Opening statements from Freedom Press and non-state core participants. Freedom Press details 140 years of surveillance by Special Branch since 1886, infiltration by Roger Pearce (later commander of Special Branch), and systematic political policing. Non-state core participants condemn widespread abuses including sexual relationships, identity theft, discriminatory policing of anti-racist campaigns, and surveillance of MPs including Diane Abbott and Joan Ruddock at Margaret Thatcher's request.
00:20:27 e e
00:21:21 morning everybody uh this is the third day and the final day of opening submissions in this part of the uh inquiry uh I'll ask Mr rajie if men on cas to start Mr
00:21:38 Menon sorry Mr Menon can you hear
00:21:47 me something appears to have gone wrong with the
00:21:50 um sound
00:22:03 TR
00:22:28 uh Mr Men can you hear
00:22:36 us uh sir I believe it's uh his end that he's muted um I think we should rise momentarily whilst we try and contact him I can I can hear you oh then please continue then can you hear me I can sir
00:22:51 continue then can you hear me I can sir then would you please start your opening uh submissions uh we can hear you perfectly clearly thank you don't worry the these hitches occur don't worry about them my apologies for the confusion uh good morning Freedom press
00:23:06 confusion uh good morning Freedom press is the oldest Anarchist Publishing House in the English-speaking world its newspaper Freedom now online was set up in London by Charlotte Wilson and Peter kotkin in
00:23:15 kotkin in 1886 this was just a few years after special Branch was founded in 1883 in large part to combat anarchism
00:23:26 large part to combat anarchism anarchists are special Branch's oldest enemy and anarchists involved with freedom press and the freedom newspaper which we will collectively Hereafter refer to as Freedom have been one of special Branch's principal targets for
00:23:43 special Branch's principal targets for well over a century during the first and second world wars their premises were regularly raided by the police and anarchists involved were arrested and imprisoned since 1969 Freedom has produced its newspaper and run its Publishing House in Bookshop from an
00:23:55 Publishing House in Bookshop from an anarchist run and owned Tumbl down false story tenement building down Angel alley in White Chapel Vero Reon an anarchist of Italian descent better known as
00:24:10 of Italian descent better known as Vernon Richards created the friends of Freedom press a limited company with legal responsibility for the building while the day-to-day running was done by the freedom Collective anarchists who
00:24:23 the freedom Collective anarchists who dedicate their free time and energy to maintaining an anchus presence in the heart of London over the years the
00:24:34 heart of London over the years the building has not only been targeted by the polias it was also firebombed by fascists in March 1993 and again in February
00:24:39 February 2013 the Special Operations Squad set up by special branch in 1968 which became the special demonstration Squad the SDS also had Anarchist as one of their
00:24:50 also had Anarchist as one of their principal targets when MI5 and special bronze decided to infiltrate Freedom directly in 1980 they chosen officer detective Sergeant Roger Pierce using the cover name of Roger Thorley who of
00:25:04 the cover name of Roger Thorley who of all SDS undercover officers was to rise to the highest position in the Metropolitan Police Service from the detective Chief Inspector in charge of the SDS to commander of special branch and beyond that to director of
00:25:19 and beyond that to director of intelligence we have been given just 30 minutes today to open on behalf of Freedom this I'm afraid is not nearly enough time to do justice to special Branch's war on anarchism or or even SDS spying on freedom for that reason we
00:25:31 spying on freedom for that reason we would encourage anybody watching this oral opening who is interested in the bigger picture to read the longer written version of Freedom's opening
00:25:45 written version of Freedom's opening together with the witness statement of Steve sber Secretary of friends of Freedom press who will be giving evidence on Freedom's behalf next week on Monday the 8th of July and the
00:25:59 on Monday the 8th of July and the witness statement of Patricia Giambi the Italian artist whose tale we will come to later we are very grateful that Patricia has agreed to share her fascinating yet shocking story with us a story which illuminates the Insidious role played by special branch in political
00:26:10 political prosecutions Freedom's written opening Steve's statement and Patricia statement will all be uploaded onto the inquiry's website in due
00:26:23 website in due course it was in 1974 that freedom first featured as a Target in an SDS annual report since then disclosure of SDS s reporting about Freedom has been necessarily partial and fragmentary this is an inevitable consequence of the
00:26:35 is an inevitable consequence of the obsessive institutional secrecy of both MI5 and special branch that continues to this
00:26:43 this day the outcome of this institutional secrecy has led to some important evidence being given in Clos session and to a mass of redactions in the documents for instance we are still forbidden to
00:26:55 for instance we are still forbidden to know the names of all the groups spied on and the cover names of all the undercover officers in our view the publication of the at the very least of those names and cover names was the
00:27:07 those names and cover names was the litmus test for whether the inquiry was going to be open and transparent the only reason we are not being told all the names and cover names appears to be to protect the identities of undercover
00:27:19 to protect the identities of undercover officers from decades ago another demand of the non-state Corp participants was for full disclosure of their own files this too has been denied instead the
00:27:31 this too has been denied instead the inquiry is only disclosing documents to a non-state core participant that they think are relevant and contain a reference to that particular non-state core participant additionally these documents are of course redacted for State secrecy and privacy it is a
00:27:44 State secrecy and privacy it is a tortuous process that is both enormously time consuming and costly obviously there is plenty that the British State wants to remain hidden however on a more positive note we do have an inquiry
00:27:56 positive note we do have an inquiry about an aspect of the secret state undercover political policing that we have never seen before in the UK and for anarchists being targets of this type of
00:28:12 anarchists being targets of this type of policing goes back a long way right back to 1886 when Freedom was founded during the Zenith of British imperialism at a time when socialist and Anarchist ideas were spreading widely amongst the working class in short the history of
00:28:24 working class in short the history of spying on Anarchist in Britain is also the history of State intervention provocation Fab fabrication and an attack on the purported freedom of the press the historian EP Thompson summed
00:28:40 press the historian EP Thompson summed it up when he said that quote it was the fond belief of the English people that the employment of spies in domestic affairs was unri and belonged to the
00:28:51 affairs was unri and belonged to the Continental spy system in fact it was an ancient part of British statecraft as well as of police practice end quote special Branch were the political police in Britain and became well-versed in such tactics we know that Anarchist from
00:29:04 tactics we know that Anarchist from Freedom have been spied on for nearly 140 years registry files were opened by special Branch well before the SDS was even conceived in respect of Freedom press its registry file was opened in
00:29:17 press its registry file was opened in 1964 presumably after the previous one was full up we do not have the date of the first file but it may well be 1887 it is still unclear when in fact
00:29:31 1887 it is still unclear when in fact the registry was set up but it appears to have been operative in the [Music]
00:29:39 [Music] 1920s we can safely assume that prior to 1968 special Branch used old-fashioned methods of gathering intelligence without the need for employed undercover officers this would have meant scanning the anakis Press talking to activists
00:29:52 the anakis Press talking to activists meeting informers operating surveillance on protesters tapping phones Etc there was no obvious need when SDS was set up in 1968 to plant undercover officers
00:30:05 in 1968 to plant undercover officers into Freedom special Branch already had ample
00:30:06 ample intelligence detective sergeant Roy creamer of SDS had acquired unrivaled knowledge of anarchists and anarchism he gave evidence during the tranch one he
00:30:20 gave evidence during the tranch one he hearings that he felt the old schooled method of the direct approach was
00:30:32 method of the direct approach was adequate for the needs of special branch and that in 1968 he expected SOS as SDS was then called to be wound up he was alert to the dangers of the use of long-term agents in Deep Cover namely the tendency towards either Aon provocator activity or what was later called Stockholm syndrome this is
00:30:44 called Stockholm syndrome this is precisely why SS's methodology was inherently dangerous and unreliable the limits recommended by the creator of SDS detective Chief Inspector Conrad Dixon
00:31:00 detective Chief Inspector Conrad Dixon were almost immediately abandoned by the Met hierarchy in favor of long-term penetration of radical groups for intelligence gathering purposes much to the Delight of MI5 who were given copies
00:31:17 the Delight of MI5 who were given copies of SDS reports via box 500 and could and did make targeting requests anchus groups were part of the initial targeting
00:31:22 targeting hn30 with the cover name of Jim pford who although deceased has been given
00:31:31 who although deceased has been given anonymity over his real name to protect the privacy of his family had had been deployed from late 1974 to December 1976 he spied on freedom and other Anarchist groups hn 304 with the cover name of Graham coats reported on six Anarchist groups between 1976 and
00:31:43 Anarchist groups between 1976 and 1979 including Freedom who he described as Wishful thinkers he effectively took over in the anchus field from pford in the conclusion of his witness statement
00:31:58 the conclusion of his witness statement coot States as follows I did not witness any public disorder while infiltrating the anarchists the anarchists I reported on posed a minimal challenge to public order they did not do much in the way of
00:32:10 order they did not do much in the way of public demonstrations their numbers were small so even if everyone in greater London who was prepared to call thems a Libertarian or an anarchist had joined a demonstration I doubt there would have
00:32:22 demonstration I doubt there would have been more than around a 100 people the anarchist did not even really discuss activities that would be a public order threat their threat was only based on Anarchist history the anarchists would like to have thought themselves
00:32:34 like to have thought themselves subversive their views were subversive to a conservative government but they were not actively subversive none of the an anarchist groupings I reported on was significant in terms of numbers or even in terms of threat the whole thing was
00:32:50 in terms of threat the whole thing was writing on the tail Coates of the angri angry Brigade in terms of what the Metropolitan Police Service the government and special Branch fear they were able to do the grouping that had most potential was the Anarchy Collective because of its link to the angry Brigade and even they did not
00:33:04 angry Brigade and even they did not become subversive in their actions or what they
00:33:09 what they achieved the inquiry has disclosed SDS annual reports through to 1996 Freedom features in all of them from 1978 to 1991 the period during which Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and during
00:33:21 Thatcher was prime minister and during which she identified the Enemy Within as a clear political Target of the state in
00:33:32 a clear political Target of the state in total over 50 political groups under the gist heading was spied on by SDS during this period from 1991 1992 after the end of the Thatcher government and as MI5 stepped back from counter subversion to deal with
00:33:44 counter subversion to deal with provisional Ira attacks on the British Mainland SDS annual reports no longer listed the groups penetrated the reviews of anarchist activity were concentrated solely on the class war group before
00:33:55 solely on the class war group before switching Focus to community groups and campaigns against repressive laws by the time of the labor election victory in 1997 just after the end of the period under scrutiny in tranch 2 SDS activity
00:34:13 under scrutiny in tranch 2 SDS activity was focused away from Strictly political Anarchist groups and much more animal rights Community groups Justice campaigns and anti-fascism the last SDS annual report we have for 1996
00:34:21 1996 1997 highlighted the security service policy decision to reduce its counter subversion role with no active
00:34:33 subversion role with no active investigations or operations at all in this field and concluded this move effectively leaves it to the police to monitor political activism from a politic a public order standpoint the public order justification almost
00:34:47 the public order justification almost seems to have come as an afterthought in any event the Metropolitan Police Service were more than happy to continue to monolitic activism as they had since the Inception of special branch in fact
00:35:00 the Inception of special branch in fact within a couple of years Roger Pierce by now commander of special Branch was together with other colleagues in the British security apparat is about to create a new National spying
00:35:13 create a new National spying organization the national public order intelligence unit NP oiu which would hugely expand polit political surveillance with hundreds of environmental and social justice campaign groups spied on in a Sinister move the npu was placed directly under
00:35:26 move the npu was placed directly under the control of the association of chief police officers agpo which was reconstituted in 1997 as a private company and hence was not under the political control of government the secret state was being
00:35:41 secret state was being privatized meanwhile Roger Pierce after retiring from the Metropolitan Police Service reinvented himself as a novelist drawing on his experience as an SDS spy within the anarchist movement back in the early
00:35:51 the early 1980s he has written three novels to date in which his protagonist and Alter Ego detective Chief and inspector John Kerr takes down some pantomine villains who happen to be grossly caricatured
00:36:06 who happen to be grossly caricatured anarchists his description of anarchist Le is similar to both the freedom premises in Angel alley and the homes that he visited of Dave mccab and Patricia Giambi the importance of this we say is that there was always an
00:36:21 we say is that there was always an element of fantasy about Pierce a desire to sex up his reports with lurid gossip Inu innuendo character assassination and a style of writing that would commend itself to his superiors in MI5 and special
00:36:36 special Branch SDS asked MI5 to provide pierce with a briefing about Freedom Pierce recalls in his witness statement that there was an advice from MI5 that they would value the targeting of anchus groups and SDS were also looking for greater coverage of the anchus field
00:36:50 greater coverage of the anchus field Pierce also recalls that he went on a course on counter sub verion run by MI5 interestingly there's nothing in his witness statement or in any extranan evidence of Pierce receiving any
00:37:01 evidence of Pierce receiving any training in relation to public order from A8 or any other department of special branch of the Metropolitan Police Service nevertheless Pierce knowing that this is the only defense available to the met in its last ditch
00:37:14 available to the met in its last ditch attempt to justify the enormous scale of SDS spying states that the laser focus of SDS was to gather intelligence about public disorder yet hardly any of
00:37:28 public disorder yet hardly any of Pierce's nearly 600 reports include any mention of public disorder rather they they reflect Pierce's take a look approach with lists of names of people writing to Freedom asking for anchus literature copies of newspapers leaflets and other documents intimate reports
00:37:45 and other documents intimate reports about Collective members and political speculation all justified by Pierce given his over Brad definition of subversion the fact that the SDS annual reports and the letters seeking further funding for SDS from the home office state that the primary purpose of SDS
00:37:59 state that the primary purpose of SDS was obtaining public order intelligence flies in the face of the overwhelming evidence namely the intelligence reports of the undercover officers themselves which the home office never saw the collateral reporting about public order
00:38:12 collateral reporting about public order almost all of which has been supposedly destroyed if it ever existed was effective in giving plausible cover to the SS's concealed primary purpose the fact that special Branch provided
00:38:24 fact that special Branch provided routine threat assessments for public a police public order planning does not detract from the argument SDS reporting was never primarily about upholding the
00:38:35 was never primarily about upholding the Queen's peace it was about spying on the Queen's supposed domestic enemies it would be quite wrong to take the SS's self-proclaimed purpose at face value in
00:38:49 self-proclaimed purpose at face value in any event the idea that SDS intelligence had any real impact on the major public order events of the day is fanciful in trch 2 the inquiry will cover the period of the major riots and uprisings of the
00:39:01 of the major riots and uprisings of the 1980s and early 1990s none of which were predicted by SDS returning to pierce we have not been provided with a photo of him in his undercover Persona of Thor however Pierce has provided us with a
00:39:12 Pierce has provided us with a description of sorts saying he was called trosky presumably by those at Freedom due to his appearance although he does not mention sporting any round spectacles despite this few Freedom
