UCPI – Public Inquiry
Resources, analysis and archives about the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI).
As the Inquiry progresses, we will add links here to all our reports and other relevant material to save you wading back through the blog.
UCPI FAQ
What is the Undercover Policing Inquiry? Why was it set up? Who will be giving evidence? How long will it last? All the fundamental questions are here in our UCPI FAQ.
What do the people who were spied on think?
Ahead of the inquiry, in October 2020, 85 people who were spied on – about a third of those granted ‘core participant’ status at the Inquiry – signed a general statement on undercover policing.
COPS daily reports from the Inquiry
Tranche 1, Phase 1 (1968-72)
Opening statements
Day 1: 2 November 2020
Counsel to the Inquiry’s opening statement
Day 2: 3 November 2020
Lawyers representing police & state agencies’ opening statements
Day 3: 4 November 2020
Police lawyers finish opening statements; whistle-blower’s, officers’ wives’ & activists’ lawyers make theirs
Day 4: 5 November 2020
Opening statements from lawyers representing the majority of core participants who were victims of spycops, a vastly diverse range of people & experiences
Day 5: 6 November 2020
Opening statements from lawyers representing victims of spycops, largely from the trade union and labour movements.
Day 6: 9 November 2020
Opening statements on behalf of women deceived into relationship by spycops, plus families whose dead children’s identity was stolen, & justice campaigns
Day 7: 10 November 2020
Opening statements on behalf of Black justice campaigns & other victims of spycops
Tranche 1, Phase 1 (1968-72)
Witnesses, SDS
Day 8: 11 November 2020
Witness evidence from Tariq Ali
Day 9: 12 November 2020
Witness evidence from spycop John Graham, & activist Ernest Tate, plus summaries from spycops Barry Moss & ‘Margaret White’
Day 10: 13 November 2020
Witness evidence from spycops Joan Hillier & ‘Doug Edwards’, plus summaries from ‘Don de Freitas’, ‘William Paul “Bill” Lewis’, & Officer HN322 (real name withheld)
Day 11: 16 November 2020
Witness evidence from two spycops, both deployed 1969-72: ‘Dick Epps’ (HN336) &
‘Andy Bailey’ or ‘Alan Nixon’ (HN340)
Day 12: 17 November 2020
Opening statement from Dave Smith, lawyers’ meeting on format of questioning witnesses
Day 13: 18 November 2020
Witness evidence from ‘Sandra Davies’ (HN348)
Day 14: 19 November 2020
Witness evidence from ‘Peter Fredericks’ (HN345), summaries of HN333, HN339 ‘Stewart Goodman’, HN349, & HN343 ‘John Clinton’.
Tranche 1, Phase 2 (1973-82)
Opening statements
Day 1: 21 April 2021
Opening statements from Counsel to the Inquiry, & lawyers representing the Metropolitan Police Commissioner & 114 undercover officers
Day 2: 22 April 2021
Opening statements from Diane Langford, ‘Madeleine’, Phillippa Kaufmann QC representing women who had relationships with undercover officers, & Matthew Ryder QC representing three anti apartheid activists & Celia Stubbs
Day 3: 23 April 2021
Opening statements from Heather Williams QC representing relatives of deceased individuals, James Scobie QC representing Richard Chessum and ‘Mary’, Rajiv Menon QC representing Piers Corbyn, Kirsten Heaven representing other Non-Police Non-State Core Participants, and Dave Morris
Tranche 1, Phase 2 (1973-82)
Witnesses
Day 4: 26 April 2021
Witness evidence from people spied on, Diane Langford and Dr Norman Temple
Day 5: 27 April 2021
Witness evidence from two spycops, ‘Dave Robertson’ (HN45, 1970-73) & ‘Alex Sloan‘ (HN347, 1971)
Day 6: 28 April 2021
Witness evidence from two people spied on, Piers Corbyn and Ernest Rodker
Day 7: 29 April 2021
Summaries of ‘David Hughes’ (HN299/342, 1971-76) & ‘Ian Cameron’ (HN344, 1971-72), witness evidence from anti-apartheid activists Jonathan Rosenhead & Christabel Gurney
Day 8: 30 April 2021
Witness evidence from anti-apartheid campaigner & Labour minister Peter Hain
Day 9: 4 May 2021
Summaries of ‘Bob Stubbs’ (HN301, 1971-76) & ‘Peter Collins’ (HN303, 1973-77), witness evidence from ‘Mike Scott’ (HN298, 1971-76), &‘Mary’
Day 10: 5 May 2021
Summaries of ‘Gary Roberts’ (HN353, 1974-1978), ‘Jeff Slater’ (HN351, 1974-1975) & Richard Clark (‘Rick Gibson’ HN297, 1974-76). Evidence from witnesses: Richard Chessum & ‘Roger Harris’ (HN200, 1974-1977)
Day 11: 6 May 2021
Summaries of ‘Jimmy Pickford’ (HN300, 1974-77), ‘Barry / Desmond Loader’ (HN13, 1975-78) & ‘Geoff Wallace’ (HN296, 1975-78). Evidence from witness: Celia Stubbs
Day 12: 7 May 2021
Evidence from spycop ‘Graham Coates’ (HN304, 1975-79)
Day 13: 10 May 2021
Evidence from ‘Madeleine’ who was deceived into a relationship by officer ‘Vince Miller’ (HN354, 1976-79)
Day 14: 11 May 2021
Evidence from spycop ‘Vince Miller’ (HN354).
