Opening statement by Counsel to the Inquiry for Tranche 1 Phase 3, examining the management of the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) between 1968-1982. The statement introduces key evidence about SDS formation, operations, targeting decisions, sexual relationships between officers and activists, and institutional oversight failures.
00:10:00 so
00:10:27 good morning sir we now turn to the management of the special demonstration squad which i shall refer to as the sds between its formation at the end of july 1968
00:10:34 1968 until approximately 1982.
00:10:38 1982. in this hearing we shall be addressing the evidence of eight civilian witnesses together with evidence relating to a total of 24
00:10:50 total of 24 early managers or administrators two of the civilians and seven of the former managers will give oral evidence
00:11:02 give oral evidence we expect through a combination of oral and written evidence to establish a clear understanding of how the sds was managed internally we will also begin the task of
00:11:15 we will also begin the task of establishing how sds managers worked with their superiors which will be completed by future module 2b
00:11:21 2b investigations there will be some evidence of the interaction between managers with the sds and other police forces
00:11:35 sds and other police forces as well as direct contact between the sds
00:11:36 sds and the security service we will of course be using the evidence already induced in phases one
00:11:48 already induced in phases one and two to inform our examinations of witnesses
00:11:50 witnesses we are guided by the module 2a special demonstration squad issues list which is available on the inquiries website
00:12:04 available on the inquiries website some of the issues on the list are not engaged at all in the tranche one era most obviously the disbandment of the sds
00:12:14 sds in relation to others the evidence that will be addressed in tranche one may amount to relevant background or context for example in relation to the issue concerning reporting on the stephen
00:12:32 concerning reporting on the stephen lawrence campaign and dwayne brooks obe there is evidence from the tranche one era that the sds reported on the activities of black justice campaigns and infiltrated far-left groups which amongst other things actively promoted racial equality
00:12:46 actively promoted racial equality sds reporting on such matters formed a part of a wider special branch interest in racial tension and on the face of documents that we will be putting into evidence
00:13:02 will be putting into evidence interactions between far left groups and persons of color other issues are of central importance to our investigation of the management of the sds in the tarantula era
00:13:17 of the sds in the tarantula era how the sds was formed constituted and operated
00:13:18 operated who it targeted how and why what the sds was reporting to whom
00:13:28 to whom and for what purpose whether
00:13:29 whether and if so to what extent its activities were justified what was known about the sexual contact between some
00:13:42 between some sds undercover officers and people they met whilst undercover whether the risks of such relationships were appreciated what managers attitudes to sexual relationships between undercover
00:13:57 relationships between undercover officers and people they met whilst undercover were whether anything was done to stop such relationships management's response to the prosecution of some of its officers
00:14:12 of some of its officers and the use of deceased children's identities i should make clear first that evidence relating to the management of the sds is not confined to this hearing
00:14:23 not confined to this hearing we have already admitted much evidence relevant to the management of the sds in earlier tranches which will not need any formal repetition now
00:14:35 formal repetition now further relevant evidence may be obtained as a result of our ongoing investigations of senior management above the sds and
00:14:48 of senior management above the sds and the state of knowledge of the sds within her majesty's government all of which fall within our modules 2b and 2c
00:15:01 and 2c secondly the approach that we are taking involves the admission of a lot of evidence on paper an approach which applies both to documents and to the content of all witness statements adopting this approach enables us to
00:15:12 adopting this approach enables us to proceed more quickly and to question witnesses with more focus on the most important issues
00:15:26 piecing together who the managers and administrators of the sds in the tranche one period were which posts they held and especially when they were in post
00:15:40 and especially when they were in post has been a complex and painstaking task to assist those following the inquiry we have produced a timeline together with an accompanying explanatory note
00:15:53 with an accompanying explanatory note it graphically depicts our understanding of who served in the sds when in what role and at what rank it is being published on the inquiries website today together with an explanatory note and signature guide
00:16:05 signature guide i emphasize that it is based on the inquiry legal team's interpretation of the material that we have seen to date and is therefore very much subject both
