The public inquiry has disclosed that, in 1975, MI5 asked the police to spy on children involved in “subversive activity in schools”. But fears turn out to have been justified. In years past, activists with suspicions about undercover policing were accused of paranoia. Based on the evidence so far, it is reasonable to conclude that where supervision is absent, abuses will occur. But it also undermines the Met’s claim to be a trustworthy and competent organisation. In one sense, the assertion of managerial ignorance could let institutions off the hook. Secret work should be properly monitored and proportionately authorised. But over the past fortnight, 13 former senior managers have told the inquiry that none of them knew what officers were doing. Another former officer, Peter Francis, has said managers advised officers to “use condoms”. He said “management knew what was going on” and a “blind eye” was turned to sexual banter. Last year, the former Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) officer Graham Coates gave an answer in his evidence. ![]() The inquiry is looking at 139 officers spying on at least 1,000 mainly leftwing political groups since 1968.Įver since it was revealed that at least 20 officers formed intimate bonds with women as a means of winning activists’ trust, a key question has been: who knew? A new book by five of the women, Deep Deception, makes it painfully clear how much it matters to them to find out. This was an espionage operation within Britain. By then, the public was also aware that officers had deceived multiple women into long-term relationships to infiltrate political groups, and used dead children’s identities. ![]() The proximate cause was that London’s Metropolitan police force had spied on the Stephen Lawrence family campaign to discredit it. It was set up in 2015 by the then home secretary, Theresa May, after decades of abuses by undercover police came to light. The public inquiry into undercover policing, which has just held its third phase of hearings, is on course to become one of the longest ever.
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