Part one: joining the spycops, deceiving women into relationships
Part two: spying on socialist and anti-racist campaigns
Day 15: 12 May 2021
Summaries of ‘Colin Clark’ (HN80, 1977-82), ‘Barry Tompkins’ (HN106, 1979-83) & ‘Bill Biggs’ (HN356/124, 1977-82). Evidence from witness: ‘Paul Gray’ (HN126, 1977-82). All spied on left wing & anti-racist groups
Day 16: 13 May 2021
Summary of ‘Phil Cooper’ (HN155, 1979-83) & his risk assessors David Reid & Brian Lockie. Witness evidence from ‘Michael James’ (HN96, 1978-83)
Tranche 1, Phase 3 (Managers 1968-82)
Opening statements
Day 1: 9 May 2022
Opening stantrements from lawyers for the police, plus additional statements from targeted activists Diane Langford, John Rees and Joan Rudder
Day 2: 10 May 2022
Opening statements from Catherine Brown (representing the Home Secretary), James Scobie QC (representing Lindsey German, ‘Mary’, & Richard Chessum), Fiona Murphy QC (families who discovered that the identities of their loved ones had been appropriated by the spycops to construct cover names; also women deceived into sexual relationships, as well as a child born as a result of one of those relationships, and one man deceived into a long term close friendship), Charlotte Kilroy QC (representing Diane Langford and ‘Madeleine’). Owen Greenhall (representing Lord Peter Hain, Ernest Rodker and Jonathan Rosenhead), & Sam Jacobs (representing Celia Stubbs)
Day 3: 11 May 2022
Rajiv Menon QC (representing Tariq Ali, Piers Corbyn and Ernie Tate), Dave Morris (activist, Inquiry core participant), Kirsten Heaven (representing Other Non-Police, Non-State Core Participants [through the co-ordinating group]), Summary of Evidence of ‘Madeleine’ and Julia Poynter
Tranche 1, Phase 3 (Managers 1968-82)
Witnesses
Day 4: 12 May 2022
Evidence from Dr Lindsey German of the Socialist Workers Party
Day 5: 13 May 2022
Evidence from Elizabeth Leicester (former member of the Workers Revolutionary Party) and Barry Moss (undercover officer 1968, manager 1980-82)
Day 6: 16 May 2022
Evidence from spycops managers Bill Furner, David Smith & Roy Creamer
Day 7: 17 May 2022
Evidence from Derek Brice and a statement from Anthony Greenslade
Day 8: 18 May 2022
Evidence from Geoff Craft
Day 9: 19 May 2022
Evidence from Angus McIntosh
Day 10: 20 May 2022
Evidence from Trvor Butler
COPS weekly reports from the Inquiry
Week 1: 2-6 November 2020
Opening statements of the main issues & experiences from police & the people they targeted
Week 2: 9-13 November 2020
Opening statements from women deceived into relationships by spycops, racial justice campaigns. Witness evidence from Tariq Ali, Ernest Tate, & spycops
Week 3: 16-19 November 2020
Spycops infiltrating women’s equality groups, spying on an MP, defending sexual abuse of women – and the Inquiry itself hiding a spycop’s crime
Week 4: 21-23 April 2021
The Inquiry begins to examine 1973-82
Week 5: 26-30 April 2021
Spying on the left while the far right run amok, little plan & even less moral purpose: more evidence of the entrenched culture of spycops in the 1970s
Week 6: 4-7 May 2021
More about spycops 1973-82: officers punching people they spy on, lying to courts & covering up killings of demonstrators
Week 7:10-13 May 2021
Last week on spycops 1973-82: how they ran the groups they spied on, deceived women into relationships, spied on children – and they’re still not sorry
1-3 July 2024
First week of ‘Tranche 2’ examining 1983-1992. Opening statements from all sides and some astonishingly frank admissions and apoligies from the police
COPS blog posts on the public inquiry
Every post we’ve done about the Inquiry over the years (warning: there are a lot of them!).