After last week’s #daftarrest of Carmarthenshire blogger Jacqui @caebrwyn Thompson for filming a council meeting, I put my name on this petition. (I don’t ever do this. In fact, this is the only petition I’ve ever signed.)
Simply put, I think elected officials who invite the public into their public meetings, should also welcome the wider public who cannot attend to view what they do. It is democratic. And, after all, they work for us, the taxpayers.
I also would argue more journalists and media organisations should support this petition towards greater transparency in local government. Holding power to account seems to be something we’re meant to do and support. (Although I do wonder if the proportion of advertising £ from local councils into local news media make challenging the status quo a bit tricky. Queue a slew of editors quick on the defense.)
I should also add that I stopped by Jacqui’s home in Llanwrda on Thursday. I’ve never been arrested, so I can only empathise. She clearly had a lot of thoughts swirling in her head as we chatted over a cup of coffee. (Being handcuffed and detained must surely do that.) I don’t claim to truly know Jacqui after the two-and-half hours in her living room. But this is not some nutty blogger. She’s a smart woman that doesn’t want to sit by and watch. For that, I admire her.
And for anyone who wonders what I’m writing about, David Allen Green has an excellent deconstruction of what happened to Jacqui on The New Statesman.
