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Today's #SpyCopsInquiry hearing gets underway. First speaker is David Barr QC, Counsel to the Inquiry, who'll presumably be giving an overview of what we can expect in the next 3 weeks hearings about #SpyCops 1973-82
Barr: The Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) #SpyCops unit was set up in 1968, initially to counter anti-Vietnam War protests in 1968 http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2018/03/17/spycops-where-it-all-began/
Barr: Many early #SpyCops were only deployed for a few weeks or months, & were experienced Special Branch officers. Officers began to join social lives of activists.
Barr: The next anti-Vietnam War demo passed of without clashes [though whether this was down to #SpyCops or organisers is impossible to say]. The police & Home Office decided to keep #SpyCops going after (& HO was terrified of being found out)
Barr: Early #SpyCops reports were routinely copied to MI5. Seems clear that the Met & Home Office agreed #SpyCops assited MI5 in 'counter-subversion'. Officers were deployed longer, & into more diverse groups.
Barr: #SpyCops infiltrated groups not on the basis of any imminent threat, but in case there was any ongoing matters of interest to MI5. Very little criminality was reported. Though ex spycops say they think their intel was important & useful
Barr: #SpyCops targeted some campaigns now considered mainstream - eg anti racism, women's rights. Highly personal details were recorded of group members. Officers were given 'a significant degree of latitude' sometimes including which groups to infiltrate
Barr: #SpyCops reported on events & people 'in case it might be of use at some point'.
Barr: That was Phase 1 of this Inquiry, we are now starting Phase 2, looking at evidence from 29 #SpyCops, roughly chronologically. 7 of them have real & cover names withheld, & so we are limited as to what evidence about them can be made public
Barr: All but 1 of other 22 #SpyCops have their real names withheld. HN297, Richard Clarke, is the only one whose name will be given.
The officers cover 1973-1983/4. All infiltrated left wing organisations. One, 'Peter Collins', was deployed by the left wing group he was in to infiltrate a right wing group!
The main group targeted in this era was the International Socialists/ Socialist Workers Party. In this period, #spycops deployments were normally 3-5 years unless they asked to leave or their identity was compromised
We'll hear the first confirmed case of spycops deceiving women they spied on into sexual relationships, & the theft of dead children's identities, & potential miscarriages of justice.
Of the 22 'open officers', 4 are dead. 7 provided witness statements & we will give oral summaries of them. 3 did not give anything. The rest will give oral evidence in these hearings & we will also publish witness statements from them.
We're not investigating MI5, but its relationship with #SpyCops is important, & MI5 have helped a lot with provision of documents. We'll publish an MI5 witness's statement today
9 activists targeted by #SpyCops 1973-82 will give oral evidence, 3 more have given statements. Plus, we have statements from 2 or the dead ex #SpyCops
We'll hear from 2 risk assessors as there's a dispute of fact about the testimony of officer 'Phil Cooper' & whether he admitted sexual activity with someone he spied on.
Audio feed & live transcript of all #SpyCopsInquiry sessions will be streamed online with a 10 minute delay [we understand audio feed is only for England & Wales]
The #SpyCopsInquiry will pause for a minute's silence tomorrow & Friday, the anniversaries of the deaths of Stephen Lawrence and Blair Peach, whose loved ones' campaigns for justice were targeted by #SpyCops.
The events of 1973-82 are the context for the hearings. The Vietnam War ended in 1975, with no more demos against it kicking off after 1968. But the Cold War left a lot of the same tensions.
Government feared the Soviet bloc sought to foment unrest. Special Branch assisted MI5 in 'counter subversion'. One #SpyCops officer reports an approach from the KGB Soviet secret police, but this was anomalous
2 #SpyCops we're dealing with specifically infiltrated Maoist groups. Why the groups were targeted & whether it was justified is unclear. Diane Langford, who was in such groups, was reported on & will give evidence tomorrow morning
The Troubles in Northern Ireland continued in the period to be examined. Special Branch's interest in groups campaigning about NI issues is a consistent theme of this era. #SpyCops officer 'Alex Sloan' targeted non-sectarian INLSF, and we'll hear evidence from 2 members
Many left wing groups supported united Ireland, & many #SpyCops reported on it.