00:39:27 spectacles despite this few Freedom Old-Timers can recall Pierce except for Dave mccab it is unfortunate that the inquiry is not interested in receiving a witness statement from Dave mccab despite Dave being prepared to provide one firstly nobody in Freedom knew
00:39:39 one firstly nobody in Freedom knew Pierce better than Dave secondly Dave was himself a victim of police brutality at the hands of the notorious special
00:39:52 at the hands of the notorious special Patrol group in July 1981 ending up in hospital and on crutches before being convicted and and imprisoned on fabricated evidence in yet another
00:40:04 fabricated evidence in yet another miscarriage of Justice Pierce would have known all about this as he continued to spy on Dave yet it does not feature in his
00:40:05 his reports another interesting thing about Pierce is his very cozy interaction with the MI5 desk officer on the anchus desk a woman with whom he regularly went to a
00:40:21 a woman with whom he regularly went to a wine bar in Barkley Square as opposed to the pub in curen street where the MI5 male Spooks used to hang out it is unclear why he had so many meetings with her and and how far these were sanctioned by his supervisors either officially or unofficially the MI5 SDS
00:40:34 officially or unofficially the MI5 SDS liaison file makes it clear that it was SDS policy for MI5 desk officers not to know the cover identities of SDS
00:40:45 know the cover identities of SDS officers so what was going on between Pierce and the female MI5 desk officer in your tranch one interim report sir you found that the evidence showed a much closer relationship between MI5 and the STDs from
00:40:58 between MI5 and the STDs from 1979 after the election of Margaret Thatcher and while David mcne the Bible thumping hard man from Glasgow was MPS commissioner one wonders if this was a result of the traditional introductory
00:41:10 result of the traditional introductory meeting between the new prime minister and the director general of MI5 at that time sir Howard Smith in any event from
00:41:23 time sir Howard Smith in any event from then on regular discussions between the head of section F6 counter subversion and the DCI and Di in operational command of SDS took place at which Security Service requests for intelligence were discussed the
00:41:36 intelligence were discussed the relationship became even closer after the appointment of DCI Barry moss in 1980 and Di Trevor Butler in 1981 monthly meetings were held from February 1981 onwards these managers were the immediate superiors of Roger
00:41:55 immediate superiors of Roger pierce the MI5 loose minute dated the 3rd of March 1981 requested specific information on anarchist activi in London particularly at the one 121 Bookshop on Railton Road in Brixton who was involved the layout of the premises what was stocked whether there was a
00:42:06 what was stocked whether there was a telephone and whether it appeared to be a successful Venture a request was made for information on the direct action movement and the Anarchy Collective it was Roger Pierce who was tasked with
00:42:21 was Roger Pierce who was tasked with answering these requests just month one month before the Brixton Riots of the 11th to the 13th of April 1981 while part of the freedom Collective wrote articles on two subjects Northern Ireland and legal matters his apparent expertise in the
00:42:33 matters his apparent expertise in the second subject having a law degree from London University enabled him to spy on meetings where legal advice was given and report back accurately about the
00:42:44 and report back accurately about the legal strategies to be adopted by the likes of Patricia Giambi while undercover Pierce positioned himself politically on the pro- Irish Republican side of the fence
00:42:55 pro- Irish Republican side of the fence by contrast most members of the freedom Collective were firmly sitting on the fence in respect of this issue this was a deliberate Ploy by Pierce and Pierce used it to draw closer politically those who shared the same view of
00:43:09 who shared the same view of unconditional but critical support for Irish
00:43:10 Irish republicanism his prisoners of politics article in Freedom argues for the Irish Republican prisons who had started a hunger strike in 1980 being given political status on the 9th of April
00:43:25 political status on the 9th of April 1981 one of those hunger Strikers Bobby Sans was elected MP for FAL and South Tyrone when he died on the 5th of May 1981 there was a huge outpouring of public sympathy and the political
00:43:39 public sympathy and the political mobilization that followed prompted the freedom visit to the Belfast anchus Collective at the end of May 1981 Pierce took this opportunity to solidify his link to a more pro- Irish
00:43:50 solidify his link to a more pro- Irish Republican position on the 4th of July 1981 Pierce managed to get the front page of freedom for his article the Noto distant struggle he would have known that this article would stir up a hostile reaction for many in the freedom
00:44:06 hostile reaction for many in the freedom Collective and he was able to exacerbate divisions we puit that there was an always that there always was an overarching brief excuse me for undercover officers and intelligence agents to seow division if need
00:44:22 agents to seow division if need be what is clear is that while Pierce used his entry into freedom to gain General access to anist groups his direction of travel was away from freedom in White Chapel and down to Brixton and the groups associated with the one 121 Bookshop he used his freedom comrade Dave mccab to facilitate his
00:44:33 comrade Dave mccab to facilitate his entry by driving them together to the Bookshop at the weekend sadly the 121 Bookshop is not a non-state core participant in the inquiry despite the extensive reporting on the collective there Pierce's objective was clear he
00:44:50 there Pierce's objective was clear he increasingly used his political cover to get closer to anarchists who he thought were more involved in direct action than the freedom Collective this gave him the the opportunity to spy on those arrested and charged and their lawyers there is no separate category
00:45:06 lawyers there is no separate category unfortunately for lawyers spied on by SDS in the ucpi but from the intelligence reports disclosed so far we know that special Branch had registry files on many of the most well-known defense lawyers of the
00:45:17 most well-known defense lawyers of the period including those who represented anarchists defense lawyers are likely to have been targets of MI5 interest and
00:45:31 have been targets of MI5 interest and subject to technical human surveillance by both MI5 and special Branch indeed one particular cistus firms that represented many political activists had its own organizational registry file it is unclear whether all the lawyers who
00:45:42 is unclear whether all the lawyers who worked for this firm were deemed worthy of having individual files opened on them or whether this depended on the clients they represented or the meetings they
00:45:49 they attended however they do appear to have been spied on not as political activists but as lawyers despite the fact that they clearly did not represent either a public order threat or a threat to
00:46:01 public order threat or a threat to parliamentary democracy in the state how could this possibly be justified we hope the inquiry will investigate this important issue Pierce had already claimed as part of his undercover
00:46:13 claimed as part of his undercover identity to have knowledge of legal matters and wrote for freedom on such topics he was therefore in an ideal position when it came to arrest and defense campaigns arising out of the Brixton riots in 1981 to attend and
00:46:26 Brixton riots in 1981 to attend and record the content of legal advice by putting this in detail in his reports he knew that it would be disseminated from
00:46:39 knew that it would be disseminated from cquad to the appropriate section of the Met as we only have the box 500 copies from MI5 we do not know to whom else Pierce's reports was disseminated the Metropolitan Police Service have
00:46:50 Metropolitan Police Service have conveniently destroyed almost their entire archive no doubt to avoid institutional embarrassment and liability in his witness statement Pier states that while he carefully recorded the detailed legal advice given by lawyers to defendants this was not a
00:47:03 lawyers to defendants this was not a breach of Legal Professional privilege as the advice was given in a meeting that was not confidential to the client this is entirely disingenuous as the lawyers were obviously unaware that he
00:47:16 lawyers were obviously unaware that he was a police spy who was reporting back directly to the very organization that was Prosecuting their clients Pier states that the main lawyer in question as well as the defendants themselves would have treated him as a trusted
00:47:28 would have treated him as a trusted friend Pierce SDS special branch and MI5 had not the slightest concern about breaching Legal Professional privilege it is almost certain that the lawyers
00:47:39 it is almost certain that the lawyers phones were tapped as well the strategy was all about spying on the lawyers to give an unfair advantage to the prosecution by recording privileged legal Communications between lawyers their clients and supporters however it does not end there
00:47:55 supporters however it does not end there in the case of the Brixton riots in 1981 the Thatcher government and the MPS had a direct interest in covering up the truth about the reasons for the riots not just the obvious trigger namely mps's operation swamp but also the surrounding circumstances of economic
00:48:09 surrounding circumstances of economic deprivation racial discrimination and racist policing special Branch were therefore tasked to assist in providing a false narrative that would enable both the Thatcher government and the Met to get off the hook and falsely blame the
00:48:25 get off the hook and falsely blame the events on anarchists and in keeping with their overall institutional racism and xenophobia foreign anarchists Pierce's assessment was that the involvement of anarchist and Brixton was no more than a few joining in what had already started in other words
00:48:40 had already started in other words anarchists were not the instigators this was also the assessment reached in the SDS annual report of 1981 however this was not the narrative provided to the media who were extensively briefed by special Branch as
00:48:51 extensively briefed by special Branch as is clear from the Press reporting of the day Pierce therefore would have known that the briefings were false but that this was perfect ly accept acceptable as it was all part of a political struggle and he was a political policeman loyal
00:49:02 and he was a political policeman loyal to the cause his reporting on Jean wear and Patricia Giambi wrongly linked them to the Italian Marxist leninist armed group the red brigades but got Ros it
00:49:20 group the red brigades but got Ros it was this link which was fed to the press in an undoubted attempt to convict both through sheer Prejudice generated by special branch and deployed by the metropolen police prosecutor in court Jane Jane Jee we was fortunate to be acquitted at trial as her lawyer was
00:49:31 acquitted at trial as her lawyer was able to summons a BBC reporter who gave evidence that undermined the police evidence of identity but poor Patricia Jambi a young school teacher on leave from her job in Italy who had come to
00:49:43 from her job in Italy who had come to learn English in London was made to pay the price being sent to prison on
00:49:52 the price being sent to prison on fabricated evidence with political and xenophobic Prejudice deployed against her in Fall Pierce got close to both women and their lawyer by attending meetings about their cases and Reporting on the legal advice they received to his superiors he did nothing to alert his bosses that the supposed link to the red brigades was untrue in fact special
00:50:06 brigades was untrue in fact special Branch appears to have opened a file on the red brigades around the same time did MI5 know better did they not brief Pierce in one of his regular Wine Bar meetings or was it the case that this was deliberate misinformation recorded
00:50:20 was deliberate misinformation recorded against the women for political reasons we believe that pierce played an important part in Patricia's wrongful conviction through his spying activity and Reporting the legal advice given in detail back to special Branch for deployment by the police prosecutor in
00:50:36 deployment by the police prosecutor in court he knew that Patricia was innocent as he knew Dave mccab was innocent but his political loyalty to the branch outweighed any sense of justice one final clue we have about these special
00:50:48 final clue we have about these special Branch manipulated prosecutions is in a case for protest Pierce's article in Freedom in which He suggests that stipend magistrate Nichols was widely believed to have close links with special Branch prosecutor uors Dave mccabes and Patricia giambi's
00:50:59 mccabes and Patricia giambi's convictions were miscarries of justice and should be caed in conclusion sir in your tranch one interim report of June 2023 you refrained from expressing any
00:51:14 2023 you refrained from expressing any view about the proposition that the SDS was one of the instruments set up by a conservative state to suppress the aspirations of those who wish to produce radical change by political means we say
00:51:26 radical change by political means we say that this is self-evidently the case any state will defend itself similarly and the British State continues to do so with or without agencies or instruments like the SDS anarchists believe that their ideas are genuinely subversive of the existing order having said that
00:51:38 the existing order having said that freedom was effectively a propaganda Factory for ideas whose principal aim was to keep and print the anarchist Classics run a Bookshop and print a
00:51:54 Classics run a Bookshop and print a fortnightly newspaper Freedom operated above all in the realm of ideas ideas which the political police wanted to stop spreading special Branch was initially set up in large part to combat anarchism and has continued that fight over the last 140 years of course Freedom has been raided on numerous
00:52:05 Freedom has been raided on numerous occasions had editors and writers jailed seen its Fair of fabricated prosecutions and been spied on throughout that is what the British state does but B but Freedom was never a real threat to the
00:52:17 Freedom was never a real threat to the British state or parliamentary democracy nor were any of the anarchist groups who was spied on it took until the early 1990s for the security service to step
00:52:29 1990s for the security service to step back from counter subversion in order to concentrate on serious matters however
00:52:39 concentrate on serious matters however this left the field wide open to special Branch we increased their surveillance and whose commanders notably Pierce helped set up the national spying organization the national public order intelligence unit and with the huge expansion of technological surveillance via
00:52:56 via gchq we now have a vast spying apparatus in the UK that can spy at will in live time on almost every British citizen this is a far far worse situation for
00:53:07 this is a far far worse situation for civil liberties and human rights than in 1968 when SDS was founded thank you thank you Mr Man thank you in particular for sticking to the time limit that you
00:53:18 for sticking to the time limit that you have reluctantly accepted very grateful to you thank
00:53:24 you we will hear next from
00:53:27 next from Lil
00:53:41 Lewis thank you sir sir I make this opening statement on behalf of Three core participants to your inquiry Jane Hickman Rebecca Johnson and Hillary Moore these three women stand in solidarity with each other on account of their shared experiences which led to their involvement with this
00:53:55 their involvement with this inquiry each was born in the early 1950s each in their own way was committed to the cause of peace and disarmament and each campaigned publicly peacefully and openly against the
00:54:08 peacefully and openly against the deployment of nuclear weapons in the United
00:54:09 United Kingdom and each has been subject to wholly unjustified intrusive political monitoring and surveillance by
00:54:22 monitoring and surveillance by undercover police apparently instigated at the insistence of Margaret Thatcher then prime minister of the United Kingdom sir in the summer of 1983 at the beginning of the time period under consideration by the inquiry Hillary
00:54:35 consideration by the inquiry Hillary Moore was 31 years old she was working with disadvantaged children and young people with special educational needs in a school in South
00:54:50 a school in South London she developed this role moving to a further education College in Bristol in 1990 until her retirement some 11 years
00:54:55 ago after visiting greenham common women's peace camp in 1982 she co-founded the group that became Lambeth women women for peace which I will refer to as
00:55:04 to as lwp the group existed to support the women at greenham common and to educate and spread the message of the camp into the local community the core principles of the group were nonviolent and
00:55:20 internationalist at this time Rebecca Johnson was 29 years old she had graduated with a masters from soaz and postponed PhD to become involved in the
00:55:31 postponed PhD to become involved in the greenham women's peace camp in 1982 when it was a small and active protest of 15 to 20 women committed to non nonviolent disarmament and peace she stayed for five years at the
00:55:45 five years at the camp since then Dr Johnson has spent her life engaged in diplomacy in different capacities on the international stage to seek to secure nuclear disarmament contributing to the adoption and
00:56:00 contributing to the adoption and implementation of the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty from 1987 onwards the 1996 comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the 2017 treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons so successful has she been in
00:56:11 weapons so successful has she been in this work that she shared in the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons in
00:56:26 2017 Jane Hickman was 32 years old she was then a solicitor at Fisher merid in Stockwell and went on to become the highly successful founder and Senior partner of the city law firm Hickman and Rose she came to the greenham cause
00:56:43 Rose she came to the greenham cause through her role in representing clients arrested at the base including Rebecca Johnson her role in lwp lambath women for peace was as an ordinary participant and