00:16:18 and is therefore very much subject both to the oral evidence that will be given in phase three and of course
00:16:29 and of course your interpretation of the evidence the head of the sds was usually a detective chief inspector there were exceptions to this rule occasionally a detective inspector would fulfill the role
00:16:44 fulfill the role we have obtained witness statements from all three surviving former heads of the sds
00:16:46 sds namely jeffrey kraft barry moss and trevor butler all three are due to give oral evidence in this phase of our hearings
00:16:57 in this phase of our hearings mr kraft has also provided the inquiry with a witness statement relating to his subsequent service as a superintendent
00:17:12 subsequent service as a superintendent at the end of the tranche one era when he had responsibility amongst other things
00:17:12 things for the sds
00:17:21 the head of the sds was usually supported by one or more detective inspectors the number of detective inspectors serving in the sds at any one time varies during the tranche one era between one and three
00:17:33 between one and three both jeffrey kraft and trevor butler served as detective inspectors in the sds before being promoted and so will give evidence about their service as
00:17:48 give evidence about their service as both detective inspectors and detective chief inspectors in addition we have obtained witness statements from the three further surviving
00:17:59 surviving former sds detective inspectors from the tranche one era derrick bryce angus mcintosh and anthony greenslade
00:18:10 and anthony greenslade both mr bryce and mr mcintosh will give oral evidence in this phase mr bryce will give his evidence over a video link
00:18:20 beneath the detective inspectors in the ranked structure sat sergeants normally there were one or two sergeants serving in the sds at any given time
00:18:31 serving in the sds at any given time we have obtained witness statements from roy creamer david smith dick walker richard scully paul croydon and christopher scale
00:18:44 paul croydon and christopher scale mr creamer and mr smith will give oral evidence
00:18:48 evidence mr creamer's evidence will be given via a video link at times there were also constables who served in the sds office in an administrative capacity
00:18:59 in an administrative capacity in this category we have obtained a witness statement from william ferner
00:19:11 appended to the written version of this opening statement is a full list of the 24 managers and administrators in respect of whom evidence is being admitted in this phase together with ranks and dates of service
00:19:22 ranks and dates of service 22 of them served in the sds the others are wolf knight and david bicknell
00:19:30 bicknell wolf knight appeared on the bbc program true spies and recounted anecdotes about the sds
00:19:38 the sds however
00:19:39 however on the evidence available to us it appears that he did not in fact serve in the unit
00:19:48 the unit david bicknell served as a superintendent in the sds chain of command between
00:19:53 between 1974 and 1975. he is unable to provide a witness statement to the inquiry but he is one of the few people involved with the sds
00:20:07 of the few people involved with the sds from this era from whom a statement was taken by operation hearn we will be publishing his operation hearn witness statement
00:20:20 the two civilian witnesses from whom we should be receiving oral evidence are lindsay german and elizabeth lester lindsay german rose to become one of the socialist workers parties
00:20:34 socialist workers parties senior officials during the tranche one era with a seat on the organization's central committee she also knew and had significant contact with the sds undercover officer
00:20:46 contact with the sds undercover officer colin who used a cover name colin clark during his infiltration of the sds ms german is a core participant who was affected by sds undercover policing in later tranches
00:20:58 later tranches we will be requesting further evidence from her in due course in this phase we will be seeking her
00:21:09 in this phase we will be seeking her assistance solely in relation to events which occurred during the tranche one era
00:21:13 era elizabeth lester was a member of the workers revolutionary party or wrp and for a time one of the permanent residents at its white meadows education center in derbyshire
00:21:32 center in derbyshire she has stated that she cannot remember either of the undercover officers whom we heard in phase two had infiltrated the wrp
00:21:34 the wrp namely
00:21:37 namely the officers who used the cover names mike scott and peter collins however we anticipate that you will
00:21:49 however we anticipate that you will still have valuable evidence to give about the wrp and white meadows in particular roy battersby was at the material time elizabeth lester's husband and also a member of the wrp
00:22:01 member of the wrp he resided at white meadows with his then wife and has provided a witness statement to the inquiry it will be admitted into evidence in writing
00:22:14 writing and posted on the inquiries website today
00:22:19 five more witness statements have been received by the inquiry the core participant who we are referring to as madeleine has provided further evidence about vince harvey's treatment of her
00:22:34 about vince harvey's treatment of her and her reaction to the publication of his real name in particular she has found a postcard which she states was sent to her by