Racism was also a huge issue in the era, & reporting on anti-racism groups was very common indeed.
Racism was also a huge issue in the era, & reporting on anti-racism groups was very common indeed.
Anti-Apartheid was a big campaign at the time, alongside the anti-colonial struggles in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, Angola & Mozambique. #SpyCops spied on UK campaigns on all this.
The far right was on the rise in England, opposed by the left. There were violent confrontations. There's a large amount of #spycops reports on this. The August 1977 'Battle of Lewisham' had #spycops invovled & we'll be looking at that.
The Inquiry is now showing a vintage news report on the August 1977 'Battle of Lewisham' National Front demo & counterdemo of anti-fascists. Police surrounding Nazi-saluters with Union flags, riot shields, missiles thrown.
The Inquiry follows the BBC report with an Associated Press report from the same event. Huge anti-racist crowd, people being dragged off by police, fascists marching with Union flags. chants of 'Nazi scum', though the audio appears overdubbed rather than authentic
On 23 April 1979 the National Front held a meeting & in the counter demo Blair Peach - anti-fascist and Socialist Workers Party member - was killed by a blow to the head from a police officer. The campaign for justice for him was infiltrated by #SpyCops.
In the early 1980s, East London Workers Against Racism - spinoff from Revolutionary Communist Party, supporting victims of racists attacks & patrolled areas with racial violence - was infiltrated by #SpyCops.
Spycops infiltrating groups supporting victims of racist violence is a pattern that endured, and is something we'll see when we look at the 1990s and the spying on the family of Stephen Lawrence.
Many of the civilian witnesses we'll hear from in these #SpyCopsInquiry hearings were active in anti-racist groups.
The late 1970s saw high inflation, mass unemployment & industrial unrest. The Workers Revolutionary Party, International Socialists & @Shrewsbury24C were all spied on by #SpyCops.
Trade Unions, and references to union membership, is common among #SpyCops reporting. One officer joined the TGWU. Seems incidental, rather than specific targeting of unions.
The 2 year Grunwick Strike of the 1970s was a cause celebre and extensively reported on by #SpyCops.
The Inquiry is now showing a vintage news report of a picket there, people being dragged off by police, etc
The Inquiry is now showing a vintage news report of a picket there, people being dragged off by police, etc
Other events feature in the documents - death of Franco in 1975, Arab-Israeli conflict, & the Khmer Rouge.
Most docs we'll be publishing have come from the Met or MI5. Copy quality is a serious problem. The truth or contents may be disputed.
The Inquiry is today publishing the SDS #SpyCops unit's annual reports 1974-1985. These were the basis of the Met seeking continued funding from the Home Office for another year [the SDS was directly funded by the HO not out of general Met budget]
From 1975-84, the Special Demonstration Squad fluctuated from 15-18 people 9-12 actual #SpyCops (usually 12), the rest back office
The SDS claimed #Spycops targeted those 'to the left of the Communist Party of Great Britain' [in a period when it spied on the Liberal Party's youth wing!]
The #SpyCops specifically said that schisms among the left are to the advantage of the police who don't want them to sink their difference and unite, but this did mean more work for officers who had more groups to spy on.
the #SpyCops annual report 1975 says though political disorder is on the wane, they should keep spying on people just in case anything changes.
#SpyCops SDS annual reports always give a list of groups targeted. Apart from one officer being sent in by its left wing group to spy on the far right, all the groups are what can broadly be seen as the left; Communist, Socialist, anti-nuclear, Irish liberation, women's rights
The officer spying on the far right at the behest of the left wing group he'd infiltrated, joined a potential breakaway National Front group who felt the NF was too far left. The #SpyCops did not directly deploy anyone into the far right in the era we're looking at (1973-82)
The 1973-82 SDS annual reports said anarchists are a continuing nuisance, & there's rumours of Angry Brigade type groups, but spying is still largely speculative and 'just in case' rather than anything concrete.
The SDS said the anarchist Freedom Collective was raided, police found guns, information on producing explosives & more, yet there were no arrests.
With that, David Barr QC suggests a break. The Chair, Sir John Mitting, has to be informed that we can't hear his response as he's on mute. Barr is visibly trying not to laugh. There will now be a break for 15 minutes.