00:56:52 and supporter her energy as a young lawyer can be seen in her work representing green and women against cruise missiles a group of activists who wanted to test
00:57:05 a group of activists who wanted to test the lawfulness of locating and deploying cruise missiles in a densely populated area Miss Hickman assisted them in seeking an injunction in the US federal court against President Reagan to prevent the export of cruise missiles to the
00:57:20 UK sir it is crucial to this part of its investigations that the inquiry understands who the greenham women were and what they stood for I will then turn to the special demonstration squad or the SS and its
00:57:35 demonstration squad or the SS and its surveillance of the greenh and women the lack of justification for this and then finally what we say were the real motivations for State intrusion into the women's peace movement as Council the inquiry has
00:57:51 movement as Council the inquiry has already set out in his opening statement the greenham camp formed in the early 1980s against the background of the threat of nuclear war people in Britain were more aware of the catastrophic impact that a nuclear attack would have political opposition to cruise missiles had
00:58:07 to cruise missiles had grown at the same time as Hillary Moore explains in her evidence there was a desire amongst women in many areas of civil society to assert their political agency in her words there was a lot of
00:58:22 agency in her words there was a lot of positive agency that women could change the world and campaign for peace in a more creative and imaginative way in 1981 a group of Welsh women formed women for life on Earth and
00:58:33 formed women for life on Earth and walked with their children from Cardiff to the greenham common Air Base once there some decided to stay and set up a peace camp in order to demonstrate their determined opposition to the government's decision to deploy
00:58:48 to the government's decision to deploy us cruise missiles at the base missiles were due to arrive there in 1983 from its start the peace Camp's public profile grew rapidly and gained
00:59:02 public profile grew rapidly and gained widespread support drawing in women from a range of backgrounds I'd be grateful if photograph one can now be
00:59:13 shown thank you very much in December 1982 the embrace the base protest attracted 35,000 women enough to join hands around the whole 9ine M perimeter of the air
00:59:25 9ine M perimeter of the air base then in the 1983 New Year's Day dor Pro test 44 Women including Rebecca Johnson occupied a nuclear Silo that was under construction inside the base I'd
00:59:36 under construction inside the base I'd be grateful if photograph too could now be
00:59:45 shown thank you this photograph of the New Year's Day dorm protest was featured in newspapers around the world there were no leaders or formal positions of responsibility within the
00:59:58 positions of responsibility within the peace Camp any woman was welcome to be a green and woman meant committing to using non-violent actions for disarmament peace and Justice and taking personal and political responsibility for one's
01:00:09 for one's actions the green and women had numerous aims but they held a generally agreed objective of changing government policy so that no cruise missiles or other intermediate range nuclear forces would be situated or deployed in the
01:00:21 be situated or deployed in the UK they also aimed to highlight the catastrophe nuclear weapons presented and that nuclear disarmament was both
01:00:33 and that nuclear disarmament was both possible and sensible without the use of any
01:00:37 any violence the greenh and women along with Associated groups such as lwp believed in achieving change through Democratic means and were firmly committed to nonviolence the greenham common women's
01:00:51 nonviolence the greenham common women's peace Camp is now widely recognized as a movement of historic importance for one it marked a turning point in the political lives of the many women involved as Jane Hickman explains
01:01:03 women involved as Jane Hickman explains in her witness statement a large number of women were introduced to the experience of exercising political agency and demanding that their viewpoints as women be given proper political weight I'd be grateful if that photograph can now be taken
01:01:21 down importantly the green and women were successful in many of their political aims although America missiles arrived at the base in 1983 in
01:01:29 1983 in 1987 US President Reagan and Soviet Soviet Soviet President Gorbachev signed the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty which paved the way for the
01:01:45 treaty which paved the way for the removal of cruise missiles from greenham as a result the last missiles left the base in
01:01:51 base in 1991 as Hillary Moore says in her statement as with many political Grassroots movements it's in rhetoric respect that we can see what catalysts for change they were the suffet in gaining votes for women the
01:02:02 gaining votes for women the anti-apartheid movement in providing pressure for positive change in South Africa and the women's peace movement for contributing to the deescalation of nuclear
01:02:18 weaponry sir I turn now to what is known of the surveillance of women peace activists by the SCS and hn33 deployment in particular
01:02:32 in particular in 1983 at the same time as Jane Hickman Rebecca Johnson and Hillary Moore were working to promote peace feminism and access to Justice a female officer who had been newly recruited to special Branch was being primed to spy on the women's peace
01:02:43 women's peace movement in her witness statement to this inquiry hn33 recalls how she was singled out by a superintendent and was expressly told that the Prime Minister
01:02:55 expressly told that the Prime Minister wanted to know what the green and women were doing and asked whether she would be prepared to help the police to find out she agreed and was placed with the
01:03:06 agreed and was placed with the SDS according to her statement hn 33's training was almost non-existent she was given no advice about sexual relationships with those
01:03:17 about sexual relationships with those under surveillance about not encouraging criminal activities or legal professional privilege she was left to her own judgment as to how far she could become involved in the personal lives of those was
01:03:30 was monitoring hn 33's tasking to infiltrate the greenham women was so generalized that she had free reign to select the group and individuals that she chose to intimately survey we note sir the concessions made
01:03:44 survey we note sir the concessions made on behalf of the commissioner in in its opening statement in relation to a general failure by managers to lead the SDS properly and effectively in the trench 2 period and invite you to consider sir how impacted on the
01:03:59 consider sir how impacted on the oversight of and justification for hm 33's deployment in
01:04:10 33's deployment in particular hn33 infiltrated lwp Lambeth women for peace in June 1983 using the false identity of Lee bonser she lied and told the group that she'd left an abusive partner and so had recently moved to the area on her own although those in the group had
01:04:24 although those in the group had reservations about her at the outset they felt sorry for her because she seemed an isolated figure who lacked a social network as lwp was a group open to any woman to attend she was ultimately welcomed in and
01:04:36 ultimately welcomed in and befriended hn33 became a regular attendee at meetings and helped to plan an organize events she took part in lwp activities went on demonstrations
01:04:47 activities went on demonstrations fronted stalls and represented lwp at other forums she visited people's homes joined in with social events and bought round in the pub after
01:05:02 round in the pub after meetings she even shared a tent with an lwp member on one of their visits to greenham
01:05:07 greenham Common hn33 had infiltrated the group to such an extent that when she informed lwp that she was moving to Australia as cover for her redeployment in
01:05:20 cover for her redeployment in 1986 the group threw a goodbye party for her and gave her a piece of silver jewelry as a farewell gift what they now know is that hn33
01:05:32 gift what they now know is that hn33 abused the friendship and kindness of activists to collect huge amounts of private and personal information that included detailed reporting on political discussions and campaign plans home addresses phone
01:05:45 campaign plans home addresses phone numbers educational employment details activist relationships and sexualities Bank details and other financial
01:05:51 financial information by the end of hn 33's deployment the majority of regular lwp attendees had been given special Branch registry file numbers seemingly for no
01:06:05 registry file numbers seemingly for no other reason than involvement with the group information collected about the group's activities was not only retained but included in reports by senior officers and passed on to clients
01:06:17 officers and passed on to clients including the security service and on at least one occasion the American government I note here sir that a particularly concerning aspect of hn3
01:06:29 particularly concerning aspect of hn3 deployment was her willingness to report on discussions subject to Legal Professional privilege and the court case mounted by green and women against cruise missiles against President Reagan her reports
01:06:41 against President Reagan her reports included details of Jane Hickman's legal role and her place of work as a solicitor hn33 was not provided with any advice or guidance by SS managers in
01:06:52 advice or guidance by SS managers in relation to Legal Professional privilege and no one raised any ISS isues with her in respect of this reporting as Council to the inquiry notes at paragraph 61 of his opening
01:07:05 notes at paragraph 61 of his opening statement No officer in this tranch had been trained to recognize legally privileged material in our submission this was a gross
01:07:16 this was a gross failure hn33 statement indicates of lwp that their activities were always peaceful she says that she had some sympathy for her cause for their cause yet senior officers in the SS chose to
01:07:28 yet senior officers in the SS chose to continue her deployment with the group for a period of almost four years her colleagues hn 65 and h88 also on occasion through their infiltration of the campaign for nuclear
01:07:46 infiltration of the campaign for nuclear disarmament or CND produced detailed and largely inaccurate reporting about the greenh and women and in particular Rebecca
01:07:48 Rebecca Johnson the question that has preoccupied the women that we represent from the outset is why why were they
01:07:59 from the outset is why why were they spied upon they had done nothing wrong and certainly nothing to justify such intrusive
01:08:01 intrusive surveillance why were the green and women seen as appropriate targets for surveillance in the first place and most fundamentally how could this abor
01:08:12 fundamentally how could this abor practice have existed unchallenged in a supposedly Democratic
01:08:24 country I turn then to the lack of justification in relation to hn 33's deployment and the targeting of the women's peace movement broadly at the outset our clients wish to ad adopt the cogent points on the law relating to intrusive undercover
01:08:37 relating to intrusive undercover policing in paragraphs 5 to 25 and 35- 37 of the opening statement of Diane Langford to trench one phase three of this
01:08:42 this inquiry sir in trench one your interim report identified the Striking feature of the reporting of the SDS was that it contained extensive details about
01:08:53 contained extensive details about individuals their political views personality working life relationships with others and family and private life further the report found that such
01:09:05 further the report found that such intrusion into the private and political lives of activists required cogent justification before it should have been contemplated as a police
01:09:16 contemplated as a police tactic such justification was wholly lacking in respect of our clients it should have been plained hn33 and her handlers early on that her diploma in lwp was wholly unnecessary
01:09:29 diploma in lwp was wholly unnecessary and that her continued presence within the group served no useful purpose at all ldp's numbers rarely if ever went beyond 12 meetings tended to average around eight women in their words they
01:09:47 around eight women in their words they were a fairly reasonable mild manner lot certainly not trying to pick fights events were oddly in the extreme before hn33 joined the group and following its formation the women had organized a few events including a peace camp on Clapham common in May 1983 to
01:10:09 camp on Clapham common in May 1983 to celebrate women's International Day for disarmament I would be grateful if um the document at ucpi 00000000
01:10:11 00000000 36934 can now be
01:10:23 shown and then it's the final page of that document I'm very
01:10:27 I'm very grateful displayed on screen is a promotional poster for the camp which gives a flavor of the sorts of events that lwp
01:10:39 that lwp organized I'd be grateful if photo four can now be
01:10:46 shown this is a photograph taken of the day Hillary Moore recalls that counselors and local MPS including Harriet Harmon visited and supported the camp events included stalls child-friendly activities speeches and
01:10:59 child-friendly activities speeches and music only a month after this event hn33 joined the group during her infiltration she reported on lwp events such as silent vigils a demonstration to protest
01:11:18 silent vigils a demonstration to protest against the harassment of lesbians at is lingon green and the peace bus lent by the greater London Council to lwp I'd be grateful if photograph five can now be shown
01:11:29 thank you through the course of hn 33's deployment Elder BP activities had widened to include for example support for the anti-apartheid movement the
01:11:40 for the anti-apartheid movement the campaign to save the South London women South London Women's Hospital and fundraising and support for a school for women in Ethiopia be grateful if that photograph can now be taken
01:12:03 down thank you lwp was not a suitable Target for surveillance on the basis of public order issues subversion serious crime or threats to National Security and it's clear on hn 33's intelligence reports that no such justification materialized during her
01:12:16 materialized during her deployment sir on that point we invite you to reject the suggestion by the Metropolitan Police Service at paragraph 68 of their opening statement that the
01:12:28 68 of their opening statement that the deployment of officers such such as hn33 could be justified because such threats needed to be ruled out in assessing this argument sir you will no doubt consider whether a near four-year deployment in a small and entirely peaceful women's group could
01:12:42 entirely peaceful women's group could ever be proportionate to rule out the theoretical risks imagined by the MPS in addition the evidence disclosed so far suggests that at no point was there an assessment or consideration of
01:12:59 there an assessment or consideration of the justification for or proportionality of the infiltration of lwp or of the green and women more generally hn33 certainly maintains that she was not privy to any such discussions had these issues been
01:13:12 discussions had these issues been considered the only possible conclusion could have been that targeting such a group was not justified or proportionate I turn then to important considerations in relation to the justification of the targeting of the women's peace movement more generally in
01:13:27 women's peace movement more generally in particular in relation to the activities at greenham
01:13:36 common firstly sir the greenham women's aims and methods did not pose a risk to National Security or national Safety to suggest that the green and women pose such a risk would be to completely misunderstand their movement they were strongly committed to
01:13:55 movement they were strongly committed to making the world a better safer and more peaceful place and protecting people in this country from the harms po by nuclear
01:13:59 nuclear weapons further they were not subversive this is accepted by hn33 in her statement she did not in fact witness any of activity during her entire SDS deployment green and women aimed to
01:14:13 deployment green and women aimed to effect change through the Democratic political
01:14:15 political process in terms of any purported contribution to public order for reasons that we set out in more detail in our
01:14:27 that we set out in more detail in our written opening statement intelligence obtained by hn33 relating to planned protests or activities at greenham common was generally either redundant or could have easily been obtained by less intrusive means lwp will rarely pry to
01:14:40 intrusive means lwp will rarely pry to sensitive discussions relating to plans at greenan by virtue of their location in London and in frequent visits to the camp further the disclosed intelligence reports are littered with inaccuracies rendering them an
01:14:54 inaccuracies rendering them an unreliable source for operational policing
01:14:58 policing decisions hn33 herself accepts that some reports are inaccurate or exaggerated and finally on the relationship between SDS intelligence and the policing of demonstrations sir
01:15:11 and the policing of demonstrations sir it's important to note that in any event the base at greenham was secured by multiple forces including temps Valley Ministry of Defense police and sometimes The NPS along with American and British
01:15:28 The NPS along with American and British soldiers it is difficult to imagine that those at the base were in any way riing on intelligence from an undercover officer in South London the policing of protest at greenham was heavy-handed brutal and sometimes
01:15:37 sometimes violent particularly from 1982 onwards Rebecca Johnson recalls in her evidence being arrested and dragged away from the site for a charge that was later dropped when the case went to
01:15:49 when the case went to court as somebody who has more experience than any other witness to this inquiry of the circum ances at greenham common she would strongly reject any suggestion that
01:16:02 reject any suggestion that demonstrations were successfully or more proportionately policed because of ss intelligence the video ship CL the video clip shown by Council to the inquiry on