00:22:45 which she states was sent to her by vince harvey posing as vince miller after the end of his deployment
00:22:59 after the end of his deployment we anticipate hearing more evidence in future tranches about sds undercover officers sending postcards to their groups as part of their withdrawal strategies therefore i'm going to take a moment to ask that the card exhibited to madeline's further witness statement be displayed
00:23:14 displayed it has the ucpi reference number ucpi five zeros three four eight one nine
00:24:10 thank you could that be taken down now please
00:24:22 madeline articulates concerns about the fact that vince harvey went on to hold senior positions including as a detective chief inspector in special branch a superintendent in another police force and ultimately as a director in the national criminal
00:24:35 director in the national criminal intelligence service work that included responsibility for investigating sexual offences against children the inquiry will be investigating the role of former sds undercover officers
00:24:51 role of former sds undercover officers who went on to hold managerial positions relevant to undercover policing for example our investigation of managers in tranche 1 phase three includes detective chief inspector
00:25:02 includes detective chief inspector michael ferguson and detective chief inspector barry moss both of whom had served as sds undercover police officers earlier in the life of the unit there is
00:25:18 earlier in the life of the unit there is also reference in the documents to hn 68 serving as a detective inspector in this capacity his service straddles the boundary between tranches one and two
00:25:27 two using the pseudonym sean lynch he was one of the sds's earliest undercover officers other former sds undercover officers
00:25:41 other former sds undercover officers went on to manage within the unit at later dates we will be particularly interested in bob lambert
00:25:53 bob lambert from this perspective because he was an sds manager who is known to have had a number of sexual relationships and fathered a child whilst pretending to be bob robinson we will also be interested in former sds undercover officers who rose to very
00:26:08 undercover officers who rose to very senior rank in the chain of command for the sds
00:26:10 the sds for example mr moss went on to become commander's special branch in the 1990s and will be asked to make a further
00:26:24 and will be asked to make a further witness statement for the purposes of assisting with tranche three of the inquiries work we will be investigating what difference their former service as undercover police officers made to their management of the sds
00:26:38 of the sds madeleine has drawn the inquiry's attention to one of hn 354's
00:26:50 attention to one of hn 354's intelligence reports which she states relates to a meeting that she thinks is extremely likely but cannot be certain that she attended her attendance is not recorded in the report and she suspects that her name was deliberately omitted
00:27:02 was deliberately omitted whether names were deliberately omitted from reports and if so why is an issue that we will be considering in relation to
00:27:13 to hn15 mark jenner's deployment in tranche iii and potentially others julia poynter was a friend of madeleine's and a fellow member of the socialist workers party
00:27:24 socialist workers party she has provided the inquiry with a statement containing her recollections of vince harvey and the officer who used the cover name phil cooper
00:27:42 the cover name phil cooper her response to the extensive reporting which names her and her evidence about the nature of the socialist workers party
00:27:43 party i shall not attempt to summarize all of ms poynter's witness statement here but i should note that she refutes vince harvey's evidence that she was keen to start a relationship with him
00:27:59 start a relationship with him she also provides evidence corroborative of aspects of madeleine's account her evidence about phil cooper includes
00:28:11 her evidence about phil cooper includes evidence of a close friendship that she had with another activist and hearsay evidence to the effect that phil cooper would regularly get stoned
00:28:18 stoned she states that he said that he had a girlfriend and she recalls participating in anti-nuclear and anti-racist campaigning with him one of the exhibits to her witness
00:28:36 one of the exhibits to her witness statement is a photograph of phil cooper and herself taken during the course of their anti-nuclear work it graphically illustrates why sds undercover police officers were colloquially known as the hares
00:28:50 colloquially known as the hares please could we have on display ucpi5034799
00:29:20 thank you could that be taken down now please
00:29:28 both madeline's and julia poynter statements will be summarized by junior council to the inquiry on wednesday john reese states that he joined the socialist workers party in about 1977
00:29:41 socialist workers party in about 1977 and was also involved with the anti-nazi league and rock against racism amongst other things he was present both on the picket line during the grundwick dispute and at the battle of lewisham
