An interesting day’s campaigning was had by the intrepid adventurers of Waltham Forest Greenpeace on Saturday.
As the good looking eco-warriors set about erecting our pasting table of justice we were apprehended by a Mr J Obsworth from the local council, demanding to see our letter of permission to be there.
He was informed (in a devastatingly impressive manner, it has to be said) that said document was unavailable. This was largely due to the fact that we had never needed one before, never been asked for one before and were therefore unaware that one was required.
Unfortunately reasoned pleas to let us stay for a couple of hours, requests to speak to someone else, queries as to whether it’s legal to divvy out public land in the first place and clarification as to the actual boundaries of the no-campaigning-without-a-letter zone, were countered with repetitive retorts such as ‘not here’, ‘not today’, and my personal favourite, ‘end of’.
That last one is always a gateway to intelligent debate.
I’m sure this happens to people all over the country. If it happens to you, don’t be disheartened. Do what we did.
- Try to remain calm and not swear.
- Pack up your pasting table of magnificence without a fight.
- Nip around the corner to a nice sunny lane and campaign there.
It turns out that lanes are great places to campaign. It’s very hard to escape in a lane. Who knew?
Two hours later, with 80 signatures/messages to the Prime Minister demanding reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, we retired to a pub to bask in the glow of a job well done in trying circumstances.
Rumours that Mr Obsworth stepped in a puddle, stubbed his toe and was penalised for not having the appropriate ticket on his way home are unsubstantiated but extremely pleasing.
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