01:16:15 clip shown by Council to the inquiry on Monday provides an example of Police use of force and violence in response to a peaceful protest an issue that Dr Johnson addresses more fully in her witness
01:16:22 witness statement it is revealing sir that hn33 herself was unable to explain any impact whatsoever that her reporting had on the policing of events at greenham or
01:16:39 policing of events at greenham or elsewhere on the issue of justification finally we invite you to reject the argument Advanced on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service that concern expressed by the governments of the United States and United Kingdom that demonstrators might be shot by American
01:16:54 demonstrators might be shot by American Airmen should they occupy the base could somehow justify SCS surveillance of these
01:16:59 these groups such claims must be carefully and forensically scrutinized how do the Metropolitan Police Service say SS intelligence helped to avoid such a risk is there any evidence to support that position what were the
01:17:13 were the Alternatives no doubt there was already cooperation between the two states in relation to security Arrangements at the base along with a heavy policing a military
01:17:20 military presence it does not follow that undercover surveillance was required in order to further diplomatic Dialogue on the
01:17:28 the issue on the evidence to date the alleged concerns could not justify the
01:17:41 alleged concerns could not justify the intrusive and long-term steps taken when a simple diplomatic request to invite American state forces to exercise restraint should have sufficed we submit that the only safe
01:17:52 sufficed we submit that the only safe conclusion on the issue of justification on the evidence as it stands so far sir is that the intelligence gathered in relation to the green and women by hn33 and other officers made no contribution to proper policing purposes and
01:18:04 to proper policing purposes and certainly non-sufficient to justify the means
01:18:13 employed I finally turned to a core question that our clients have and that they respectfully suggest the inquiry should Endeavor to answer if there was no real policing need for surveillance of the greenh and women what was the true motivation for this intrusion into our clients lives
01:18:26 this intrusion into our clients lives hn33 was asked to join the SCS because prime minister Thatcher wanted to know what the greenh and women were doing this suggests not only that surveillance of greenham was driven by
01:18:40 surveillance of greenham was driven by the Prime Minister herself but that she expected to be appraised of the intelligence that came back the MPS and other state core participants M must explain why this completely inappropriate political
01:18:53 completely inappropriate political interference in operational policing decisions took place
01:19:00 consideration of the political context in which such a request was made is essential to fully understand its significance alongside other groups seeking to affect social and political change in the t2 period the green and women attracted particular hostility
01:19:14 women attracted particular hostility from prime minister thater and Ministers of her government who clearly felt threatened by popular support for the campaign and public opposition to the government's position on cruise missiles Jane Hickman explains in her evidence
01:19:31 Jane Hickman explains in her evidence that as the political tone became more aggressive in 1983 the year that the missiles arrived at greenham media coverage of the protest at greenham shifted barely a week passed without one paper or another denouncing the
01:19:45 paper or another denouncing the camp this was also the year that hn 33's deployment began government documents disclosed to
01:19:58 began government documents disclosed to Rebecca Johnson under the public records act um referenced fully in our opening statement show that in December 1982 Miss Thatcher received advice from conservative peer Lord bellof to abandon the kid gloves approach and seek
01:20:10 the kid gloves approach and seek publicly to discredit the green the greenham common women and their supporters he suggested that intelligence Services should investigate the movement's finances as well as the background and characters of the women
01:20:23 background and characters of the women involved in his words this was in order that the aura of martyrdom could be stripped from them in January 1983 Michael helzel was appointed Secretary of State for defense within weeks he established
01:20:34 defense within weeks he established defense secretary at 19 ds19 a secret unit set up within the mod to combat CND and caus for nuclear
01:20:45 and caus for nuclear disarmament as you heard from Mr scobby of King's Council on behalf of CND yesterday when Kathy masseter a former MI5 employee and whistleblower spoke out publicly about the unit she described
01:20:56 publicly about the unit she described how intelligence relating to the peace movement was circulated through whiteall by MI5 and passed to ds19 she also realized that ds19 was
01:21:12 ds19 she also realized that ds19 was sorry she also revealed that ds19 was leaking evidence to the press to discredit peace campaigns
01:21:19 campaigns document evidence make clear that the security service had a particular interest in the green and women and made a number of requests for inform about the group as well as its relationships with other campaigns roles within the
01:21:32 with other campaigns roles within the camp influence held by certain women and control of greenham finances our clients know that this is
01:21:43 finances our clients know that this is exactly the sort of internal gossip used to discredit the green and women in the highly critical articles published by newspapers in this period J Rebecca Johnson and Jane
01:21:55 period J Rebecca Johnson and Jane Hickman give numerous examples in their evidence of the type of coverage which aligns closely with SS intelligence reports as disclosed by the inquiry it is notable that the rationale for the SS's work for the security service has been defined to the inquiry so far as to assist the service in its
01:22:07 so far as to assist the service in its counter subversion work yet as we know hn33 was aware throughout her deployment with the SCS that the green and women were not at all
01:22:22 were not at all subversive Security Service interest in greenham must therefore have been motivated by something else
01:22:29 considering what is publicly known already about ds19 it is evident that ministers at the time had no quals about the use of intelligence services for political
01:22:39 political ends indeed the Metropolitan Police Service has already admitted that special Branch engaged in unacceptable political policing in relation to some SCS deployments in trench 2 our clients consider that it was due
01:22:54 2 our clients consider that it was due to political motivations at the highest level of government that the women's peace movement was targeted rather than any genuine security considerations this is a key issue that they wish to investigate in trench to
01:23:10 Sir Sir with these concerns and observations in mind we set out in detail at paragraph 71 of our written opening statement the questions that our clients have and that they hope that this inquiry will
01:23:22 this inquiry will answer it is a fun fundamental importance to the clients that we represent that the inquiry helps them to find out the truth of why they were
01:23:33 find out the truth of why they were targeted that is why they've taken the time at considerable personal and emotional cost to engage and cooperate with the investigation so
01:23:45 with the investigation so far however they are dismayed that hn33 the police witness who is of central importance to this aspect of the inquiry's work and to the questions that they have has declined to give evidence before this inquiry in our subm Mission the likely reason that she will not attend is
01:23:58 reason that she will not attend is because she herself knows that her actions and those of the SDS were unacceptable and cannot be justified to this inquiry or to the public we respectfully invite you sir to take into account hn 33's failure to
01:24:11 take into account hn 33's failure to attend and to place no or little weight on her evidence where it conflicts with that of Jane Hickman Hillary Moore and Rebecca Johnson all of whom are willing to give evidence before
01:24:25 to give evidence before you turning then to other procedural matters Jane Hickman has following disclosure of evidence of the undercover surveillance to which she was subject
01:24:37 surveillance to which she was subject painstakingly compiled evidence this is relevant to that period at the request of the
01:24:38 of the inquiry that further Evidence includes numerous diary entries made During the period of hn 33's deployment I do not intend to rehearse
01:24:51 deployment I do not intend to rehearse every aspect of the procedural history relating to this issue as it has been set out in correspondence to the inquiry's legal team but in short due to timings issues Miss Hickman has been told that it is unlikely that the inquiry will be able to publish this material in the hearing
01:25:03 material in the hearing bundle we would respectfully inqu invite the inquiry to revisit this decision and to make all efforts to make these materials available in time for Miss
01:25:16 materials available in time for Miss Hickman and Miss Moore to give evidence in light of their clear and obvious relevance to the inquiry's investigations and terms of reference further our clients wish to play face on record that they have found the difficult timelines and inquiry
01:25:31 the difficult timelines and inquiry processes very stressful exacerbated by unmanageable pressures to complete statements requested under rule nine of the inquiry rules while still reviewing documents and re revisiting memories from decades
01:25:45 from decades ago a particular issue for our clients has been the narrow approach taken to disclosure prior to deadlines for witness statements requested under rule N9 for example Rebecca Johnson was provided with only a handful of intelligence reports prior to the
01:26:00 intelligence reports prior to the preparation of her statement only to later discover that the inquiry has within its possession 161 reports associated with hn33 nearly all of which are highly relevant to SS surveillance of the green and
01:26:14 of the green and women disclosure issues such as these inevitably cause the greatest disadvantage to non-state core participants who are less able to review the material and respond fully our clients endorsed the concerns raised by
01:26:25 clients endorsed the concerns raised by other non-state cor participants and in particular by the coordinating group in relation to the procedural difficulties so far and the steps required in future
01:26:38 tranches I pause here to address you sir on the distinct and important concerns that Rebecca Johnson wishes to place on the record in relation to her evidence to this
01:26:49 to this inquiry the following comments come directly from her Dr Johnson has contributed a significant witness statement relating to the greenham common women's peace Camp Cruz watch molesworth and other
01:27:02 Camp Cruz watch molesworth and other peace campaigns during the height of her engagement during 1982 to 88 which also included substantial involvement in the CND as a council member and then Vice
01:27:17 CND as a council member and then Vice chair as part of the inquiry process as a core participant Dr Johnson received seven disclosures from April 1984 to 1986 which provoked questions and mainly exposed a large intelligence
01:27:29 exposed a large intelligence vacuum the disclosures did not shed light on why she and other peace activists were targeted but led to rule nine questions that required Rebecca to delve into memories and documents from
01:27:42 delve into memories and documents from that period that distressed her in many ways Dr Johnson wishes to endorse what has been said on behalf of the category H participants by Miss Kilroy of King's
01:27:53 H participants by Miss Kilroy of King's Council in her opening statement to this inquiry
01:27:59 inquiry in responding to the inquiry's questions and hoping to gain more understanding about the purpose and extent of ss operations Dr Johnson decided to share with the inquiry traumatic experiences as well as distressing personal
01:28:12 as well as distressing personal information she hoped that her statement and questions would contribute to understanding the larger picture of undercover policing affecting the peace movement in which she played a very prominent role over the trench 2 period
01:28:23 prominent role over the trench 2 period whilst various undercover officers were also active including but not limited to hn33 hn 65 and hn 88 a decision has been made however not
01:28:35 88 a decision has been made however not to call Dr Johnson to give oral evidence to the inquiry a decision which made her feel marginalized and caused her to consider ending her participation in the process ultimately sir she has decided
01:28:47 process ultimately sir she has decided to continue her engagement on account of her desire to discover the truth and she urges the inquiry to go as far as it can can to fill the knowledge vacuum and to
01:29:02 can to fill the knowledge vacuum and to provide answers to the serious questions that core participants like Dr Johnson are taking the trouble to
01:29:11 ask in conclusion then sir the evidence in trench two shows as in trench one that the SCS was a secretive cynical political policing unit with no regard for the Civil political and Democratic rights of those it spied
01:29:22 it spied upon the conclusion of your interim report sir and the starting point for the inquiries tranch 2 investigations is that the ends used by the SS did not justify the means and had the methods
01:29:38 justify the means and had the methods used by the SDS been publicly known at the time the unit would have been brought to a rapid end the decision to monitor the women we represent who were so wholeheartedly devoted to peace and nonviolence
01:29:56 devoted to peace and nonviolence represents a further example of policing that had exceeded its powers and gone far beyond anything reasonable in a democratic country but it goes further than that it shows very clearly how the impulse to spy on such groups sprang from the
01:30:08 spy on such groups sprang from the perception that they were opposed to the politics of the government of the day it is made explicit in the disclosures to the inquiry that the green and women came under intrusive
01:30:19 green and women came under intrusive surveillance because the Prime Minister wished to know more about them at no stage did any politician or police officer articulate the nature of any threat posed by their activities or even set any criteria by which they might
01:30:31 set any criteria by which they might have been judged on this basis anyone could be spied upon our clients have in each of their respective Fields devoted their working lives and much of their free time to
01:30:43 lives and much of their free time to Public Service they are dismayed by the waste of resources and the thoughtlessness of the exercise carried
01:30:57 thoughtlessness of the exercise carried out against them at considerable public expense they hope sir that your in quy leads to Lasting changes which put in place the mechanisms of scrutiny and accountability that a genuine democracy requires unless I can assist you any further sir um that concludes my
01:31:17 further sir um that concludes my opening thank you very much indeed thank you for scking to the constrainted time that we all have may I just say one thing about Dr Johnson it is no disrespect to her that she was not invited to give oral evidence it is because what she says about undercover
01:31:31 because what she says about undercover policing is relatively limited and what she says about other things is outside the scope of my inquiry and furthermore there is no reason to challenge what she says about those issues in those
01:31:43 says about those issues in those circumstances it would be a waste of her time and of my time and of public money to invite her to speak orally about them
01:31:54 to invite her to speak orally about them at the inquiry it's no disrespect to her and I'm grateful to her for continuing to
01:31:57 to participate um thank you for that indication sir um you have my submissions on the relevance of her evidence thank you uh we will now hear uh for the first of two times from Mr
01:32:17 greenall Mr greenle
01:32:31 sir I present this opening statement on behalf of Mr David Morris uh Mr David Morris has written his own opening statement which is to be published on the inquiry website in which follows I will present a slightly shortened version of that statement whilst I will not read it in the first person other
01:32:45 not read it in the first person other than that I will be using Mr Morris's own words this opening statement is divided into the following sections first background to this statement
01:32:59 first background to this statement second the unjustified and unjustifiable deployments third unacceptable tactics employed and finally some conclusions background to the statement this is Mr Morris's fourth opening statement after writing and
01:33:14 statement after writing and presenting one himself at the start of each of the previous phases of the hearings Mr Morris is in part A lisant in person this is partly to save on some of the inquiry legal costs partly to
01:33:26 of the inquiry legal costs partly to ensure an authentic voice during this inquiry of one of the victims of the undercover policing units he speaks as a lifelong Community activist and
01:33:39 lifelong Community activist and organizer doing his best to to stand up for the rights of people in defense of the environment and the future of our society and Planet Mr Morris was targeted by undercover police units from the mid 1970s for at least 30
01:33:54 the mid 1970s for at least 30 years David Morris wrote his own witness statement for TR 2 earlier this month last month as a result of the substantial delays in the disclosure process Mr Morris expects to submit a second witness statement at the start of phase two covering matters which he's been unable to con cover in his first
01:34:09 been unable to con cover in his first statement the matters in this opening statement largely reflect upon the significance of the matters dealt with in Mr Morris's witness statement the details are therefore not repeated in
01:34:20 details are therefore not repeated in this overview the questions Mr Morris was asked to answer in his witness statement seem to focus heavily on the efforts by the police to try to retrospectively justify their unjustifiable deployments and tactics
