Undercover Policing Inquiry, opening statements

The Undercover Policing Inquiry begins in November 2019. The first hearings will cover events from the formation of the Special Demonstration Squad in 1968 until 1972.

The first seven days (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 & 10 November) will hear opening statements from involved parties. These will be livestreamed, presumably from the Inquiry’s evidence and hearings page, and possibly on their YouTube channel.

After this, the Inquiry will be hearing evidence from witnesses. These hearings will not be livestreamed, but there will be a live transcript with a ten minute delay.

COPS will be live tweeting the hearings (using the hashtag #SpyCopsInquiry), and providing background information and sources for topics under discussion.

We’ll also be posting daily summaries of the hearings on our Facebook page and here on our blog. We will also do a weekly update on the blog, or you can get them direct by subscribing to our email newsletter in the box at the bottom of the sidebar on our home page.

Here is the schedule for the opening statements. Lunch breaks will typically take place between 1pm and 2pm. Shorter breaks will take place several times each day but at times that suit the proceedings rather than at a fixed time.

UCPI Opening Statements | Day 1 (Monday 2 November)

• 10:00 AM: David Barr QC (Counsel to the Inquiry)
• 2:00 PM: David Barr QC (Counsel to the Inquiry)

UCPI Opening Statements | Day 2 (Tuesday 3 November)

• 10:00 AM: Peter Skelton QC (Metropolitan Police Service)
• 11:30 AM: Gerry Boyle QC (National Police Chiefs’ Counsel)
• 12:00 Noon: Richard O’Brien QC (National Crime Agency)
• 12:30 PM: Nicholas Griffin QC (Home Office)
• 2:00 PM: Oliver Sanders QC (Designated Lawyer Officers)

UCPI Opening Statements | Day 3 (Wednesday 4 November)

• 10:00 AM: Oliver Sanders QC (Designated Lawyer Officers)
• 2:00 PM: Richard Whittam QC (Slater and Gordon Clients)
• 2:30 PM: David Lock QC (Peter Francis)
• 3:45 PM: Angus McCullough QC (Category M Core Participants)

UCPI Opening Statements | Day 4 (Thursday 5 November)

• 10:00 AM: Rajiv Menon QC (Core Participants represented by Richard Parry and Jane Deighton)
• 12:15 PM: Matthew Ryder QC (Core Participants represented by Mike Schwarz, Simon Creighton, Tamsin Allen and Jules Carey)
• 2:00 PM: Matthew Ryder QC (Core Participants represented by Mike Schwarz, Simon Creighton, Tamsin Allen and Jules Carey)
• 5:45 PM: Donal O’Driscoll (Category L Core Participant [appearing in person])

UCPI Opening Statements | Day 5 (Friday 6 November)

• 10:00 AM: James Scobie QC (Core Participants represented by Paul Heron)
• 12:15 PM: Ruth Brander (Non-Police, Non-State Core Participant Group)
• 2:00 PM: Lord Hendy QC (Fire Brigades Union and Unite [Category E Core Participants])
• 3:45 PM: Gareth Pierce (National Union of Mineworkers [Category E Core Participant])
• 4:15 PM: Dave Smith (Blacklist Support Group [Category E Core Participant])

UCPI Opening Statements | Day 6 (Monday 9 November)

• 10:00 AM: Phillippa Kaufmann QC (Category H Core Participants represented by Birnberg Peirce, Hickman & Rose and Hodge Jones & Allen)
• 11:45 AM: Helen Steel (Category H and L Core Participant [appearing in person])
• 2:00 PM: Heather Williams QC (Category H Core Participants represented by Bindmans)
• 3:15 PM: Heather Williams QC (Category F Core Participants)
• 4:30 PM: Philllippa Kaufmann QC (Category H and J Core Participants instructed by Harriet Wistrich [excluding Newham Monitoring Project])

UCPI Opening Statements | Day 7 (Tuesday 10 November)

• 10:00 AM: Imran Khan QC (Baroness Doreen Lawrence [Category G Core Participant])
• 10:30 AM: Heather Williams QC (Neville Lawrence OBE [Category G
• Core Participant])
• 12:00 Noon: Imran Khan QC (Michael Mansfield QC [Category G Core Participant])
• 12:30 AM: Andrew Trollope QC (Azhar Khan [Category I Core Participant])
• 2:00 PM: Andrew Trollope QC (Azhar Khan [Category I Core Participant])
• 2:30 PM: Dave Morris (Category L Core Participant [appearing in person])
• 3:00 PM: Imran Khan QC (The Monitoring Group [Category J Core Participant])
• 3:45 PM: Pete Weatherby QC (Category J Core Participant [Newham Monitoring Project] and Category K and L Core Participants)

HOW ARE THE SPYCOPS INQUIRY HEARINGS ORGANISED?

The first ‘tranche’ of hearings is taking evidence about the activities of the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) from its formation in 1968 to 1982. The tranche has, in turn, been broken into three phases.

Phase 1 evidence will cover 1968-72. These are the hearings in the upcoming session from 2-19 November.

Phase 2 will examine the SDS from 1973 to 1982. These evidence hearings are expected to start on 25 January 2021.

In Phase 3, the Inquiry will hear from SDS managers 1968-1982. Dates for phase 3 haven’t been suggested yet.

The subsequent tranches will examine:

• 2 – Special Demonstration Squad officers and managers and those affected by deployments (1983-1992)

• 3 – Special Demonstration Squad officers and managers and those affected by deployments (1993-2007)

• 4 – National Public Order Intelligence Unit officers and managers and those affected by deployments

• 5 – Other undercover policing officers and managers and those affected by deployments

• 6 – Management and oversight (including of intelligence dissemination) by mid and senior rank officers, other agencies and government departments

For more information about the Undercover Policing Inquiry, see our UCPI FAQ.