit when people just don’t have the confidence to come and ask what I am doing?”

I blame the proliferation of CCTV cameras which is leading to a general complacency about reporting real crimes and providing real statements that help police, people assume that CCTV operators will see everything accurately and that therefore everything will be O.K. This is not the case, and real crimes still happen openly in front of CCTV cameras - how do we know? We see the pictures in our newspapers asking: “Do you know this person?” In my case a thorough examination of the evidence seen by CCTV cameras would have led to the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to create even the remotest suspicion that crime was being committed or was about to be committed.

Next question, if hundreds of people in a fairground are using pocket digital cameras, or camera phones, why should the man with the Digital SLR arouse more suspicion than the others? If I were a paedophile or a terrorist, why should I want to stick out like a sore thumb? Perversely, if one person objects to being photographed in public, or thinks it’s wrong that children in a fairground might get photographed, have they ever taken the time to object to the hundreds of CCTV cameras that recorded their every movement since leaving the house that morning? Another question for those who are living their lives in fear, have they ever thought that the vast majority of criminals who abuse children were actually well known to their victims? Have they ever thought that they should worry a little less about strangers and a little more about those closest to them?

There is no law which guarantees privacy in public places in this country, yet authorities are becoming more and more ready to stop photographers from using their cameras to record street scenes, even asking them to delete the frames that they have already recorded. A man was recently detained by seven people in Middlesbrough after taking photographs, then released without charge, again as a result of misconstrued fears. If we allow these actions to continue our newspapers, magazines, websites and journals will become as dull as dishwater without photographs to illustrate the content, moreover photographers both professional and amateur will have little to offer future generations when they come to look at how we lived at the beginning of the new millennium.

It is for these reasons that I am supporting the Early Day Motion by Austin Mitchell the MP for Great Grimsby to have Police, PCSOs, security officers and other officials made more aware of the current laws in relation to our rights to take photographs in and from public places, it has now attracted the signatures of 185 other MPs. I am fortunate that my own MP and Foreign Secretary David Miliband is a regular reader of my blog and recently wrote to me saying that he had received assurances from Home Office Minister Tony McNulty firmly that photography in public is perfectly legal.

We cannot allow our lives to be ruled by silly fears, nor dictated by officials who are not fully aware of our law, nor can we sit back and let this generation pass by without being accurately recorded for the benefit of future generations. Paedophiles or terrorists should not be carelessly allowed to dictate the agenda!

I find it impossible to believe that the mother of imprisoned Elisabeth Fritzl had no idea that something strange was happening in her house.

How could her evil husband, Josef Fritzl, 73, sneak in food and clothing for his daughter and three captive children over 24 years without her noticing anything odd?

And what about good old-fashioned woman’s intuition, did Rosemarie Fritzl really believe her pretty daughter had simply vanished from their home in Austria and had no suspicions at all? Was she also a victim of her husband’s abusive and controlling character?

How many women turn a blind eye when their husbands abuse their innocent daughters, and the helpless, young girl knows she will not be believed? Fritzl is reported to have begun abusing his daughter Elisabeth from the time she was 11 years old.

Fritzl has confessed to imprisoning his daughter in a windowless cellar for 24 years and fathering her seven children, one of whom died. The electrical engineering technician would enter the basement prison through a small hidden door at his home, opened by a secret keyless entry code.

I wonder what would have happened to those pitiful, helpless prisoners if their wicked captor had died suddenly, would they simply have been left to rot in the cellar?

This is my MEP Robert Sturdy’s report following last week’s sitting in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

He raises a good point about increased prices of fertilisers, many poor farmers are unable to afford it and this further exacerbates the global food crisis.

The prospect of travelling to Strasbourg for the week has never filled me with any great sense of joy, and this time was no different. After five consecutive weeks of staying in Brussels and the UK, I was beginning to get used to this somewhat less frantic rhythm of life. All good things come to an end though. So yet again MEPs, assistants and the like made the environmentally-unfriendly pilgrimage to the “official” European Parliament in France, spilling thousands of tons of carbon in the air so that the EU can continue with its pressing battle against climate change and greenhouse gases. Apparently pleasing the French is far more important than practising what we preach!

While federalist Eurocrats look to climate change as the 21st century justification for bringing European Member States even closer together, over the past year, we have been reminded why the European Union was formed in the first place - to produce sufficient amounts of food. Now, as food prices continue to rise, European politicians are starting to get a little nervous and it was no surprise that food security was a major issue for debate in plenary this week. Suddenly the importance of food is being reflected in the price and some are beginning to realise that Europe, with its favourable climate and land quality, has a moral duty to increase production. It seems we have come full circle, after decades of grain-mountains and wine lakes; we are now facing a situation similar to the period immediately after the Second World War.

