This morning somewhere in Brighton a 51 year old man is due to attend a Sussex Police station in connection with an assault on another man on Brighton seafront. The assault took place on Tuesday morning and both men are both well known public figures, although the man who was attacked, as filmed by ITV cameras is unlikely to be invited to speak on a TV programme at any time in the future, unlike his attacker who is a regular face on political programmes. The man who was attacked is Stuart Holmes. I wrote about him yesterday here, it appears that he has decided not to press charges which means that the other man involved will almost certainly not be prosecuted for the assault. The 51 year old is Iain Dale, a very influential blogger within the Conservative Party and a successful publisher in other ways. He is also a regular broadcaster, according to his website he is the Radio Broadcaster of the year.

Both men are private individuals with strong views and as such they are entitled to hold these. However they are both keen to promote their ideas and so my few words are simply part of this promotional activity. Stuart Holmes is keen to stop spending on nuclear power. He has shown a commitment to this argument in a number of settings including the one involved in the assault above. The fact that he is not pressing for a prosecution on Iain Dale suggests he is willing to suffer for his views. Iain Dale has since written about his views on his blog here. He believes passionately in the right for his authors to be interviewed to promote their books. He writes:

“Damian McBride was doing a live interview on Daybreak on the Brighton seafront. I was waiting in my car to drive him to do his next interview … I noticed that a protester was holding a placard behind Damian …. I assumed someone from Daybreak would intervene to stop him, but no one did. So I did what any self respecting publisher would do, got out of the car, ran across and pulled him out of the shot. ….. I was determined this idiot shouldn’t disrupt what was an important interview for my author. I am someone who runs a mile from any form of physical confrontation normally, but I never understand why broadcasters seem to accept without question that someone with a placard or a loud voice should disrupt this sort of interview…. One of the snappers afterwards said to me that I did what they had all been dying to do for years, as he regularly interferes with their professional work. Everyone has an inalienable right to protest, but no one has a right to make a continual nuisance of themselves and interrupt interviews like that.”

The fact is that Brighton Seafront is public property, it does not belong to Daybreak or indeed to Damian McBride or his publisher. Being interviewed is not something that is protected in any legislation from people who want to ensure their advert appears in shot. Indeed commercial TV only exists because people do just that (although of course they usually have to pay for that privilege). It was no coincidence that the interview for Daybreak was held across the road from the Brighton Centre where the Labour Party Conference was taking place. If Iain Dale thinks that Stuart Holmes was taking advantage of the Daybreak Interview, then surely he understands that Daybreak was taking advantage of the Labour Party Conference. The producer and film crew of Daybreak understand these issues and that is why they know that passing people are entitled to interfere with their work, no matter how frustrating this behaviour must be on occasions. As Radio Broadcaster of the year one would assume Iain Dale would understand that too!

The cost of dealing with the policing aspects of this affray or assault will be borne by the taxpayers of Sussex through our Policing precept. This was a needless assault and it seems perfectly reasonable for Iain Dale to be held accountable for his actions. The tax payer will have paid towards the costs of the policing of the conference, something that Iain Dale found objectionable in July 2008. “I’m [concerned] that the taxpayer is picking up a bill ….. for policing these exercises in political nosegazing. I have long been sceptical about the future of set-piece four day party conferences, and these figures make me think we should perhaps call time on conferences in the current format”  Iain does not indicate any remorse in his blog regarding Tuesdays events and indeed he suggests that his actions were entirely justified. If Stuart Holmes is not intending to press charges, perhaps Iain Dale should consider making a contribution towards the cost of policing in Brighton & Hove, rather than leave the taxpayers to add this cost to that of the conference. This after all is the principle behind the drunk tanks that the Prime Minister has just endorsed. In those cases, the men and women concerned are usually a bit shamefaced after the event. We cannot hold Iain Dale in a police station till he changes his attitude, but perhaps authors will now think twice before they ask him to represent them!

Postscript – Sussex Police have now announced that a 51 year old man has been cautioned for an attack on the Seafront

Post, Postscript – Iain Dale has now printed an apology on his blog for his behaviour and his blog. The right thing to do. He has still not attempted to redress the cost of the policing time for the assault, and presumably still feels that political party conferences are to be avoided!