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[Picture from same article - copyright guardian.co.uk
18/12/2012 - Image Peter Macdiarmid/AP]
18.12.2012. The first time I was trained in campaigning, I was taught
that the issue I chose to campaign on must be "widely felt, deeply felt
and winnable". The idea was that people would only become interested in
the campaign if they felt a real personal connection to it – which, I suspect,
is why uncontroversial campaigns like saving libraries, forests and badgers are
embraced by the public and media, and often lead to government U-turns.
But there are some issues that are not widely felt – that may even be
met with hostility by the public. Should we refrain from making important
arguments on these issues simply because they are not popular?
I asked myself this question recently, when I visited the charity
Detention Action, which campaigns for a change to British policies on the
detention of immigrants and asylum seekers, some (but by no means all) of whom
have been convicted of crimes in British courts. There I met Jay: young,
quick-witted, and – as he put it – "first and foremost a Londoner".
His story is typical of young men who become entangled in the UK's detention
system.
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