00:29:53 dispute and at the battle of lewisham joan rudder states that she joined the anti-nazi league and began working for that organization in approximately 1978. she explains her understanding of the
00:30:05 she explains her understanding of the anl's aims and methods and provides an
00:30:16 anl's aims and methods and provides an eyewitness account of her experiences at the southall demonstration on the 23rd of april 1979 at which blair peach was fatally injured both of these witness statements will be published on the inquiries website today
00:30:31 published on the inquiries website today diane langford who gave oral evidence in our tranche 1 phase 2 hearings has provided the inquiry with a second witness statement it addresses two matters
00:30:44 matters first ms langford explains why she now thinks that her friend ethel who recognized the sds undercover officer who used the cover name david robertson
00:30:55 who used the cover name david robertson lived in the same block as the sds safe house
00:30:58 house rather than the same block of flats as hn 45's
00:31:00 hn 45's cover accommodation ms langford explains that she has now
00:31:11 ms langford explains that she has now obtained documents from the metropolitan police service in response to a subject access request she makes observations about and raises questions arising from these documents
00:31:19 documents we are publishing the record sheet from her registry file together with a table exhibited to ms langford's witness statement which identifies which of the
00:31:31 statement which identifies which of the intelligence reports referred to in the record sheet have been published by the inquiry providing their inquiry reference numbers
00:31:43 reference numbers these show that special branches interest in ms langford and the intelligence filed about her went well beyond that provided by the sds
00:31:56 beyond that provided by the sds the sequence in which the phase three oral evidence will be called other witness statements summarized and the associated written evidence will be published has been posted on the inquiries website
00:32:10 inquiries website the civilian witnesses will be called first
00:32:12 first thereafter the evidence relating to the sds managers or other back office staff will be addressed in broadly chronological order
00:32:27 chronological order an exception to this approach is that it is necessary to call mr moss this week out of turn in each case we will be publishing documents relating to the individual concerned together with their witness statement where we have one
00:32:42 statement where we have one as we did in tranche 1 phases one and two
00:32:45 two we have produced an appendix to the written version of this opening statement which summarizes with some
00:32:58 statement which summarizes with some analysis the evidence relating to each manager or member of the back office staff involved in this phase of the inquiry's hearing
00:33:06 in addition to the witness statements and documents relating to specific individuals to which i have just referred we will also be inducing in evidence documents in six separate categories
00:33:19 categories first some documents obtained from open sources
00:33:20 sources secondly
00:33:30 secondly extracts from special branch annual reports from the tranche one era thirdly various special branch management and security service documents fourthly documents from the home office
00:33:41 fourthly documents from the home office fifthly relevant police regulations and general orders finally some further reporting by sds undercover officers and associated documents
00:33:53 documents they are being posted on the inquiries website today i shall be using much of my time this
00:34:06 i shall be using much of my time this morning to introduce salient features of this evidence although i will not cover everything that is in our written opening statement
00:34:11 the earliest of the open source documents are relevant to the investigation of undercover policing
00:34:22 investigation of undercover policing connected with the vietnam solidarity campaigns 27th of october 1968
00:34:24 1968 mass demonstration they start with the note of an ad hoc meeting
00:34:36 meeting of the prime minister home secretary and four other cabinet ministers which took place on the 16th of september 1968 together with some associated notes
00:34:48 together with some associated notes the meeting concerned demonstrations and student unrest the content of these documents evidences the fact that the october demonstration was of concern to the country's most senior elected
00:35:00 senior elected politicians a wide range of measures
00:35:11 politicians a wide range of measures were discussed to try and control events despite believing there to be a risk of violence at the october demonstration the home secretary james callahan did not wish to prevent the demonstration taking place he is recorded as saying that
00:35:25 he is recorded as saying that quote amongst the large number of reasonable and essentially peaceful protesters would be a hardcore of agitators and militants who wanted violence and would seek to
00:35:41 who wanted violence and would seek to provoke the police into responding with violence
00:35:43 violence nevertheless it would be undesirable even if it were practicable to try to prevent the demonstration for march taking place
00:35:54 taking place the home secretary was keen to use the corpse to deter violent demonstrations stating that quote
