I posted earlier about my letter to my MP voicing my concerns for the increasing cases of photographers being illegally told to stop taking photographs in public & in some cases being detained by the police or forced to delete their photos from memory cards.

I got a reply from my MP who sent my concerns to the Home Office. He has hd a reply back from Tony McNulty, MP, Minister of State for the Home Office on behalf of the Home Secretary.

The letter reads as follows:

Dear ….[MP]…,

Thank you for your letter to the Home Secretary of 11 April on behalf of Mr….[me]… regarding his concerns about possible restrictions on photography in public places. I have been asked to reply.

I can assure Mr..[me] there is no legal restriction on photography in public places, and there is no presumption of privacy for individuals in a public place.
It is for the Chief Constable to ensure that Officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are acting appropriately with regards to photography in public places, and any queries regarding this should be addressed to the Chief Constable.

However, decisions may be made locally to restrict photography, for example to protect children. Any questions on such local decisions should also be addressed to the force concerned.

Tony McNulty

The letter answers the question about photography in public places, but then kind of passes the buck to the local chief constables. I note there is no mention of any legislation which chief constables might act under to restrict photography.

My MP says he will write to our local chief constable to enquire as whether any such local restrictions exist & will get back to me in due course pending a reply. I have to say, whilst I don’t generally hold many MPs in high regard, I am impressed that mine has taken the time & effort to deal with my concerns. He did the same when my wife contacted him over another completely unrelated matter, so hats off to him!

So there we have it, from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, or at least the Home Office. You may want to download a copy of the letter, stick it in your camera bag & produce it next time someone says ‘Oi, you can’t take photos here, it’s illegal’.

You can download a larger copy of this letter which you might want to print out & keep handy in your camera bag if someone tries to stop you taking photographs in public. (right click the below link and select ‘Save Link as’ to save it to your hard drive.

Printable Copy