And we're back.
The 1982 SDS annual report mentions the SWP organising a picket of the Tory party conference. Sussex police praised the SDS's intel.
The Home Office mentioned the SDS giving useful intel during the 1979 election campaign (relating to Blair Peach campaign)
The 1982 SDS annual report mentions the SWP organising a picket of the Tory party conference. Sussex police praised the SDS's intel.
The Home Office mentioned the SDS giving useful intel during the 1979 election campaign (relating to Blair Peach campaign)
Vinctage doc refers to the 'extreme left seeking to take advantage of the National Front's election campaign to provoke disorder'. [No genuine desire to stop fascists, it seems]. Reports are defensive about the Blair Peach campaign, seeing it as anti-policing.
The SWP sought to increase antifascist feeling in the wake of their member Blair Peach. This was seen a s a problem by #SpyCops.
The 1975 SDS annual report emphasises the paramount importance of secrecy about the unit's existence to avoid 'embarrassment for the Commissioner' as well as security of officers. Officers were seen by Deputy Assistant Commissioner [so much for the 'unknown rogue unit' line]
The group Big Flame caught #SpyCops officer Richard Clarke who'd infiltrated them, & he was withdrawn. It's mentioned in the 1976 SDS report, who call it 'sinister' even though there's no suggestion of criminality.
The 1982 SDS annual report said secrecy had got harder over time. They said that cover stories & documentation were improved.
The annual reports were passed up the chain of command in the Met, & record high praise & support, eg Deputy Assistant Commissioner Bryan writing to the Assistant Commissioner Crime to explicitly support the SDS
There's a 1983 briefing pack on SDS officers for Commissioner Kenneth Newman in advance of him meeting them personally. [Newman is 1 of 3 Met Commissioners, covering 1977-93 who've died since the #SpyCopsInquiry was announced]
1985 Home Office authorisation for the SDS funding shows that they had discussed the unit [Despite giving millions of pounds over 20 years, no Home Office archive has any documents about it at all http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2017/03/18/what-did-government-know-about-spycops/ ]
It seems the SDS annual reports may not have been sent to the Home Office as verbal discussions were more secure. Home Office in mid 80s wondered if the SDS was still dealing with modern problems as opposed to being a hangover from situations years earlier.
1976 document shows SDS setting up group to make the case for continued funding from Home Office. Refers to Vietnam War demos as the work of 'ultra extremists', but violent demos have declined. It looked at whether SDS was still needed, & if intel was still useful to MI5/uniform
This internal SDS group unanimously found that political violence had declined, but issues like 'abortion, trespass, unemployment, civil liberties, etc' meant there were more demos and they needed an eye keeping on them. Also, splinter groups won't cooperate with police.
It said the original 26 SDS officers has dropped to 12, though that's a minimum needed [officers were deployed for much longer by then, though]. They said the SDS were very useful to MI5 so must continue.
A 1978 document on the Rock Against Racism concert in London. #SpyCops officer Mike Ferguson defends SDS against uniformed police complaining that their intel on the attendance was inaccurate.
5 more Home Office documents are being published by the inquiry today.
1 - from 1967, Home Secretary Roy Jenkins wanted to know about overlap between Special Branch & MI5.
1 - from 1967, Home Secretary Roy Jenkins wanted to know about overlap between Special Branch & MI5.
2 - Home Office circular 1969. Says if any undercover action may lead to a court being misled, the officer must be withdrawn [really important doc, which HO refused to release under FoI 2 years ago!]
3 - MI5 letter to Chief Constables to remind them about Special Branch guidance, distinction between subversion and mere militancy. Subversion threatens safety/wellbeing of the state, inc use of strikes. [This somewhat undermines previous claim that unions weren't a target]
Opposition to industrial policies of the government of the day isn't necessarily subversion. Emphasises that police must not share info with private firms nor unions [something flouted by #blacklisting]
4 - 1984 Home Office guidelines to Special Branches on record keeping seemingly in response to the Data Protection Act. Specifies only info relevant should be recorded. Data should not be collected or held just because the subject supports unpopular causes, nor on race or creed.