00:36:05 stating that quote the attitude of the courts was critical and when the house reassembled he proposed to take a further opportunity to remind magistrates of the need to impose adequate penalties on those
00:36:16 impose adequate penalties on those brought before the corpse on charges arising out of violent demonstrations the prime minister harold wilson was evidently concerned about media
00:36:29 was evidently concerned about media coverage and seeking to influence it he is recorded as directing the home secretary to speak to senior figures in television
00:36:42 television in these terms quote ministers had also expressed concern at the irresponsible behavior of television teams on a number of occasions and it would be right for the home
00:36:57 and it would be right for the home secretary to talk to lord hill and lord ailston on this matter and to invite their cooperation lord hill was then the chairman of the board of governors of the british broadcasting corporation
00:37:09 broadcasting corporation lord ailston was the chairman of the independent television authority at that time the country enjoyed a total of three television channels bbc one bbc two and itv
00:37:21 two and itv and so speaking to the two men named in the note would cover the whole of domestic
00:37:28 domestic television broadcasting the secretary of state for education and science edward short seems to have agreed and is recorded as having
00:37:41 agreed and is recorded as having proposed a remarkable degree of control over what was broadcast i quote from page three of the note of the ad hoc meeting of ministers
00:37:52 it might be worthwhile trying to get the television authorities on our side and
00:38:04 television authorities on our side and to organize for example a confrontation between three leading radical students and three tough intelligent moderate students
00:38:10 students the intellectual destruction of the radicals would have a considerable impact
00:38:11 impact on intelligent student opinion alternatively an interview might be arranged between a bbc interviewer and a group of radical students
00:38:25 group of radical students only if the interview went well need it be used
00:38:33 there was also discussion of using the withdrawal of student grants to assert discipline on university campuses according to the note the prime minister summed up the discussion as follows the meeting had shown general agreement
00:38:50 the meeting had shown general agreement that while the problem of student unrest was essentially one for university and college authorities to deal with they would be well advised to adopt a common policy on the question of reporting students with a view to a
00:39:02 reporting students with a view to a withdraw to the withdrawal of their grants
00:39:06 grants there was a strong case for reporting any student who by boycotting examinations or preventing others from attending lectures prevented his university performing its proper function
00:39:19 function every encouragement should be given to moderate bodies of students to assert themselves as they had done for example in bradford against a small minority who wish to disrupt the university
00:39:33 disrupt the university he would give further thought to the question of an approach to the television authorities on this subject the subsequent associated notes contain a number of relevant points
00:39:48 a number of relevant points first a home office note for the record dated the 24th of september 1968 shows that the authorities believed that the organizers of the october
00:40:00 the organizers of the october demonstration were not in favor of acts of violence
00:40:12 of violence the ministry of defense was nevertheless not reassured that the event would pass off peacefully and was considering the use of troops to protect mod property the note states that quote the ministry of defense had already made fairly large preparations and were
00:40:23 fairly large preparations and were contemplating providing soldiers within their building they were told that any proposal should be agreed by ministers as it raised wide and sensitive issues
00:40:36 and sensitive issues another home office note for the record dated september 1968 records behind the scenes efforts to try to steer events such that the october demonstration would take place on the
00:40:53 demonstration would take place on the 27th rather than the 26th of october and start from trafalgar square the author mr james wrote quote i consulted mr james elliott and the deputy commissioner of police mr elliott told me that the security
00:41:05 mr elliott told me that the security service would prefer the square to be made available to the vsc on october the 27th
00:41:12 27th mr mark said that the commission commissioner remained of the opinion that there was much advantage in trafalgar square being the rallying
00:41:23 trafalgar square being the rallying place for the large-scale demonstration on the 27th of october i went to see mr pox at the ministry of
00:41:37 i went to see mr pox at the ministry of works who was the principal responsible for applications for use of the square he confirmed that the square remained free
00:41:38 free and that he would not approve any application for its use on the 27th of october without prior consultation with the home office i reported the position
00:41:55 the home office i reported the position fully to chief superintendent cunningham special branch and to the security service