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform is being mentioned as the best possible way to confront this departure from the cheap food era and this is starting to reveal underlying frictions between Europe’s member states. France’s Agriculture Minister, Michel Barnier has hit out at people like me who want to use this upturn in market prices to pull farmers from the subsidy traps of yesteryear. Monsieur Barnier has shown why, despite all the rhetoric and propaganda of a unified Europe that spills out of Brussels, national interests are still very much in the minds of many a politician. It is no surprise that Monsieur Barnier has called for an increase in the CAP budget, when French farmers receive more subsidy than any other member state. This would be a major step backwards for UK farmers who now have a freedom to farm whatever they like according to market prices and demand. Rather than complicating the CAP even further, this would be a good time to get rid of so much of the red tape that has stifled European agricultural production over the years and let our farmers get on with producing food

It is not just the demand for food that is pushing up prices, it is the production costs as well. Oil prices are spiralling to new heights, hauling up prices for essential fertiliser ingredients such as phosphate, nitrogen and potash. Speaking in Parliament, I called upon Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson to stop the anti-dumping legislation on these products when they come into the European Union before being shipped out to those developing countries which need them so greatly. At the moment this legislation is forcing up fertilizer prices at an alarming rate; with all the negative press that biofuels have been receiving over the past few months, it is imperative that the bigger picture is looked at and that politicians and the public realise that food production is reliant on a wider range of factors - we cannot keep using biofuels as a scapegoat.

I’m not just referring to environment factors, but also political ones. Well governed countries tend to have a solid and sustainable agricultural sector. This is why I voted alongside my Conservative colleagues on several resolutions putting pressure on Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe to accept defeat and allow for the democratisation of a country which used to feed itself and half of Southern Africa, but is now home to millions of starving people.

Obesity might be the scourge of the modern age. But I wonder if anyone in the UK today can beat the record of Daniel  Lambert who, in the 18th century, tipped the scales at a staggering 52 stone 11lbs! His waist measured an awesome 9ft 4 in.

Daniel maximised on his obesity by becoming a freak show and charging people to peek at his huge bodily discomfort.

I came across his story at the George Hotel in Stamford where I took my mother for lunch at the weekend (we both ate a healthy portion of sea bass).

Daniel’s larger than life portrait adorns the hallway with the story of his life. One wonders what happiness he had, and what understanding there was of obesity a couple of centuries ago, could he not have been helped at all?

Rice rationing has begun to bite in Britain and the US only a couple of days after my post on food security.

In Britain rice is being rationed by shopkeepers in Asian neighbourhoods to prevent hoarding. Tilda, the biggest importer of basmati rice, said that its buyers — who sell to the curry and Chinese restaurant trade as well as to families — are restricting customers to two bags per person.

It is the first time that US retailer Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer which owns Asda, has introduced rationing in the US. While Americans suffered some rationing during the Second World War for items such as petrol, light bulbs and stockings, they have never had to limit consumption of a key food item.

I hope international food aid programmes will be able to reach those most desperately in need, and that we as individuals will support food aid appeals. I personally want to do something of value to help. All I can do right now is write about it and voice my concerns, and hope that something will turn up where I can be more proactive in making a difference, to help families like these highlighted in today’s Times:

Lake Naivasha camp, Kenya

Virginia Ndungu, a 55-year-old mother of eight, watches her daughter stir a blackened pot of cornmeal gruel in front of a tent in a refugee camp where they have lived since January (Nick Wadhams writes). This is tonight’s meal, and there will be no bread, no meat, and no tea.

Camps like this are the front line in the global crunch over rising food prices. “I have nothing, not even ten cents – how can I afford sugar for porridge,” said Ms Ndungu, who farmed chickens but was displaced during Kenya’s postelection violence.

Brasilia, Brazil

Like hundreds of shoppers who crowd into Guara market on the outskirts of Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, Antonia da Souza complained about the startling increases in the cost of food (Gabriella Gamini writes). “The price of rice has doubled, bread too. Tomatoes have tripled and black beans are 30 per cent more expensive,” she said. “I would have to spend three times as much I used to six months ago to get my weekly shopping needs, but salaries have not gone up so I can only half fill my shopping basket.”