01:34:34 unjustifiable deployments and tactics hence this opening statement focuses on the deployments and tactics
01:34:41 themselves second section unjustified and unjustifiable deployments this opening statement will try to summarize how the reporting on Mr Morris and the groups with which he was Associated was unjustified and
01:34:52 unjustified and unjustifiable all the groups targeted were small campaigning groups pursuing issues of widespread public concern and trying to create a better Society for
01:35:03 trying to create a better Society for everyone those involved in the campaigns were concerned members of the public doing their best to question and improve things the inquiry interim report in June 2023 concluded about the SDs
01:35:17 June 2023 concluded about the SDs deployments that the question is whether or not the ends Justified the means I have come to the first firm conclusion that for a unit of a police force it did not and that had the use of these means
01:35:31 not and that had the use of these means been publicly known at the time the SDS would have been brought to a rapid end the interim report was timely coming at a time when the Mets had been found by
01:35:44 a time when the Mets had been found by other inquiries and official reports to be institutionally racist sexist and corrupt and remained under special measures since July of 2022 the Metropolitan Police themselves have finally been forced to admit in
01:35:56 have finally been forced to admit in their closing statement of Trance one that by modern standards the SS's deployments in this period are unjustifiable because of the way they were structured not least because there was a failure to consider intrusion necessity and proportionality the key questions that
01:36:08 proportionality the key questions that need to be asked and answered are a did these unjustifiable deployments continue the answer is yes and to a much greater extent and B did the unacceptable
01:36:24 extent and B did the unacceptable tactics employed continue the answer is yes they did and got even more unacceptable looking back at Dave Morris's activities as an activist and Anarchist throughout the tranch one period of the 1970s it is significant
01:36:38 period of the 1970s it is significant that the undercover officer Graham coats who for years targeted him personally and the groups he was involved in during that time concluded I do not think that either the international socialists or
01:36:51 either the international socialists or the anarchist movement was subversive in terms of their actions I do not believe any information I provided was particularly significant I do not think it would have made made any difference to public order if I had not worked for the
01:37:03 the SDS this statement will now address some of the groups that Mr Morris was involved in relevant to tr 2 that were specifically targeted by the SDS the London workers group or
01:37:16 London workers group or lwg the lwg existed from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s and Dave Morris was significantly active in the group for most of that period LW G's aims were to
01:37:27 most of that period LW G's aims were to promote solidarity and awareness amongst fellow workers around London to encourage people to organize themselves in workplaces to collectively challenge the dictatorial power of those who
01:37:40 the dictatorial power of those who exploit workers and to support workers taking action to stand up for their needs and rights lwg was an open Collective involving anything between three and 30 people at weekly coordinating coordination meetings and fortnightly or monthly public meetings
01:37:59 fortnightly or monthly public meetings addressing a wide range of subjects as well as its meetings the lwg produced leaflets and a bulletin and attended various protests picket lines and demonstrations Dave Morris supports the witness statement of the core participant referred to as MSW in as
01:38:11 participant referred to as MSW in as much as it covers matters within his knowledge undercover officer Tony Williams infiltrated this entirely open and transparent group abusing the trust of those attending and taking part who
01:38:22 of those attending and taking part who in good faith would doing their best to advance the lwgs very positive and much needed aims Mr Williams took on significant roles including publicity manager group representative as an
01:38:41 manager group representative as an International Conference Treasurer and secretary a position he abused to be able to steal the private contact details of the group's supporters Tony Williams admits in his witness statement that he did not witness any public disorder by the group instead the SDS interest in this group
01:38:55 instead the SDS interest in this group appears to be driven by the lwg support for workers in trade disputes his reports were sent to MI5 this raises real concerns over
01:39:08 real concerns over blacklisting UC Tony Williams attended a birthday party held in a private house by a member of lwg he admits that he quote would not have been a credible undercover officer unless he had lived
01:39:19 undercover officer unless he had lived the normal life of a member of the group and attended birthday parties and the like this sums up a routinely unacceptable aspect of SDS type activity that it cannot avoid gross invasions of people's
01:39:30 people's privacy attorney Williams makes a further significant admission in his statement that and that is that after
01:39:46 statement that and that is that after four years involvement in the anarchist movement he did not witness nor become involved in violence whilst deployed undercover save that the police in Scotland in Tores was somewhat heavy-handed in dealing with what was essentially non-aggressive trespass therefore the only example of violence that he can think of in his four-year
01:39:58 that he can think of in his four-year deployment is by the uniform police a security service note dated the 30th of July 1982 records that SDS managers
01:40:14 July 1982 records that SDS managers viewed Tony Williams's deployment as not a pred particularly productive Source end
01:40:16 end quote Mr Morris asked the inquiry to question why no employers have ever been infiltrated for their systematic daily exploitation of workers and robbery of their labor their daily illegalities
01:40:36 their labor their daily illegalities regarding workpl Place health and safety Trade union rights rights to breaks and overtime play use of blacklisting and violent threats to sack workers and leave them and their families penous if they don't obey orders without question Persons Unknown defense
01:40:47 question Persons Unknown defense campaign this was a traditional defense campaign in 1978 to 80 for people arrested on serious conspiracy charges and facing trial again Mr Morris was an activist in the group for most of that
01:41:01 activist in the group for most of that period the group's aims were to provide welfare legal and publicity support to those attended to those arrested publicized and criticize the repressing repressive policing and laws involved liaz with journalists and spread news about the case to counter media hysteria
01:41:18 about the case to counter media hysteria attend hearings and take notes liaz with solicitors and so on as far as Dave Morris can recall the coordination meetings were open and run collectively the activities including producing leaflets organizing public meetings
01:41:31 leaflets organizing public meetings pickets and so on eventually the charges against the person's unknown defendants were reduced and they were found not guilty despite all that Tony Williams abused the trust and privacy of those involved by attending meetings in
01:41:42 involved by attending meetings in reporting on them including on the legal advice and strategy of the defense no doubt this benefited the police who were facing criticisms about the case Mr Morris asks that the inquiry asked if
01:41:55 Morris asks that the inquiry asked if and if if not why not any police force units have ever been infiltrated by undercover officers trying to identify such units use and abuse of violence against members of the public discriminatory stop and search
01:42:08 discriminatory stop and search corruption misogyny racism disregard for the justice system and or interference with rights to demonstrate and thereby creation of disorder London Green Piece London Greenpeace was the first Greenpeace
01:42:21 Greenpeace was the first Greenpeace group in Europe set up in the early 1970s
01:42:32 1970s 1977 it was invited into but declined a merger with a new Green Peace UK which became famous for its direct action tactics at Sea London Greenpeace continued to be a loose open Collective which met publicly on a weekly basis its aims were to encourage people everywhere
01:42:48 aims were to encourage people everywhere to question and take action individually and collectively to respect and protect the environment respect all animals oppose all wars re and generally encourage people to take control of their own lives instead of governments and corporations controlling the world's resources and decision
01:42:59 decision making London Greece did all the usual things any campaign group would do hold discussions produce written material brief the media organize public events protests and so
01:43:13 protests and so on Mr Morris first associated with the group during its anti-nuclear power campaigning at the end of the 1970s getting actively involved in the group from around 1982 until today regard regarding evidence from others involved
01:43:28 regarding evidence from others involved in London Green Peace Mr Morris supports the statement of Albert Beal in as much as it covers matters within his knowledge Mr Morris has not been permitted access to the witness statements of others from London
01:43:39 statements of others from London Green from the mid 1980s for at least 5 years the trust and privacy of those involved in the group were attending its open meetings and indeed the Integrity of the whole group was seriously abused by long-term infiltration by SDS undercover police officers for a number
01:43:52 undercover police officers for a number of years undercover officer Bob Lambert was a prominent and influential activist in London Greenpeace which he publicly summed up in 2011 as a peaceful campaigning group he engineered
01:44:06 campaigning group he engineered fraudulent and therefore abusive sexual relationships with a number of women including fathering a child who he later abandoned strongly promoted animal rights direct action acted as agent provocator including being accused of
01:44:19 provocator including being accused of responsibility for the burning down of a deham store Dave Morris also believes that Bob Lambert contaminated a court case by participating in a false identity and helped write the anti-mcdonald's fact sheet which became
01:44:30 anti-mcdonald's fact sheet which became the subject of the mlal case Bob Lambert was later promoted to become head of the SDS meanwhile he handed over his deployment in London Greenpeace to the
01:44:43 deployment in London Greenpeace to the undercover officer John dines this was also a long-term and influential deployment in which dines helped produce leaflets organized events and protests and became group Treasurer he cynically engineered a long and fraudulent
01:44:54 engineered a long and fraudulent therefore abusive sexual relationship with group participant Helen Steel in which they lived together as a couple for two years after Helen steel and Dave Morris were sued for Lial by the McDonald's corporation it was discovered
01:45:09 McDonald's corporation it was discovered that special branch and they later found out John D 2 were collaborating with McDonald's who had also infiltrated the group D were getting details of their confidential legal advice and strategy following their meetings with their
01:45:23 following their meetings with their lawyer K dama who helped them Pro for 10 years during the case the longest and one of the most controversial in English legal
01:45:29 legal History Mr Morris asked the inquiry to ask why the SDS did not infiltrate the government for their support for Wars and for their promotion of and threats
01:45:40 and for their promotion of and threats to use weapons of mass destruction and why the SDS did not infiltrate corporations for example for the destruction of the environment the Food industry's daily mass cruelty to billions of animals and the fossil fuels industry responsibility for causing
01:45:51 industry responsibility for causing climate change which is course to wipe out most of humanity London Greenpeace eventually had to put its work on hold as activists had to devote most of their time to the mlal case and so the mlal
01:46:03 time to the mlal case and so the mlal support campaign was set up Mr Morris will give further detail about this in the Autumn Mr Morris asks the inquiry to ask why the SDS did not infiltrate
01:46:20 ask why the SDS did not infiltrate McDonald's for their responsibility for system systemic daily industrial scale breaches of the law regarding workers rights and Animal Welfare stop the city protests the early 1980s
01:46:31 stop the city protests the early 1980s saw the growth of a huge anti-militarist movement opposed to the US government's threat to sight a new generation of nuclear missiles throughout the UK and Europe there were Mass protests of tens of thousands of people outside the gates of military basis Dave Morris and other
01:46:44 of military basis Dave Morris and other activists in London Green Peace launched a call for protests in the city against the financial institutions which finance and profit from the arms trade and war thousands took part in four such events in 1983 to4 its remit expanding to
01:46:58 in 1983 to4 its remit expanding to Encompass protests against capitalism as a whole the events were organized and coordinated by open publicized meetings it was decided that there would be no
01:47:11 it was decided that there would be no leaders or even spokespeople the idea was to encourage a wide range of peaceful decentralized and self-organized activities all day throughout the city to engage with those who work there slow down Financial
01:47:22 who work there slow down Financial activity and reclaim the city for people not it an SDS undercover officer had infiltrated the London region of CND and reported on their deliberations on whether and how to support the protests there are many other undercover officer
01:47:34 there are many other undercover officer reports many containing inaccuracies and mischaracterizations about the plans and
01:47:48 mischaracterizations about the plans and events and about Dave Morris's role as a leader and the aftermath Mr Morris asks the inquiry to ask why the SDS did not infiltrate any city financial institutions or hedge funds for their invest investments in and support for the systemic daily Global exploitation
01:48:00 the systemic daily Global exploitation of people Global poverty and hunger and destruction of the environment trala Square defendants campaign
01:48:12 campaign tsdc Mr Morris was one of the initiators and coordinators of the tsdc set up in 1990 for the 491 people arrested following the following the 250,000
01:48:23 following the following the 250,000 strong antio tax demonstration in March of that year the demonstration was on the day before the government's controversial new pole tax was due to be imposed and followed weeks of residents protests outside Town Halls throughout the country the demonstration had been
01:48:36 the country the demonstration had been attacked and broken up by the police and an inverted commas Riot ensued the tsdc was a traditional
01:48:52 ensued the tsdc was a traditional defense campaign in its aims and ways of working it was coordinated through open collectively run meetings and provided welfare and legal support to those arrested
01:48:56 arrested it called for the charges to be dropped including on the grounds of the wellestablished legal right of self-defense against police aggression and the traditional political right of self-defense against an unfair law or government policy it organized pickets of legal hearings in prisons and
01:49:10 of legal hearings in prisons and produced new newsletters and general publicity it won the support of the whole anti-pol tax movement and ensured the movement stayed United and strong in the face of continuous media and government attacks by the end of the
01:49:22 government attacks by the end of the year over 14 million people will were refusing to pay the hated tax it was unenforcable and was scrapped Mr Morris will say more about the tsdc and how it
01:49:33 will say more about the tsdc and how it targeting by the SDS was unacceptable in the
01:49:34 the Autumn some other groups and campaigns relevant to tranch 2 Mr Morris was also involved in some other groups within the trch 2 period which Al were also
01:49:49 trch 2 period which Al were also unnecessarily and unacceptably targeted by SDS officers for example the anti-nuclear power movement in particular the PE peaceful 1979 to 80 protests at Tores in Scotland which at least four SDS officers targeted and the
01:50:02 least four SDS officers targeted and the Broadwater Farm defense campaign in 1985 to
01:50:03 to 1989 Mr Morris lived close by at the time and this was a traditional defense Campaign which was critical of the police Mr Morris supports the statement of Stafford
01:50:21 Scott next section unacceptable tactics employed influencing groups and activities in most of the examples above the police spies took on positions of
01:50:33 the police spies took on positions of responsibility and or were influential in other ways this was and is totally unacceptable engineering fraudulent personal and sexual relationships both Bob Lambert and John dyes manipulated women into long-term Intimate
01:50:44 women into long-term Intimate Relationships to further a secret police agenda this was and is totally unacceptable hoovering up personal and private information the SDS officer
01:50:55 private information the SDS officer stole groups contact lists and invaded people's lives and homes hoovering up masses of personal and private information to pass on to MI5 this was and is totally unacceptable exhibiting unprofessional and biased attitudes language and behavior the SDS officers
01:51:10 language and behavior the SDS officers dehumanized and demonized members of the public trying to make Society better treating them with utter contempt they did this with the unprofessional and biased language used in their reports their mischaracterization of people and their motives their abuse of people's
01:51:25 their motives their abuse of people's trust their own sping activities all of this was and is totally unacceptable disregard for legalities and legal process the SDS was enabled to act with secrecy and impunity beyond the Law Officers were empowered by their