00:42:02 service it was agreed that it was up to special branch now to take such stats as they thought appropriate to see that an application by the vsc for the use of
00:42:14 application by the vsc for the use of the square on sunday the 27th of october reaches the ministry of works at an early date a remarkable home office note records that on the morning of the 17th of october 1968
00:42:26 october 1968 the home secretary did meet with senior figures from the media he was accompanied by the then commissioner of police of the metropolis and sir philip allen not only was lord ailston present
00:42:37 not only was lord ailston present together with the chief assistant to the director general of the bbc representing lord hill
00:42:50 lord hill so too were the chairman of no fewer than eight newspaper publishing companies
00:42:52 companies the note records the gravity with which the home secretary regarded the october demonstration and the decisions that he was having to make about it
00:43:03 make about it i quote
00:43:14 i quote the home secretary said he had summoned the meeting because the demonstrations raised questions of policy on what on which he would be answerable to parliament the demonstration on the 27th of october was clearly going to be a serious occasion
00:43:22 occasion it raised the question of whether exceptional action should be taken to restrict it but he had decided against this his attitude was that the demonstrators
00:43:36 his attitude was that the demonstrators should have every freedom to demonstrate but it was a freedom under the law the most worrying feature was the appearance of certain splinter groups
00:43:50 of certain splinter groups mainly troxyists and anarchists who were primarily interested in provoking violence
00:43:55 violence mr callahan went on to confirm that
00:43:56 that the policing of the demonstration itself would follow traditional lines and the commissioner gave the media details of the
00:44:07 gave the media details of the demonstrators plans and the policing arrangements that were being made there are also numerous references to some of the inquiries non-state core participants who were politically
00:44:21 participants who were politically active during the tranche one era for example
00:44:28 example diane langford lord hayne pierce corbin the national union of mine workers freedom press and dave morris
00:44:40 i beg your pardon i think i've taken a wrong turn just let me get that right forgive me it is not the role of this inquiry to examine the relationship between government and the media in 1968
00:44:52 government and the media in 1968 interesting as these documents would be for that purpose for our purposes this material is relevant as evidence of the importance of the october demonstration to the government of the day
00:45:06 government of the day the intention the attention it was being given at the highest levels of government and policing and the lengths that both the government and the metropolitan police were going to in response to that forthcoming event it was a big deal
00:45:20 it was a big deal two contemporary newspaper articles from the times complete the open source evidence in this phase of the hearings the first is dated the 24th of october 1968
00:45:30 1968 three days before the october demonstration which reported an appeal by core participant mr tariq ali
00:45:41 by core participant mr tariq ali for marches to avoid a confrontation with the police the second is dated the 28th of october 1968
00:45:56 1968 and contains reporting very favorable to both the police and the home secretary in the immediate aftermath of the october demonstration the headlines read police win the day against militant few in march
00:46:05 in march 6 000 in grosvenor square fail against calm wall and good sense praised by callaghan the latter article includes a passage which may be significant to the issue of justification in relation to the
00:46:23 justification in relation to the formation of the sds and its operations relating to the october demonstration it reads
00:46:24 it reads quote in political terms there is no doubt that the biggest success belongs to mr callahan the home secretary had
00:46:35 to mr callahan the home secretary had refused to be stampeded into banning the demonstration on the basis of some forecasts of violence and his judgment proved correct he relied here on reports reaching him from the police
00:46:47 from the police and he made it quite clear in the commons last week that he did not expect anything like the 100 000 which had been forecast on the march
00:47:01 which had been forecast on the march to what extent the report reaching the home secretary from the police were based upon information obtained by sds undercover operations needs to be considered and compared to what was available from other sources
00:47:17 available from other sources but if the times's report is accurate then it appears that sds undercover policing at least contributed to the home secretary's decision not to ban the
00:47:28 home secretary's decision not to ban the october demonstration and to let uniform police deal with it in the ordinary way
00:47:39 we are publishing a selection of pages from the autobiography of sir robert mark
00:47:45 mark who was the commissioner of police for the metropolis between 1972 and
00:47:46 and 1977.
