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Undercover police spying inquiry
Campaigners demand full disclosure of state surveillance
A police infiltrator in the 2010 student movement, photo by Paul Mattsson (Click to enlarge)
Lois Austin
On Tuesday 28 July Lord Justice Pitchford opened the inquiry that will examine how undercover police officers spied on political campaigners and the public since 1968.
This comes hot on the heels of the latest revelation that some of Britain's largest trade unions such as Unison, CWU and Ucatt were also spied on by the now infamous police Special Demonstration Squad (SDS).
It was the whistleblower Peter Francis, an ex-policeman working for the SDS, who first shone a light on the extent of the spying of secret police units. Francis infiltrated Youth Against Racism in Europe (YRE) in the 1990s which was set up by supporters of Militant, now the Socialist Party.
Reference
The terms of reference of the inquiry are broader than anticipated. Pitchford when opening the inquiry said it "will examine any evidence of the targeting of individuals for their political views or participation in social justice campaigns".
The inquiry will also compel witnesses to give evidence and make recommendations for future conduct of undercover units.
But there are important features to the work of these undercover spies which will not be looked at, such as the international dimension (we know for example that Peter Francis attended a YRE international camp in Germany while his spy master was staying in a nearby hotel), and the work of state spies in the private sector.
The Socialist Party, alongside the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS), the Blacklist Support Group, the Spies Out of Lives campaign, and others, will campaign to get the inquiry to probe every aspect of political policing, which is at the heart of the issue.
This inquiry will give an opportunity to expose the extent of political policing and step up campaigns for the right to organise and protest, free from state interference.
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