01:51:37 Law Officers were empowered by their managers to enter people's homes without a warrant systematically breach people's rights to personal privacy collaborate with blacklisting of trade unionists and others engineer abusive sexual
01:51:49 others engineer abusive sexual relationships without the victim's informed consent act as agent provocators breach legal privilege reports on confidential legal advice and assertain defense campaign strategies undermine and show contempt to the justice system for example a declare a
01:52:03 justice system for example a declare a failure to declare to courts their real name and true role they were able to collaborate with corporations against campaigners all of the above was and is totally unacceptable the unacceptable
01:52:15 totally unacceptable the unacceptable nature of these practices was underlined by Mr Morris and Helen Steel's successful 2005 M Lial verdict against the UK government at the European Court
01:52:26 the UK government at the European Court of Human Rights in which the Court ruled the government had pointed out that the applicants were not journalists and should not therefore attract the high level of protection afforded to the Press under article 10 the court considers however that in a Democratic Society even small and informal campaign
01:52:42 Society even small and informal campaign groups such as London green bees must be able to carry on their activities effectively and that there exists a strong public interest in enabling such groups and individuals outside the mainstream to contribute to the public debate
01:53:00 debate by disseminating information and ideas on matters of general public interest such as health and the environment although this was part of their successful verdict against the oppressive nature of the UK Lial laws the conclusion quoted above could just as easily be transposed to the illegal and unacceptable actions of the SDS and
01:53:13 and unacceptable actions of the SDS and the need to protect campaign groups from being infiltrated and undermined the final section is on bias the spies reports and the police generally used and continue to use bias and politically charged language to
01:53:24 and politically charged language to attack and stereotype campaigners and protesters such as violence rather than self-defense or resistance disorder rather than reclaiming the streets or
01:53:35 rather than reclaiming the streets or Collective empowerment subversion rather than challenging oppression or seeking a better Society extremism rather than
01:53:46 better Society extremism rather than commitment to real change indeed such loaded words as violent disordered subversive and extreme can reasonably and accurately be used to describe the current way Society is run by a ruthless inuman system intent on maintaining the
01:54:00 inuman system intent on maintaining the profits and power of an elite as a cost to the public or Planet A system that movements for change were and still are rightly questioning opposing and
01:54:13 rightly questioning opposing and challenging in conclusion the use of and tactics employed by undercover officers to Target the groups Mr Morris was involved in was an outrage and totally unjustifiable as already effectively
01:54:26 unjustifiable as already effectively conceded by the me police in February 23 and the in the inquiries interim report people have a fundamental right to organize themselves to protest and seek po positive change people have a right maybe even a duty to challenge unacceptable government and capitalist
01:54:40 unacceptable government and capitalist policies and practices harming society and to encourage everyone to seek to create a better Society there is a long and Noble tradition going back centuries of refusing to accept unfair or repressive laws and measures such as
01:54:53 repressive laws and measures such as secret political policing which only serve to protect oppression and Injustice protests and movements for change also enable people to empower themselves and each other and should be encouraged Everywhere by spreading
01:55:06 encouraged Everywhere by spreading Collective self-organization Mutual Aid and Community solidarity it can be demonstrated that there are alternative and better ways of living and running our society this is real democracy in action so that is the opening statement
01:55:18 action so that is the opening statement on behalf of Mr Morris in his own words thank you I know that you have a second opening statement to make on behalf of other participants and uh you are going
01:55:32 other participants and uh you are going to do that at 12 yes sir thank you then we'll rise until
01:55:51 12
02:20:19 e e
02:21:02 thank you we will now resume Mr
02:21:12 greenall thank you sir um this opening statement is made on behalf of Diane Abbott MP and Dame Joan rdck both of whom are core participants in category
02:21:23 whom are core participants in category D in 1987 Diane Abott became the first black woman ever to be elected to Parliament her parliamentary career grew out of her longstanding involvement in many racial Justice campaigns she has been a leading anti-racism campaigner
02:21:34 been a leading anti-racism campaigner for many decades she joined the labor party in 1978 was active in the black sections movement within the party in 1982 she was elected to Westminster city council representing Harrow Road the
02:21:47 council representing Harrow Road the ward in which she had been born in 1987 she was elected as MP for hacking North and stovington and has remained so for over 35 years she was an early
02:21:58 over 35 years she was an early campaigner for justice for the family of Steven Lawrence and was briefly president of the anti-racist alliance in 1994 which campaigned on the issue she has held frontbench positions for the
02:22:09 has held frontbench positions for the labor party documents disclosed in this phase of the inquiry reveal that undercover officers reported on numerous events at which she spoke during the TR 2 period the right honorable Dame Joan Ru PC w was an anti- aparte campaigner
02:22:27 Ru PC w was an anti- aparte campaigner and former former chair of the campaign for nuclear disarmament CND MI5 has revealed that she was subject to unlawful surveillance in 1983 she was later MP for depford from 1987 to 2015 she for forged close links
02:22:40 2015 she for forged close links throughout the country with major green organizations she too held front bent positions for the labor party documents disclosed in this phase of the inquiry show that CN was a subject of extensive
02:22:55 show that CN was a subject of extensive surveillance by SDS officers Diane abber MP and Dame Joan rdck who I'll refer to as the core participants or these core participants share a number of concerns which they wish this inquiry to address in its investigation of the SDS each
02:23:07 in its investigation of the SDS each also raises particular concerns of their own the concerns are set out in detail in the written version of this opening statement and this oral version will summarize some of those concerns they include the unjustified targeting of
02:23:24 include the unjustified targeting of political campaigns targeting of MPS and adequacy of disclosure concerns raised by Diane eot MP over racial discrimination in the activities of the SDS concerns raised by Dame Joan Ruck
02:23:38 SDS concerns raised by Dame Joan Ruck over the use of information gathered by the SDS and procedural issues relating to the inquiry including failures in disclosure and delay first section the unjustified targeting of political campaigns reporting in relation to both these po
02:23:49 reporting in relation to both these po participants concerned groups which were open transparent political campaigns and which neither sought involvement in public disorder nor to overthrow the state the SDS spying on these groups was completely
02:24:01 these groups was completely unjustifiable in relation to Diane Abbott she features in reports as a speaker at events held by anti-racism campaigns many of the intelligence reports into groups campaigning for
02:24:13 reports into groups campaigning for racial Justice relates to entirely open transparent political and campaigning events for example SDS officers reported on a film shown by the anti-ra Alliance at the Rio Cinema in Hackney this would have been a publicly advertised Event
02:24:29 have been a publicly advertised Event open to all members of the public which did not require any sort of undercover infiltration or operation to gain information yet this event appears to have been attended by an undercover officer and the resulting reports copied to the security services in relation to Joan rdic the
02:24:43 services in relation to Joan rdic the reporting primarily in this chge relates to her role as chair of CND CND was the largest anti-nuclear weapons campaign in the United Kingdom during the tri period it organized many large scale
02:24:55 it organized many large scale demonstrations these were well organized open
02:24:59 open demonstrations SDS reporting in 1982 contain details of an upcoming demonstration and Records quote it is obvious that the organizer the organizers of the demonstration wish the event to be peaceful and intend to give Police Every cooperation end quote
02:25:12 Police Every cooperation end quote nonetheless CND was repeatedly referred to in SDS annual reports and explicitly targeted often at the request of the the
02:25:23 targeted often at the request of the the security services to the extent that CND was viewed as subversive or had the potential to be influenced by subversive groups the assessment by the SDS as recorded in a meeting with the security services in 1984 is telling the SDS said
02:25:38 services in 1984 is telling the SDS said that their assessment was that there was no effective ring of subversives unduly influencing the Democratic structure or CND end quote CND was an organiz organization with a very strong Democratic structure that was not not
02:25:52 Democratic structure that was not not involved in subversion in any way and this fact was known to the SDS in relation to both core participants the group spied on were open campaigning organizations often directly engaged with the Democratic process there was no
02:26:07 with the Democratic process there was no legitimate reason why such groups should have been targeted for surveillance either directly or indirectly the complete lack of lawful Authority regulation for the SDS activities identified in the interim report following TR one enabled this
02:26:21 following TR one enabled this unjustifiable police surveillance to go unchallenged section two targeting of MPS and the adequacy of disclosure to the inquiry in in this area announced in Parliament by the
02:26:36 area announced in Parliament by the former prime minister Harold Wilson in November 1966 and in place ever since the Wilson Doctrine prohibits the targeted surveillance of MPS by state agencies the Wilson Doctrine forms part of a broader principle that state agencies must not be used to undermine
02:26:50 agencies must not be used to undermine the Democratic process these core partis ipants are concerned about police surveillance of MPS and inappropriate collection of personal information the
02:27:01 collection of personal information the former undercover officer Peter Francis has revealed that both Diane Abott MP and Dame Joan rck were spied on by undercover officers whilst they were MPS Peter Francis indicated that he personally collected information on diabet diabet when he was deployed undercover infiltrating anti-racist
02:27:14 undercover infiltrating anti-racist groups PE Francis also revealed that undercover surveillance of Joan rodic which began during her time as chair cndd had continued in the 1990s while she was an MP Peter Francis stated that
02:27:26 she was an MP Peter Francis stated that the special Branch files were typically quote very extensive and often contained personal and private information it's notable that only labor MPS appear to have been
02:27:36 have been targeted following the establishment of this inquiry in March 2015 in an urgent question in Parliament Peter Hayne then an MP requested that the remit of the
02:27:48 an MP requested that the remit of the inquiry include the surveillance of the MPS named by Peter France which included both these core participants both these core participants spoke in the subsequent debate directly asking questions about the extent to which they were subject to
02:28:02 the extent to which they were subject to surveillance Diane Abbott emphasized the point that she was not engaged in seeking to undermine democracy on the contrary many of the campaigns she was involved in served to reinforce democracy by engaging with people who
02:28:14 democracy by engaging with people who didn't have a voice notably the Steven Lawrence campaign she asked who authorized the surveillance and on walk grounds d Joan rck giving her farewell speech as an MP also spoke she similarly asked who authorized the surveillance on
02:28:31 asked who authorized the surveillance on her stated that the issue affect all MPS and called on the government to ensure that there was a proper investigation the response from the minister for police and criminal justice and victims Mike Penning was that he he would quote do everything I can to make
02:28:43 would quote do everything I can to make sure that the documents are released he went on to state that quote it sounds ludicrous that this should have taken place in the mother of all democracies and we have to find out exactly what
02:28:54 and we have to find out exactly what went on this inquiry is charged with carrying out that investigation we can see signs of ss interest in MPS in the 1980s in some of the documents for example a security
02:29:05 the documents for example a security service note in 1982 records that an undercover officer's position in the right to work movement gives him regular access to Ernie Roberts M and meetings at the House of
02:29:20 at the House of Commons however there appears appears to be a disconnect between the volume of material gathered by undercover police on MPS as indicated by Peter Francis and the material actually disclosed by the undercover policing inquiry to date
02:29:32 undercover policing inquiry to date there also appears to be a disconnect between Peter Francis Revelations and the statement of undercover office officer hn 65 John Kerry who claims that elected politicians were exempt from the
02:29:49 elected politicians were exempt from the usual research and referencing processes the core participants asked that these discrep opes are investigated during this tranch and in future tranches to ensure that the inquiry uncovers the full truth of what took
02:30:02 full truth of what took place section three concerns raised by Diane Abbott MP Diane Abbott MP is particularly concerned that the issue of racism is not lost in the many areas investigated by this inquiry annual reports for the SDS
02:30:16 inquiry annual reports for the SDS indicate that concerns over campaigns on racial issues were a key aspect of targeting the anti-nazi league a variety of local anti-racist and anti-fascist groups and predominantly black family Justice campaigns regularly feature in
02:30:35 Justice campaigns regularly feature in the groups targeted across the tranch 2 era what is also clear from the annual reports is that local black campaigns remained largely free from influence from other organizations as the 1982 annual report States SDS information has indicated that no links exist between the highly politicized brickson
02:30:47 the highly politicized brickson anarchists and the local young black community all attempts to build Bridges between the political and purely criminal elements have proved a total
02:31:00 criminal elements have proved a total failure end quote the characterization of the local black community as quote purely criminal reveals a racist perception that underpinned the approach taken to the black community and black
02:31:11 taken to the black community and black activists it is important to acknowledge that racism now it also ignores the wellestablished black Le political campaigns that were active during this period moreover even though the SDS recognized that there were were no links between black Le groups and white
02:31:25 between black Le groups and white Anarchist agitators the SDS continued to view black Le campaigns with inherent suspicion many of the reports produced during this period explicitly acknowledged that the groups spied on
02:31:36 acknowledged that the groups spied on were not involved in disorder however the ported justification for infiltration appears to be a concern that these groups might be taken over by other organizations this assumption that black Le organizations could not
02:31:54 black Le organizations could not preserve their own independence simly displays basist attitudes that were present at the time for example in August 1983 the security services visited the SDS to discuss coures in the Hackney area the security services
02:32:07 Hackney area the security services expressed an interest in 50 retory Road n16 the headquarters of the Hackney community relations executive and the report quote which has recently let rooms to the subs subversively controlled campaign against the police bill but the report stated
02:32:18 the police bill but the report stated quote other color groups also meet at the same address it was agreed that H&A Timothy Spence was to be deployed to The Stoke Newington area quote initially
02:32:30 Stoke Newington area quote initially without a precise Target and to quote familiarize himself with Stoke Newington and hany and what whatever subversive undercurrent he could detect this explicitly undirected
02:32:43 detect this explicitly undirected deployment is symptomatic of a racist assumption that areas of London where blackhead campaigns for racial Justice were growing should be viewed with
02:32:54 were growing should be viewed with suspicion hn 88 details in his statement that he viewed his deployment as primarily geographically based and did not have any direction towards particular groups given his wide
02:33:05 particular groups given his wide geographically based deployment H and88 reported on a number of different organizations perhaps inevitably given he was deployed to Hanney this include included many small organizations campaigning on issues of racial Justice
02:33:21 campaigning on issues of racial Justice details of the particular groups that he infiltrated and reported on are set out in the written version of this opening statement H and88 States repeatedly in his witness statement that he did not
02:33:32 his witness statement that he did not view any of these groups as subversive quote their aims were to improve particular aspects of society from their point of view rather than overthrow the current workings of the state moreover in relation to public order concerns he