00:47:47 1977. perhaps of greatest relevance to the work of the inquiry is a passage of page 293
00:48:00 293 of the internal pagination which refers to sir robert's time in the manchester special branch and includes the following about subversive activity quote
00:48:08 quote the simple truth is that fascists communists tropsists anarchists at al are committed to the overthrow of
00:48:20 are committed to the overthrow of democracy and to the principle that the end justifies the means democracy must therefore protect itself by keeping a careful eye on them
00:48:31 by keeping a careful eye on them it is not difficult because they have never represented a serious threat paradoxically they are less likely to do so if the state continues to treat them as at present as a bad joke
00:48:47 as at present as a bad joke these are the words of the man who was ultimately accountable within the metropolitan police for the sds and who as other documents that we have found demonstrate undoubtedly knew about the
00:49:02 demonstrate undoubtedly knew about the unit's existence and its work he plainly believed that groups which aimed to overthrow parliamentary democracy should be monitored
00:49:17 be monitored however the final two sentences which i have just quoted seem hard to square with lord harris's definition of subversion and the work of the sds lord harris defines subversive activities as those which threaten the safety or
00:49:30 those which threaten the safety or well-being of the state and which are intended to undermine or overthrow parliamentary democracy by political industrial or violent means
00:49:41 industrial or violent means with this definition in mind sir robert's words give rise to two
00:49:52 robert's words give rise to two questions both relevant to the question whether the sds's infiltration of such groups was justified first
00:49:55 first if these groups never represented a serious threat why did they require monitoring secondly if the best thing to do was to treat such groups as a bad joke why infiltrate them on a long-term basis
00:50:11 why infiltrate them on a long-term basis and report information about them in the way that the sds did
00:50:18 the next open source document that i need to introduce today is an extract from core participant diane langford's dissertation
00:50:29 dissertation entitled the manchanda connection ms langford gave evidence that a dissertation dated from 2007 she undertook to provide this material to the inquiry at the end of her oral evidence in phase two because it
00:50:40 evidence in phase two because it contains a previous account of the incident at which her work colleague ethel recognized the officer who used a cover name david robertson
00:50:51 cover name david robertson you will recall sir the difference in the evidence given in phase two about this incident uh by miss langford and hn 45
00:51:03 uh by miss langford and hn 45 the key passage in the dissertation reads as follows quote
00:51:13 quote i'd got a job at the daily mirror and an irish workmate ethel came along with me to a meeting at the london school of economics
00:51:21 economics john gittings malcolm caldwell manu and pat jordan of the international socialist committee were getting an indochina solidarity committee together ethel was interested in becoming involved
00:51:31 involved dave was there when ethel saw him she
00:51:43 dave was there when ethel saw him she greeted him brightly oh i know dave she said he grabbed her by the wrist and said i want to talk to you outside they didn't come back next day at work ethel was cool and awkward with me after a week of this she asked me to meet her for a drink
00:51:56 meet her for a drink dave works for the special branch she told me
00:51:57 told me he threatened that if i tell you of all manchanda he'll cause something nasty to happen to my family in ireland
00:52:08 happen to my family in ireland dave disappeared off the radar and was never seen again
00:52:16 we are including an extract from the authorized history of the security service defense of the realm by christopher andrew which relates to vetting
00:52:23 vetting information gathered by sds undercover officers appears to have contributed to
00:52:34 officers appears to have contributed to the information filed by special branch and the security service and used for vetting purposes in establishing the facts the material extract is relevant because it dates the point in time at which the security
00:52:52 point in time at which the security service ceased to keep a record of rank and file members of the organizations which it considered to be subversive namely 1992 by that time the number of groups considered subversive had fallen from over 70 in the 1970s to around 45.