Bombay, India

Every morning the price of milk sends Shankar Vemula into a state of despondency. Mr Vemula, 40, a driver, lives with his wife, five children and his parents-in-law in a tiny one-room house. “Our morning litre of milk now costs 35 rupees (45p),” Mrs Vemula says. Three months ago it cost 18 or 20 rupees. The cost of everyday staples has soared. A bunch of spinach used to cost one or two rupees in the market, now it is seven or eight rupees, Mrs Vemula says. Brinjal, or aubergine, an Indian favourite, is now 30 rupees per kilogram – six months ago it was 15 rupees.

And in Britain:

Melksham, Wiltshire

It is mid-morning and the car park of the Aldi supermarket in Melksham, Wiltshire, is almost full. The German chain is benefiting from increases in food prices, welcoming customers who previously shopped at Sainsbury’s or Somerfield.

Paul and Tracy Jones are new faces at Aldi, having driven six miles from their home in Corsham. They have a monthly food budget of £400 for themselves and their three children. Paul said: “We have definitely noticed the increase in food prices. Everything has gone up, even here. We are paying 30p to 40p more for a chicken than we were a year ago.”

*I have no idea how a family of five can live on £400 food budget a month, I would find it impossible. My boys and husband turn their noses up at anything that has Tesco Value stamped on it.

Have you any idea how much you spend on food each month?

 Boris Johnson has been given the boost he badly needs which could help him secure victory in the London Mayoral race.

It is believed to be the first time a Conservative has been endorsed by The Sun since they backed Tony Blair in 1997. It’s payback time now.

As the UK’s leading paper, it undoubtedly plays an influential role, it has picked up the mood of the people, the reason why  Londoners want to ditch a lack lustre Ken Livingstone and support Boris.

These are the words in today’s Sun that are music to Boris’ ears:

Many voters feel Ken has run out of puff. Having vowed to stand for only two terms, he now wants to go on and on.

Like many politicians who taste power, he is reluctant to hand back the keys.

Even he admits his campaign is going “in circles” and so far we haven’t heard any striking new policies — and certainly no admission of failure.

His administration is beset by sleaze allegations and his closest aide had to quit after police launched a probe into misspent cash.

With such lack of accountability, pointless “embassies” and crackpot oil deals in Caracas seem to get more attention than London’s mounting issues.

Boris may not be a political heavyweight. And his public image, that of an Old Etonian buffoon, belies his great intelligence.

He is smart and bursting with good ideas. We admire this intellectual energy and his new policies to reform the city of London.

These are Boris’ 5 pledges for a better London that has impressed The Sun - and hopefully Londoners too:

1. I’ll show how cash is spent

Contracts, grants and programmes over £1,000 will be detailed on Mayor’s website to show where the cash goes.

2. I’ll make transport safe again

Extra 440 police support officers on buses. Yobs who abuse free travel will face community service to win pass back.

3. I will ban booze on the Tube

Change Conditions of Carriage rules on Tube to ban boozing in order to crackdown on crimes against commuters.

4. I’ll create Mayor’s fund for youngsters

The Fund will be a body used to raise cash from wealth-creating sectors to spend on the voluntary sector. It will deliver projects to help young Londoners off the streets and out of crime.

5. I’ll protect green spaces in our city

Special plans to guard the ‘Garden City’ and loss of green spaces in London will include introducing new rules to prevent development on back gardens and green belt land.

Am I the only shopper who has noticed that shelves in supermarket stores are not as plentiful as they used to be? In the last few weeks when I’ve popped into Tesco, it’s almost like the pre-Christmas rush has taken place, there are lots of unfilled spaces on the shelves.

I’ve just read that one of the UK’s biggest meat processing companies has been forced to close a factory blaming soaring food inflation, and 450 people have lost their jobs.

Faccenda Group, the second-biggest chicken processing company in Britain, said it had been hit by the rocketing cost of wheat - a key ingredient in chicken feed - which has more than doubled in the past year.

And there are also reports that some some retail chains are stockpiling goods, afraid that their suppliers will go bust due to rising prices.

One of the UK’s largest cash-and-carry chains has increased the volume of vegetable oil and rice that it holds in its warehouses and is understood to have spent £10 million on extra stock. How long before other outlets follow suit, spreading panic?

Stockpiling promotes fear and greed, the instinct for self-survival kicks in, of caring for your own, it can bring out the worst in people’s natures.

Meanwhile, I met someone today who told me about the fresh produce he grows on his allotment, how he thinks more of us will want to be self-sufficient in the future and enjoy our locally grown food, a kind of Good Life scenario, that we are going full circle back to our natural roots.