Care should be taken to verify accuracy of info on subject. Special Branch should update info regularly & destroy what's not needed. Under no circumstances should info be sent to commercial firms or employers orgs. [Special Branch supplied the Consulting Association blacklist]
5 - Home Office guidance to Chief officers on assisting MI5. All Special Branch officers should be trained by Met & MI5, & have refresher courses. Organisations that operate within the law may still be subversive due to long term aims & be worth spying on.
Demos provide intelligence gathering opportunities about subversive. SB anti subversion in sensitive places - educational establishments, trade unions, etc - must be done with care. Mustn't be seen as targeting unions, subversion isn't the same as industrial militancy.
It's clear that wanting to reform police or wanting to transform present system of police accountability isn't subversion.
Subversion is 'activities which threaten the safety or wellbeing of the State, and which are intended to undermine or overthrow Parliamentary democracy by political, industrial or violent means' even if they lack the means to achieve it.
Subversion is a threat to parliamentary democracy and not just to the government of the day. Counter-subversion is the provision of factual information about subversive groups.
MI5 was very interested in subversive groups trying to infiltrate non-subversive groups such as trade unions
Witness Z (MI5) says MI5 occasionally asked SDS to get for specific info, and occasionally helped protect SDS officers' security. MI5 had no control over #SpyCops main choice of placement/targeting
We'll look at the relation between the SDS & MI5 more closely in Phase 3 hearings (now scheduled for the first half of 2022) that deal with SDS managers 1968-82
1980 docs show MI5 see the SDS having advantages over MI5 spooks as #SpyCops are frequently met and briefed and 'all options are open'
1974 SDS report on Marxist Study Group shows how a non criminal group can have subversive aims; reports a member saying that come the British revolution 2m people would be liquidated inc Special Branch, senior military officials & all leading Tory members
One of the main themes in these hearings is miscarriages of justice. Did #Spycops act as agents provocateur, withhold evidence, deceive courts? Defence has a right to see all evidence that may be helpful to it. The #SpyCopsInquiry may discover more instances as it goes along.
The Inquiry will refer any cases to a panel from the police & CPS [who have both been deeply involved in creating and covering up such miscarriages of justice http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2017/02/16/law-unto-themselves-spycops-miscarriages-justice/ ]
The Inquiry will refer such potential miscarriages of justice to the panel immediately, rather than at the end of the Inquiry.
Prosecution may withhold the names of informers from the evidence unless the judge says otherwise. Courts must not be misled.
There's little guidance about #SpyCops committing crime, beyond the 1969 Home Office guidance that forbids significant involvement & being agent provocateur, & absolutely bans any risk of misleading a court. [Many, many #SpyCops breached these rules]
https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MPS-0727104.pdf
https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MPS-0727104.pdf
It specifically says the DPP has to be told about it. So, in every case, either the #SpyCops failed in their duty to inform, or else the DPPs were in on it [this is topical as victims call for Keir Starmer to give evidence http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2021/02/04/starmer-must-give-evidence-inquiry-say-activists-fitted-up-spycops/ ]
We'll hear from 4 people convicted after involvement in an anti-apartheid demo in the early 1970s. There may have been a miscarriage of justice there.
#SpyCops stealing of dead children's identities has been condemned by the Home Affairs Select Committee. The Inquiry has contacted 8 families whose relative's ID was stolen. http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2016/11/11/spycops-stealing-dead-childrens-id/
There appears to have been little guidance to officers on how to construct an identity. In the mid 70s the SDS started to teach #SpyCops to steal dead children's identities.
[Barr keeps using the word 'use'. This is bias. If we did it, it would be called identity *theft*. It doesn't become legal or acceptable just because the perpetrator is a police officer.]
#SpyCops officer HN298 'Michael Scott' used the identity of someone neither dead nor a child, and he is still alive. The officer was convicted under this identity.
NH297 Richard Clarke used the identity of Rick Gibson, a dead child. He infiltrated Big Flame, who found he was an imposter. We'll hear from one of the people who caught him.
A few #SpyCops visited the place where the dead child whose identity they stole had lived. 'Michael James' says he was instructed to do so, & was assisted by local Special Branch to ensure the child's family had moved away.