02:33:43 in relation to public order concerns he states that he did not witness riots or activists throwing things at the police the high point appears to have been
02:33:57 the high point appears to have been marches which obstructed the highway and pickets outside police stations h188 explicitly connects his fears over public disorder to the racial composition of the area stating quote there was a potential challenge to public order at rallies due to anti
02:34:12 public order at rallies due to anti police feeling from in particular black youths in the area end quote however this fear is undermined by his own experience where he states that in relation to violence to either people or property the most he Witness was quote shouting and insulting Behavior there appears to be little to
02:34:27 Behavior there appears to be little to justify this open-ended geographically based deployment other than an unwarranted fear over politically engaged campaigns in an area with a large ethnic minority population the involvement of the security services in a deployment that covered groups which
02:34:44 a deployment that covered groups which were recognized by hn8 as not subversive on any sensible meaning of the term is also
02:34:45 also questionable concerns over racial bias in the SDS operations do not end in the 1980s another example is a report dated February 1995 on the first meeting of
02:35:00 February 1995 on the first meeting of the National Assembly Against Racism the n r this was a predominantly black Le anti-racist group largely seen as the successor to the anti-racist alliance it was not involved in public disorder or
02:35:18 was not involved in public disorder or subversion of any kind indeed the report itself States the assembly is quote a vehicle for lawful and Democratic opposition to R racism hn 78 Trevor Morris had the cover name Anthony Bobby Lewis claims in his witness statement that it is quote the risk of other groups hijacking or
02:35:33 risk of other groups hijacking or seeking to hijack the na that justified his
02:35:39 his reporting the suggestion that a black Le organization campaigning on issues of racial equality was inherently Su susceptible to being taken over by extreme groups is itself reflective of racist assumptions it perceived the black organ izers of these groups as no
02:35:53 black organ izers of these groups as no more than vessels for the intentions of white political activists this perception was both contaminated by racis racism and revealed to be false those organizing the na were well capable of maintaining their
02:36:04 capable of maintaining their independence from anide influence as the report had to conclude quote attempts by the more extreme political groups to hijack the assembly will probably be unsuccessful due to the diverse and
02:36:17 unsuccessful due to the diverse and independent nature of its component groups
02:36:19 groups the undercover officer hn 78 was one of the few black police officers working in the SDS he States in his witness statement for the inquiry that he experienced various forms of racism
02:36:33 experienced various forms of racism whilst in the metropolitan police and special branch and even brought a discrimination claim against the police significantly hn 78 includes evidence of incidents of racism from senior officers within the SDS he specifically
02:36:45 within the SDS he specifically identifies hn 86 as a racist officer and states that this was confirmed to him by the former undercover officer Peter Francis the presence of racist officers
02:37:00 Francis the presence of racist officers within the SDS is of particular concern given the role the SDS had taken on in investigating groups that were themselves campaigning Against Racism within the police force hn 88 for example who in infiltrated the roach family support committee acknowledged
02:37:12 family support committee acknowledged that the group was not subversive and did not present any greater risk than any other single issue campaign he nonetheless seeks in his witness statement to the inquiry to justify his targeting of this group on the basis
02:37:30 targeting of this group on the basis that it's criticism of the police and on an explicit explicitly racialized basis of quote the potential challenge to public order at rallies due to anti- police feeling from in particular black youths in the area end quote Diane Abott welcomes the belated
02:37:46 quote Diane Abott welcomes the belated recognition by the commissioner from the Metropolitan Police that Family Justice campaigns and Community organizations which the s reported on were not engaged in any form of criminal or subversive activity and did not present any significant risk of disorder the
02:37:57 significant risk of disorder the commissioner now accepts that SDS officers should have been told by their managers not to report on those groups
02:38:08 managers not to report on those groups commissioner also now recognizes that it is quote particularly indefensible that many of the anti-racism campaigns maintain mentioned in SDS reports were Seeking Justice for members of the black
02:38:20 Seeking Justice for members of the black and Asian communities in London and were attempting to hold the NPS in itself accountable for the way in which it policed those communities the MPS states that it now accepts the corrosive effect
02:38:32 that it now accepts the corrosive effect this type of discriminatory policing had on the public trust and apologized apologizes unreservedly for this accepting corporate responsibility for these failings Diane ABT asks that this inquiry examines how such failures in proper management and oversight were
02:38:44 proper management and oversight were allowed to occur whilst acknowledgement of failings and apologies are welcome it is only by getting to the truth of what actually took place that lessons may be
02:38:58 actually took place that lessons may be learned to prevent repetition of similar issues in the future to this end it is important not to lose sight of the suspicion with which black Le political groups were viewed in the 1980s and
02:39:09 groups were viewed in the 1980s and early 90s such organizations were often seen as ipsofacto subversive and such attitudes are reflected in the activities and reporting of the SDS all of this ignores the simple fact that anti-racist organizations were typically well organized open campaigns which did
02:39:21 well organized open campaigns which did which did not concern concern themselves with public disorder many of the smaller groups campaigning on racial issues which feature in the SDS reports are not directly represented in the inquiry
02:39:32 directly represented in the inquiry however concerns over racis racism in the SDS are one of the key areas of the inquiry's terms of reference Diane Abott MP asks that this inquiry gives close
02:39:44 MP asks that this inquiry gives close scrutiny to the apparent racial bias in the way SDS activity was carried out section four concerns raised by Dame
02:39:57 section four concerns raised by Dame Joan rdck Dame Joan rck raises concerns about the use to which information gleaned from reporting on CND and related groups was put by state agencies it's clear from documents disclosed to the inquiry that direct requests were
02:40:12 the inquiry that direct requests were made by the security services to the STS to Target CND these requests were often coupled to political and diplomatic concerns at the time details of these reports uh have been set out in the
02:40:25 reports uh have been set out in the written opening and will not be repeated here the SDS appears to have been only too willing to carry out such surveillance of CND at the request of the security services with little regard for the propriety of such infiltration and to their own assessment that CN was
02:40:36 and to their own assessment that CN was not susceptible to subversive influence moreover the SDS does not appear to have given much regard to the fact
02:40:47 given much regard to the fact acknowledged by hn 65 that quite a lot of the information could have been obtained without resulting to undercover methods given the amount of resources deployed by the SDS and the security service into obtaining information about CND and those connected to it the
02:40:58 CND and those connected to it the question must be asked as to what use was the information put given the clear political and diplomatic angles that arise an obvious concern is whether the
02:41:09 arise an obvious concern is whether the information was used for political means or shared with foreign intelligence agencies the corporate statement on behalf of the security services does not dispute that information gleaned from SDS sources may have been shared with foreign a on Partners witness y claims
02:41:24 foreign a on Partners witness y claims it would be a disproportionate exercise to ascertain definitively if it was no attempt to do so has been made and the witness declines to give an opinion as to whether such sharing was likely this response is unsatisfactory and does not
02:41:35 response is unsatisfactory and does not appear to Accord with an attempt to get to the truth of how and why SDS officers were deployed into an organization like CND and the inquiries asked to examine
02:41:46 CND and the inquiries asked to examine this aspect in more detail regarding the domestic use of information obtained from SDS sources there are concerns that such information was passed to government ministers who clearly had a political interest in seeking to discredit CND there are also concerns
02:42:04 discredit CND there are also concerns that information from SDS files was used for the purposes of vetting individuals for political and other appointments that past involvement in one of the largest anti-nuclear movements could inhibit the future career of those concerned is reminiscent of the authoritarian regimes which the SDS and Security Services claimed to be fighting
02:42:19 Security Services claimed to be fighting against the designated lawyer of officer core participant group in its opening statement claims that had the SDS not existed the security services would have sought to obtain the information
02:42:32 sought to obtain the information provided by the SDS from other sources and suggest that this is a relevant factor in considering whether criticism of the SDS is Justified or worthwhile Joan rodic takes issue with this
02:42:49 Joan rodic takes issue with this suggestion it is no answer to criticism of the SDS to suggest that information would have been obtained in any event the SDS was responsible for its own operations and was required to ensure that it was not misused by other parts of the state the inquiry is asked to investigate these issues fully and
02:43:01 investigate these issues fully and fearlessly and to expose the extent to which the SDS was used by the security services to spy on the peaceful
02:43:13 services to spy on the peaceful Democratic campaigning organization that everyone even the SDS recognized c ending to
02:43:18 ending to be final section addresses procedural issues
02:43:22 issues like many others these cor participants raise concerns over the disclosure process and delays in this phase of the inquiry it's notable that the impact of these delays has almost exclusively been to the detriment of non-state Corp
02:43:34 to the detriment of non-state Corp participants the state Corp participants have generally had site of many documents for several years whilst non-state for participants and their representatives have been required to sift through thousands of pages of disclosure in a matter of weeks the
02:43:47 disclosure in a matter of weeks the inquir is asked to ensure that issues arising from delays and P particular delays in disclosure to the non-state Corp participants do not reduce the Inc accountability of those responsible for the SDS these core participants also
02:43:58 the SDS these core participants also wish to highlight the significant lack of cooperation with the inquiry of many former undercover officers in particular hn33 and hn 88 have declined to give all evidence to the inquiry hn33 infiltrated
02:44:13 evidence to the inquiry hn33 infiltrated Green in common and therefore touches on concerns raised by Joan Ruck concerns over H and88 deployment into Hanney have already being highlighted above sir it is more than disappointing that those
02:44:25 is more than disappointing that those who were supposed to be public servants have chosen not to cooperate in your inquiries search for the truth not only did the actions of these offices in the 1980s undermine the Democratic process by infiltrating and Reporting on
02:44:38 by infiltrating and Reporting on entirely legitimate political campaigns the actions of these former officers continue this trend by undermining this inquiry's investigation and attempt to learn lessons in conclusion the inquir
02:44:53 learn lessons in conclusion the inquir is asked to investigate the matters set out in this opening statement the concerns raised by these core participants reflect wider concerns raised by other non-state core participants this inquiry presents a unique opportunity to examine key aspects of the inter relationship
02:45:05 aspects of the inter relationship between policing and the Democratic process in this country the inquiry is asked to seize this chance to make recommendations for lasting change which will prevent any rep repetition of the
02:45:20 will prevent any rep repetition of the abhorent activities conducted by the SDS and ensure future protection for civil liberties of citizens in the United Kingdom and thank you sir that is the uh opening statement on behalf of Dian ABT and Jame J Rod thank you very much
02:45:32 and Jame J Rod thank you very much indeed we will now hear from uh Mr Jacobs on behalf of two other uh core
02:45:50 participants Mr Jacobs good afternoon sir these are the opening remarks on behalf of Sharon Grant OB and then on behalf of Stafford Scott I'm
02:46:01 then on behalf of Stafford Scott I'm instructed by Simon kryon and Molly Cox of bat Murphy solic so we have raised with the inquiry in correspondence our client's desire to have had instructed leading Council
02:46:15 have had instructed leading Council Matthew Ryder Kings Council deliver this opening we acknowledge the inquiry's reasoning but do emphasize the importance of of the inquiry not marginalizing the experiences of Bernie Grant or St Stafford Scott in the way that will be felt to mirror the
02:46:26 that will be felt to mirror the treatment of them by the Metropolitan Police for these clients the desire to have a black representative on the legal team is entirely Justified and
02:46:37 team is entirely Justified and important first the opening remarks in respect of Sharon Grant I would ask that an image of Bernie Grant is placed on the
02:46:47 the screen Bernie Grant made an important and pioneering should we wait for the
02:47:18 image so I continue whil we're waiting for that to if you're content to do so I Arrangements have been made to put the photograph on the screen and um I I didn't if you'd anticipated there it is now thank you we now have it I'm grateful I'm grateful Bernie Grant made
02:47:36 grateful I'm grateful Bernie Grant made an important and pioneering contribution to British society and politics having arrived in the United Kingdom as a teenager he attended University and went on to become involved in the Trade union movement having been elected as a councelor in haringay he went on to
02:47:50 councelor in haringay he went on to leave lead the council the first black person in Europe to do so in 1987 he was elected to Parliament and he retained his seat until his death in 2000 on his death the then prime
02:48:02 2000 on his death the then prime minister described him as inspirational and his portrait hangs in the houses of Parliament the Revelation that he was reported on by undercover police
02:48:14 reported on by undercover police officers is an affront to democracy Sharon Grant's feeling and concerns about this Behavior are set out in her witness statement her statement was
02:48:31 witness statement her statement was based upon a limited set of reports that names Bernie Grant directly as well as Snippets from a few of the witness statements prepared by undercover officers now that there has been further disclosure including the evidence of
02:48:45 disclosure including the evidence of reporting on other members of parliament the picture that emerges is even more concerning there are 28 reports disclosed that irly mentioned Bernie Grant one of the officers hm25 who filed
02:48:56 Grant one of the officers hm25 who filed nine of those reports has estimated that approximately three quarters of his reports are missing there is clearly far more information that has not been retained or disclosed by the Metropolitan
02:49:07 Metropolitan Police the position taken by the undercover officers about the role in reporting on members of parliament is to minimize it hn 78 States that he was
02:49:22 minimize it hn 78 States that he was simply providing the intelligence it was for others to decide on relevance he says he was never told not to include information on MPS hn2 claims that it was all justifiable and proportionate and
02:49:37 justifiable and proportionate and helpful for appreciating alliances between
02:49:41 between groups hn8 gives the explanation that he reported it because it was relevant to the community's views of the police in the context of campaigning against police related
02:49:53 police related legislation while these explanations are unsatisfactory it is even more disturbing to read that h185 who was first an undercover officer but later went on to command special branch and have responsibility therefore for the SDS makes the frankly
02:50:07 for the SDS makes the frankly unbelievable claim that to his knowledge none of his contemporary uos well deployed reported on the activities of any elected politicians there are a number of
02:50:18 politicians there are a number of reasons why the purported explanation of incidental reporting is not tenable first in Bernie Grant's case he had a registry file number meaning that
02:50:30 had a registry file number meaning that special Branch had opened a file on him and that he was already the subject of monitoring and possibly surveillance there are numerous references to reports being passed to the security services both in respect of Bernie Grant and other
02:50:43 other MPS second the reports filed upon Bernie Grant go beyond reporting his mere Presence at events but purport to analy iyz the content of his speeches and his
02:51:00 iyz the content of his speeches and his sincerity in one report he is described as cynical and embarking on a tour of conspiracy theories another report describes him as being inflammatory no undercover officer has claimed responsibility for these reports hn 78 denies being the author despite
