The government has no plans to make it a requirement for photographers to carry identification, the home secretary has said.

In a letter addressed to MP Francis Maude, a response to questions put forward by Mark Singleton on behalf of photography campaign group SceneThat, Theresa May says the government will "do everything it can" to uphold the right of photography in public places for legitimate reasons.

The correspondence, which was published on the SceneThat website, outlines May's stance on the actions and decisions taken by police officers, in relation to demands for identification and questioning.

"It is for the Chief Officer of each force to ensure that officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are acting appropriately with regards to photography in public places. It should be noted the actions and decisions taken by police officers in the course of their duties are operational matters and, as such, are the responsibility of the Chief Officer of the force concerned.

"The government has no plans to introduce any requirement for photographers to carry identification."

May announced in July that police officers would no longer be allowed to use Section 44 stop-and-search powers on individuals. She also said that the government will carry out "an urgent review" of counter-terrorism and security powers.

In an oral statement given in the House of Commons she outlined the interim measures which would "not allow the continued use of Section 44 (...) in contravention of our civil liberties".

In a photography seminar last week organised by the NUJ freelance office, MP Don Foster called for Section 44 to be permanently removed.

"There are two key areas that we have to look at, existing legislation and the way legislation is interpreted and used by various forces of law and order," he said.

"One great piece of news is that the coalition government, through Nick Clegg, has suspended Section 44 of the Terrorism Act. But please don't say we've won because I used the word suspended. What we need to make absolutely certain is that it is actually repealed and removed, not just suspended. I think that's really important."

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