It’s an idea which is rapidly growing in appeal, with villagers in Hampshire turning their backs against supermarkets and growing their own produce, as well as rearing their own chickens. So far, 101 families have signed up for their community allotment scheme. I would sign up without hesitation if it was operating in my area, I think it is a great idea. In fact, I have emailed the link with this story to one of my parish councillors suggesting we start a similar scheme in our village as many of our allotments are standing idle.

While we are fortunate that we can still consider ourselves the land of the plenty - for now - how much longer will that last?

Update 22 April:  Gordon Brown is today meeting food producers, retailers and consumers today to deal with the growing world food crisis.

Reading John Prescott’s frank admission about his battle with bulimia in today’s Sunday Times was really eye-opening. I thought it was a disorder which only affected women.

Gorging on food was his way of dealing with stress instead of turning to the bottle, though he admits to binging on vodka a couple of times a year.

He has described in his memoirs how be became bulimic back in the 1980s and only stopped a year ago, coincidentally, around the time he stepped down as Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

This is what he says:

“I’ve never confessed it before. Out of shame, I suppose, or embarrassment or just because it’s such a strange thing for someone like me to confess to.

“People normally associate it with young women - anorexic girls, models trying to keep their weight down, or women in stressful situations, like Princess Diana.

“I could sup a whole tin of Carnation condensed milk, just for the taste, stupid things like that. Marks & Spencer trifles, I still love them, one of my favourites. I can eat them for ever. Whenever I go to Mr Chu’s in Hull, my favourite Chinese restaurant in the whole world . . . I could eat my way through the entire menu.”

Prescott says one of the causes of the disorder was stress, brought on by overwork as far back as the 1980s when he was in the Labour shadow cabinet.

“The only break I ever took was to eat. That’s all I did. Work, and then quickly eat something. It became my main pleasure, having access to my comfort food. So what I did was stuff my face with anything around, any old rubbish, burgers, chocolate, crisps, fish and chips, loads of it, till I felt sick - but at least I’d had the pleasure of stuffing my face and feeling really full. Then there would be a weird kind of pleasure in vomiting and feeling relieved.”

Should we be looking after our politicians better? Do they all have regular health checks as there’s no doubt it is a stressful job, though the positives far outweigh the negatives, else they wouldn’t be doing it. I’ve known my MEP Robert Sturdy, to be in three countries on one day, the workload and stress must be intolerable at times for politicians, but they are so driven and unable/afraid to fail. Or disappoint anyone. They are pulled in all directions.

Let’s hope Prescott’s candid account will encourage other men, as well as women, who suffer from bulimia to seek help, and encourage workaholic politicians to to find a worklife balance and say to themselves: "Hang on, slow down, there are other important things in life too, like family…"

P.S. Can you suggest a good way of dealing with stress? I would recommend walking, just walking and walking and walking…

I’m not surprised to learn that we are cramming the equivalent of 31 hours into a day, according to this latest report.

Researchers have found that typical middle-class city people now have so many timesaving gadgets that they can cram into 24 hours the same quantity of tasks that a decade ago would have taken 31 hours to complete.

I find that quite a depressing thought, how long before they burn out? New technology has provided too many opportunities to be instantly accessible.

It makes me glad to know that there are some quiet corners I can vanish to in Norfolk where I cannot get a signal on my mobile phone. The sound of silence is glorious. I would never dream of taking my laptop there.

I’m pretty much into a 31-hour day at the moment, so apologies again for my light blogging and visits to my favourite sites.

Following the announcement that former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, 78, plans to marry his 43-year-old partner, economist Maike Richter as soon as he recovers from a fall, one wonders how love can conquer such a great age difference. She’s young enough to be his granddaughter.

The BBC Have Your Say site lists some other high profile couples with large age gaps.  Michael Douglas is 25 years older than Catherine Zeta Jones; Sex & the City actress Kim Cattrall is 23 years older than partner Alan Wyse; film-maker Woody Allen is 35 years older than wife Soon-Yi Previn and nightclub entrepreneur Peter Stringfellow is 42 years older than fiancee Bella Wright.

What Kohl, Douglas, Cattrell and Stringfellow have in their common with their partners is their backgrounds and shared work interests. This is a major plus.

Allen is definitely the odd one out here, this relationship is bizarre and has caused so much hurt to others in their lives, yet they still seem to be together after 16 years.

And well done to the free spirited Cattrell for showing women can successfully overcome age barriers too…