#SpyCops sexual relationships had life-altering impacts on the women they targeted. The Met has apologised for it [though is still needlessly dragging many women's legal claims on and on]
The era we'll be looking at - 1973-82 - will include first definite cases of #SpyCops deceiving women into relationships. At least 5 officers involved, with at least 12 women.
Richard Clarke 'Rick Gibson' is deceased now. He infiltrated Big Flame & Troops Out. He was active & influential in the groups. He was sexually intimate with 'Mary' & her flatmate, and at least 2 other women.
HN300 'Jim Pickford' infiltrated anarchists 1974-6. His 2nd wife, to whom he was married at the time, say he met a woman while undercover & went on to marry her. They had a child but divorced not long after.
HN354 'Vince Miller' infiltrates SWP 1976-9. He says he had 4 one-night stands, 2 activists, 2 not. He says he didn't tell his managers. We'll hear from Madeleine, who describes is very differently, 7 it went on for several months. She was very upset when he disappeared.
The Inquiry is publishing a picture of 'Vince Miller' that Madeleine has provided.
Most #SpyCops say they didn't have any sexual relationships [bear in mind Mark Kennedy swore he only had 2 when it was at least 11].
HN302 described a 'brief encounter with one woman' & says 'circumstances presented themselves'. He said it wasn't important to deployment
HN302 described a 'brief encounter with one woman' & says 'circumstances presented themselves'. He said it wasn't important to deployment
HN21, late 1970s, describes sexual encounters with 2 women from an evening class he attended that wasn't part of the group he infiltrated.
Both officers will give oral evidence in secret hearings of the #SpyCopsInquiry.
HN106 'Barry Tompkins' denies any sexual relationships, but an MI5 document says his managers thought differently, with activists referring to 'Barry's girlfriend'. He won't give evidence.
HN155 'Phil Cooper' also denies sexual interactions, but the risk assessors said he told them he had a few.
The Inquiry will not differentiate between brief and long relationships & dismiss the former, they are all significant.
The Inquiry will not differentiate between brief and long relationships & dismiss the former, they are all significant.
That said, the Inquiry does not need to document every instance of sexual contact between #SpyCops and civilians. Some women may not want to participate. And protection of officer - eg HN302 - outweighs need to contact any women he deceived.
The Inquiry has found nothing in the era 1973-82 to tell #SpyCops to have or abstain from sexual relationships. But there was comment and jokes about it from officers in presence of managers.
In this era, all the #Spycops were male. It was 10 years without women officers, and may have influenced the culture of the unit.
The vast majority of SDS officers were married. Status was noted at time of recruitment. It may have been seen as a deterrent to formation of relationships, though it didn't work [it also discouraged officers joining the groups and social circles they spied on permanently]
Whatever the official stance, it's plain that from the mid 1970s sexual contact between #SpyCops & members of the public was not uncommon.
All SDS officers in the era 1973-82 were recruited from Special Branch, & all but one were Det Constable. 2 said they'd done more than usual 'plain clothes in meetings' infiltrations before joining the SDS. No formal recruitment process nor formal training.
By the mid 1970s there was a clear trend of working for up to months in the SDS back office before deployment, which would be about 4 years. Few record any advice about involvement in legal action, crime or sexual relationships.
This era's spycops mostly lived alone, none with activists. All bar 2 officers after 1971 recall being given a car. There were weekly meetings with managers in the SDS safe house, increased to 2 or 3 a week.
Only one officer of the era says he joined a trade union - HN299/342 joined TGWU
@DaveBlacklist
@DaveBlacklist
Many officers took office in the organisations they infiltrated - especially in the International Socialists, but one also became Secretary of Putney Young Liberals!
Many #SpyCops recall visits by the Commissioner of the day.
After these #SpyCopsInquiry hearings, we'll have secret 'closed' hearings for officers whose identity is protected. Then we'll have Tranche 1 Phase 3 dealing with managers 1973-82. These were planned for October but will now be in the 1st half of 2022 http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2021/04/20/new-delay-prompts-fury-spycops-inquiry/
We will eventually have Tranche 6, talking to senior police and those beyond in other agencies and government
There will now be an hour's break for lunch. The hearing will resume at 2.20pm when we'll hear from Peter Skelton QC representing the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. He gets an hour, then about 3.30 it's Oliver Sanders QC representing #SpyCops officers.