02:51:16 hn 78 denies being the author despite the very clear links to him either hn 78 denial is false or another undercover officer was reporting on Bernie Grant in her witness statement Sharon Grant rather charitably describes these comments as on Bernie Grant as
02:51:31 comments as on Bernie Grant as impertinent but they go beyond that they are expressions of political opinion which underlined that the reporting was wholly divorced from any proper policing purpose they must reflect an
02:51:43 purpose they must reflect an understanding on the part of the undercover officers that opinions expressed by persons such as Bernie
02:51:54 expressed by persons such as Bernie grant were of interest and likely that opinions of which it was thought that criticism could be made were particularly of interest and may be weaponized in some way it is also telling that these comments arise in the context of views
02:52:06 comments arise in the context of views being expressed about the Metropolitan Police and the function of policing by a black Member of Parliament that reflects an Institutional culture in which
02:52:18 an Institutional culture in which criticism of the Metropolitan Police is not only of interest to the undercover officers but is the subject of criticism in their
02:52:26 in their reporting despite the repeated statements that reports on MPS were no more than a record of their presence the
02:52:38 more than a record of their presence the evidence suggests that the report served a different purpose hn2 has made reference to reporting on alliances what are we to understand about the need to know about MP's purported alliances
02:52:49 purported alliances when hn 78 was debriefed in 1995 he reported that the swp would have more leverage under a prospective labor government due to their contacts with
02:53:04 government due to their contacts with Bernie GRS and other MPS the reporting on MPS clearly served a purpose that went beyond recording their presence at events Sharon Grant has asked the inquiry to investigate what was done
02:53:19 inquiry to investigate what was done with the information reported in respect of Bernie Grant was any of this information given to the media was it
02:53:30 information given to the media was it passed to the government of the day what effect did it have on Bernie Grant's reputation in Parliament and specifically within the party's leadership did it have any impact on the many serious issues that Bernie Grant
02:53:43 many serious issues that Bernie Grant sought to raise whether on behalf of his individual constituents or those of wider
02:53:47 significance Sharon Grant has highlighted her long-standing concerns that the police passed misinformation to the media to seek to discredit her
02:54:00 the media to seek to discredit her husband and The Wider black community the most glaring example being the misreporting of his actions and statements in relation to the events at Broadwater Farm the language of the
02:54:12 Broadwater Farm the language of the disclosed reports and the details of who they were shared with has only heightened her concerns she has also noted that many of the reports refer to Bernie Grant's participation at events where his
02:54:24 participation at events where his constituents had experienced Injustice at the hands of the Metropolitan Police these included the killing of Joy Gardner by police officers and the wrongful conviction of Winston
02:54:38 wrongful conviction of Winston silcott disturbingly hn 78 even reports that he spoke at one of the demonstrations concerning the death of Joy Gardner although no report has been filed or
02:54:51 filed or disclosed given that this campaign was run from Bernie Grant's office Sharon Grant would like to know whether undercover officers infiltrated the premises of an elected politician she expects the inquiry to
02:55:04 politician she expects the inquiry to fulfill its remit by exploring all of these issues and to reach an understanding of the extent to which this undercover reporting not only went beyond any proper policing purpose but serve the political motivations of the
02:55:16 serve the political motivations of the Metropolitan Police and La the security services and serve to interfere with and to subvert proper Democratic
02:55:27 to subvert proper Democratic processes um I'm grateful for the image being shown and perhaps it can be um take taken down now as I move on to the opening remarks on behalf of Stafford
02:55:42 Scott thank you Stafford Scott is a core participant in his own right hand on behalf of the Broadwater Farm defense committee that committee was conceived
02:55:56 committee that committee was conceived by the community with the support of the local Authority and local MP to protect the rights of the community in the aftermath of the Broadwater Farm disturbance and the killing of PC Blake law in October 1985 the need for the committee transpired to be preent given the
02:56:07 transpired to be preent given the injustices that followed including wrongful prosecutions and convictions and The Wider treatment of the local community by the
02:56:19 community by the police Stafford SC was himself also the victim of police misconduct in his witness statement he described his arrest and detention in
02:56:32 arrest and detention in 1985 he was arrested at gunpoint held in communicado for 36 hours and subjected to racist
02:56:34 to racist taunts the Metropolitan Police subsequently paid him substantial damages for assault false imprisonment trespass and malicious
02:56:47 trespass and malicious prosecution in 2011 and at the age of 54 he was again subjected to a wrongful arrest handcuffed and held at a police station after he had been subjected to racist harassment in the street in a subsequent letter of apology by the
02:57:03 subsequent letter of apology by the deputy assistant commissioner Richard Martin Stafford Scotts work with the Metropolitan Police and other organizations to better improve community relations was acknowledged Stafford Scott has always worked to bring about Improvement and
02:57:19 worked to bring about Improvement and positive change in the experiences of his community and in the policing of that Community he has no political affiliations he has campaigned for justice for those who have been the victims of police misconduct and malpractice many of the issues and
02:57:34 malpractice many of the issues and themes that Stafford Scott has worked on and the concerns he has raised have subsequently been acknowledged in official reports and inquiries most recently Stafford's work in exposing the racist and devisive gangs Matrix
02:57:47 racist and devisive gangs Matrix operated by the Metropolitan Police resulted in it being withdrawn Stafford Scott continues with his work as a community activist race equality specialist and through anti-racist advocacy work he is a
02:57:59 anti-racist advocacy work he is a visiting professor at Goldsmith's University in recent years he has curated war in a Babylon a groundbreaking exhibition on community struggles for truth and rights and the open wounds exhibition exploring the
02:58:11 open wounds exhibition exploring the connections between Health racism and inequalities and how that has affected generations of black people through their own own own
02:58:22 their own own own eyes his work has never been remotely connected with subversion or public disorder notwithstanding both he and the Broadwater Farm defense committee had
02:58:33 Broadwater Farm defense committee had registry file numbers opened on them by special branch and are subject of intelligence reporting including by undercover officers
02:58:41 officers unsurprisingly Stafford Scott believes that he should be seen as a constructive voice working for the good of the community rather than a target for intelligence
02:58:54 intelligence gathering his interest in this inquiry shares a commonality with Justice campaigns who are represented in this inquiry in the last TR of hearings there was evidences to undercover officer gathered intelligence in respect of Celia stubs and the campaign in respect
02:59:06 Celia stubs and the campaign in respect of the death death of her partner Blair Peach as we submitted on behalf of Celia stubs the Gathering of intelligence was not just without justification it
02:59:19 not just without justification it pursued the object Ive of the MPS protecting itself and evading accountability something it did successfully it was a particularly
02:59:30 successfully it was a particularly duplicitous and abant use of covert police
02:59:31 police Powers we act for others in Justice campaigns and police accountability groups who will be directly participating in future hearings but who are also affected by the evidence heard in this next tranch of hearings as
02:59:44 in this next tranch of hearings as Council to the inquiry observed in opening there is a significant ific quantity of reporting on a large number of racial Justice campaigns in the TR 2 phase one hearing
03:00:00 phase one hearing bundle our clients um in relation to him there is relevant evidence in these forthcoming hearings include Lee Lawrence whose mother Cherry gross was shot by a police officer in their family home on 28th of September 1985 causing
03:00:12 home on 28th of September 1985 causing her paralysis and subsequently her death in
03:00:13 in 2011 Mna Simpson whose daughter Joy Gardner died after being strained by police officers at her home in Crouch end on the 28th of July
03:00:26 end on the 28th of July 1993 Bernard Renwick whose brother Roger Roger Sylvester died in January 1999 after being restrained whil detained under the mental health act Winston silcott who was wrongly convicted of the murder of PC blakelock despite not
03:00:38 murder of PC blakelock despite not having been near the scene and his conviction subsequently being crosed and Dr gra Smith and Mark Metar who were founding members of the hacky community defense Association the hcda and the
03:00:51 defense Association the hcda and the Colin roach Center of course there are others in this inquiry who also share a similar
03:00:57 similar interest they share in common the characteristic of pursuing police accountability and doing so by lawful means they should never have been targeted by undercover officers and
03:01:10 targeted by undercover officers and should never have been the subject of undercover reporting they also share in common the characteristic of being on the fault line in community tensions between the Metropolitan Police and the black
03:01:22 Metropolitan Police and the black community in this TR the Metropolitan Police accepts that the individuals that
03:01:33 Police accepts that the individuals that the SDS reported on in these groups were not engaged in any criminal or subversive Activity The Metropolitan Police now admits that SDS officers should have been told by their
03:01:48 been told by their managers not to report on those groups it also describes it is particularly indefensible that intelligence was gathered in respect of anti-racism campaigns that were Seeking Justice for members of the black and Asian communities in London and were
03:02:00 communities in London and were attempting to hold the MPS itself accountable for the way in which it policed those communities the Metropolitan please
03:02:11 communities the Metropolitan please further states that it quote accepts the corrosive effect this type of discriminatory policing has on public trust and apologize is unreservedly for this
03:02:23 this unquote the fact that the SDS reported on these groups is described as a critical failure on the part of managers and Senior managers within special Branch those acknowledgements and the apology are of course entirely
03:02:35 apology are of course entirely appropriate on the evidence and are welcome three observations are made however first it is difficult to see why a similar acknowledgement has not
03:02:48 a similar acknowledgement has not already been made in respect of the reporting on Celia stubs and the Blair Peach campaign the inquiry's interim report left the reporting on Justice campaigns to be considered at a later stage and her compelling evidence and
03:03:02 stage and her compelling evidence and submissions to the inquiry in that sense remain for the present unanswered second the Metropolitan Police maintains that the intelligence gathering on such campaigns was
03:03:14 gathering on such campaigns was incidental to reporting on certain political
03:03:15 political organizations that is disputed the submissions made on Celia stub's
03:03:26 the submissions made on Celia stub's behalf in the last branch make clear the Avid interest that special brants had special Branch had in police accountability groups and Justice campaigns third and relatedly the acknowledgements by the Metropolitan
03:03:39 acknowledgements by the Metropolitan Police do not address the uses to which such intelligence was put the concern of course is that the intelligence was deployed by the Met Pon police to resist criticism and
03:03:54 police to resist criticism and accountability the largest single source of reporting on the bfdc the Broadwater Farm defense committee and staffer Scott is contained in hn 25's intelligence report he submitted over 30 reports
03:04:10 report he submitted over 30 reports referring to the bfdc and Stafford Scott he has noted though that approximately three quarters of his reporting is missing it is also known that hn5 lived on Broadwater Farm in his cover identity having deceived Helen steel into a
03:04:24 having deceived Helen steel into a relationship Stafford Scott has seen just one paragraph from hn5 witness statement which he factually disputes h88 is clearly a significant witness having been tasked to community and
03:04:35 having been tasked to community and ethnic minority groups in the area but will not be giving evidence there was never any suggestion of public order issues arising at bfdc
03:04:51 of public order issues arising at bfdc events one example is the report of hn2 of a demonstr ation at worwood scrubs prison on the day before a court of appeal hearing for the Tsum 3 this was an entirely peaceful demonstration by a small number of people and was addressed by Tony Ben MP the agenda of the police can be seen
03:05:07 MP the agenda of the police can be seen by the attempts to report a reggae song about the struggle people face to overcome Injustice as somehow being an indication of violent Behavior or guilt it is indicative
03:05:20 it is indicative of racist attitudes within the police and the portrayal of black people as confrontational or violent even in the most peaceful of
03:05:32 most peaceful of circumstances one report by hn2 refers to one of the acquitted Guilford 4 attending a human rights conference with a family member of the Tottenham 3 and discusses the tactics quote unquote of these Justice
03:05:46 these Justice campaigns hn2 also states that reporting on campaigns against wrong wrongful convictions was justified even where the convictions had been overturned to
03:05:58 convictions had been overturned to understand the potential for cooperation between groups or to see where funding came
03:05:59 came from this reveals an interest in obtaining information about the workings of the campaigns themselves and not a concern about public disorder or
03:06:13 concern about public disorder or subversion the suggestion that reporting on Justice campaigns and police accountability groups was incidental is repeated in the witness evidence of hn5 hn 78 and hn9 this explanation lacks any
03:06:27 hn9 this explanation lacks any credibility the reports disclosed by undercover officers reveal an intense interest in these campaigns these are campaigns that have sought to hold the police to account for their actions
03:06:39 police to account for their actions whether it be the wrongful convictions of the Tottenham 3 or the killings of cherry gross Joy Gardner Roger Sylvester Steven Lawrence and others the Broadwater Farm defense committee was not alone in being a
03:06:52 committee was not alone in being a subject of attention with all of the individual campaigns as well as organizations such as new and monitoring project and Hackney Community defense Association also being the subject of undercover
03:07:08 undercover reporting h178 even goes as far to admit that he was allowed to look at files held by hcda dealing with police corruption we also note the SDS Branch note of 31st of July 19 1991 which specifically examines the deployment of
03:07:23 specifically examines the deployment of DS Morris a black undercover officer and refers to him being employed in monitoring the activities of local groups such as the hcda and Hackney solidarity group that is document reference MPS
03:07:35 reference MPS 07269
03:07:41 07269 65 Stafford gotot remains of the view that the police had difficulty in infiltrating Community organizations and use political campaigns to gain access to them to an extent this is acknowledged in the statement of hn 78
03:07:52 acknowledged in the statement of hn 78 albeit that he justifies the reporting as keeping tabs on the attempts by those organizations to make inrs into the community for their own
03:08:04 community for their own purposes it is also supported by two reports concerning hn 78 initial tasking these documents refer to the advantages of h178 being black and the
03:08:17 advantages of h178 being black and the SS's previous experience of covering EIC communities as being unproductive the sheer volume and range of reports on Justice campaigns and the reference to such campaigns in the SDS annual reports the copying of such
03:08:32 annual reports the copying of such reports to the security service and the existence of registry file numbers for individuals and organizations all Point towards this intelligence gathering being purposeful rather than
03:08:47 being purposeful rather than incidental h178 alone accepts that he reported on campaigns concerning the Tottenham 3 the Winston silot defense campaign Ronan Adams Family Brian Douglas and joy Gardner he also
03:08:59 Douglas and joy Gardner he also specifically accepts that his move to the Tottenham swp may have been a directed move from his managers and was connected to issues arising from the death of Joy
03:09:17 death of Joy Garden the theme then as the evidence showed in tranch one is unjustified reporting on Justice campaigns and groups concerned with police accountability of course Stafford Scott would never have been concerned with such campaigning work where it not for the injustices and discriminatory policing which appears now to be
03:09:30 policing which appears now to be accepted by the Metropolitan Police so those are our opening remarks thank you very much indeed um we will now adjourn until 2:00 uh when we will hear uh the
03:09:48 until 2:00 uh when we will hear uh the opening submission on behalf of the non police non-state core participants coordinating group uh Miss Heen thank you