Victims Rally Against Political Policing at Undercover Inquiry Launch
This Monday, 8 July, is the first day of live evidence hearings for Tranche 2 of the Undercover Policing Public Inquiry(i).
Victims of the ever-growing litany of police abuses will be holding a protest and press conference outside the inquiry venue.
Protest and Press Conference
9am on 8th July
Outside the Undercover Policing Inquiry
International Dispute Resolution Centre, Juxon House, London EC4M 7BQ
The protesters, many of whom are core participants in the inquiry, will gather to voice concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding undercover policing(ii) and mounting evidence of ideologically motivated policing for political ends.
Opening statements(iii) heard by the Inquiry last week were dominated by stunning admissions on behalf of the Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis(iv). Mark Rowley apologised through his lawyers for corrosive cultures of racism, misogyny, exceptionalism and impunity within the police.
However, disturbing new evidence emerged of the extent to which the police were targeting groups for ideological (rather than policing) purposes(v), spying on elected politicians and police accountability groups(vi), and knowingly spreading misinformation to the Press for political ends(vii).
The Inquiry heard about undercover reporting on elected MPs such as Diane Abbott, Dame Joan Ruddock and the late Bernie Grant(viii), raising serious concerns about an erosion of the Wilson Doctrine which prohibits targeted surveillance of MPs by state agencies.
Perhaps most significant revelation was that undercover officers of the Special Demonstration Squad officers were tasked by Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine to gather ‘dirt’ on the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. There is evidence this reporting was used by the Conservative Party to undermine opponents in marginal seats in the 1983 General Election(ix).
Eleanor Fairbraida, a Core Participant in the inquiry and spokesperson for Police Spies Out of Lives(x) said:
“The use of undercover police to manipulate elections is clearest example of undermining Parliamentary Democracy to have emerged in this Inquiry to date, and it did not come from any of the so-called ‘subversive’ organisations being spied on, it came from the government, the Security Services and the Metropolitan Police.
It is very simple: protest is part of a healthy democracy, secret policing is not. What we need now is transparency and accountability. The inquiry must publish the full list of groups that were spied on, release the cover names of the undercover officers and give us our files.”
Eleanor and others will be outside the venue with banners and placards, and available for photos and interviews before the hearings commence(xi).
i – The Undercover Policing Inquiry was launched in 2015 and is divided into six tranches. Live evidence hearings for Tranche 2 (1982-1993) will begin on Monday 8th July. The Inquiry encompasses all undercover policing in England and Wales since 1968, with special emphasis on the Special Demonstration Squad and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit. For more information and live video links to hearings see ucpi.org.uk
ii – Spied-on women respond to Met demanding ‘transparency, not apology’
iii – See our summary of evidence presented during Opening Statements last week, including links to the documents on the Inquiry website.
iv – Met Condemns Its Own Spycops & Apologises
v – See opening statement on behalf of the Non-Police, Non-State Coordinating Group for Tranche 2 (Phase 2), other non-state opening statements on the UCPI website, and our summary of key issues emerging from opening statements.
vi – See opening statement on behalf of Stafford Scott, among others.
vii – See opening statement on behalf of Friends of Freedom Press Ltd.
viii – See opening statements on behalf of Diane Abbott MP and Dame Joan Ruddock PC, and Sharon Grant OBE.
ix – See opening statement on behalf of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
x – Police Spies Out of Lives, a campaign and support group formed by women who were deceived into intimate relationships with undercover officers, continues to advocate for those affected by these intrusive and damaging practices. The group has consistently called for the inquiry to reveal the true extent of the surveillance and the identities of all officers involved. More information is available at their site.
xi – Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance is a campaign group that opposes the surveillance of political activists and supports those affected by these practices.