00:53:06 over 70 in the 1970s to around 45. none were considered to represent any significant threat to national security
00:53:19 significant threat to national security and there had been no evidence in recent years that any subversive group had deliberately set out to obtain classified information
00:53:31 finally we are publishing a recording of the world in action documentary entitled the state of britain from 1980
00:53:38 from 1980 which covered the 1980 right to work march which was the subject of infiltration by the sds 80 who used a cover named colin clark and hn 155 who use the cover name phil cooper were both involved
00:53:57 the inquiry has obtained copies of special branch's annual report for the years 1970 to 1983. we were informed by the metropolitan police that annual reports for 1968 and 1969 could not be found
00:54:13 1969 could not be found special branch annual reports are lengthy classified documents putting them through our restriction orders process in their entirety so that we could put them into open
00:54:26 so that we could put them into open evidence was considered both unnecessary and impractical consequently the approach that we have taken has been to process one report in full for publication that for 1979
00:54:39 that for 1979 in relation to the others we have put extracts through the restriction orders process
00:54:53 process the significance of these annual reports is that they put the work of the sds into the wider context of special branches work overall as represented by special branch sorry as represented by special branch to the commissioner of police for the metropolis
00:55:11 metropolis i am going to draw attention to a number of passages and features of the reports that must first emphasize that this evidence is of course subject to evaluation in the light of the evidence that we have and will receive from
00:55:26 that we have and will receive from non-state witnesses and also that estate witnesses other documents and the legal framework
00:55:32 there is occasional express mention of the sds in the annual reports in the introduction to the 1970 report the author first stated that quote two
00:55:44 the author first stated that quote two matters dominated the extremist scene in london during the year the campaign against apartheid centered around the south african rugby and cricket teams and the activities of the ira
00:55:59 ira the text then continues first to trumpet the role of the sds or special operations squad as it was then known in relation to the stop the 70 tour campaign
00:56:08 campaign but then acknowledges that the anti-apartheid campaign was no threat to the state and that many of the protesters were law abiding the material part of the text reads
00:56:21 the material part of the text reads although only one demonstration took place in the metropolitan district at twickenham on the 31st of january the agitation around the cricket tour
00:56:34 agitation around the cricket tour developed strongly and a considerable effort was mounted by the branch to ascertain the plans of the militants in this situation the value of the
00:56:45 in this situation the value of the special operations squad was once again emphatically illustrated despite the success of the countryside agitation which resulted in the cancellation of the cricket tour the extremists
00:56:56 extremists anarchists maoists trotskyists were never able to transform the manifestations of protests they had created into anything faintly
00:57:10 created into anything faintly approaching a revolutionary situation the ultimate purpose of their participation in all such militant activities this is indicative of the isolation in
00:57:22 this is indicative of the isolation in which these elements find themselves for it became obvious that a significant number of those engaged in the protests were not prepared to resort to violence but preferred to make their point in a constitutional and legal way
00:57:38 constitutional and legal way the backlash of public opinion against the militancy associated with anti-vietnam war demonstrations which was evident in 1968 and 1969 clearly continued into 1970.
00:57:51 clearly continued into 1970. a passage in the 1971 report clearly illustrates a belief that it was worth
00:58:03 illustrates a belief that it was worth infiltrating left-wing activist groups just in case public disorder were to break out in the future the material passage relates to a contingency which did not in fact eventuate
00:58:11 eventuate and reads
00:58:18 and reads it is i think in the order of things that the period of relatively quiet demonstrations must end soon there are presently stirrings among the students who are protesting over projected government control of their college union finances
00:58:33 control of their college union finances an issue which is attracting very strong support
00:58:34 support sixteen thousand turned out in an orderly demonstration in london in november
00:58:41 november this could well have the effect of giving them a taste for demonstrating on other controversial matters of wider interest
00:58:54 interest the question of the rhodesian settlement has so far produced surprisingly little reaction among extremist groups but it remains an issue which could well bring large numbers onto the streets once again should the british government
00:59:05 again should the british government formally recognize the independence of the country in such a situation the patient undercover work at present being done by the special squad should prove of no
00:59:20 the special squad should prove of no little value to our uniform colleagues the 1974 report contains another explicit endorsement of the sds on this
00:59:32 explicit endorsement of the sds on this occasion in the context of the reference to the demonstration in red lion square on the 15th of june 1974 at which kevin gately died
00:59:45 at which kevin gately died two parts of the quotation that i am about to read stand out first
00:59:46 first special branches conclusions about the way in which revolutionaries were believed to be operating in the metropolis and secondly the value
00:59:59 and secondly the value attaching to public order intelligence provided by the sds i quote
01:00:03 i quote the use of violence in the pursuit of political objectives was not of course the prerogative of the ira although our own extremist groups showed
01:00:17 although our own extremist groups showed little inclination to resort to the bomb or the gun in 1974 the hard core of dedicated clever
01:00:28 the hard core of dedicated clever revolutionaries which were to be found behind every public demonstration pop festival or squat or sit-in showed themselves ever ready to exploit such situations and use of police
01:00:42 situations and use of police as the nearest and most visible form of authority as targets for political and sometimes physical attack the most extreme example of such behavior was to be seen in red lion square on the 15th of june when the
01:00:55 square on the 15th of june when the combined forces of the extreme left were mounted in opposition to the national front and inevitably against the police who were trying to keep the two factions separated
01:01:06 separated the outcome of that demonstration which is now a matter of history underline the value of special branch intelligence assessments in police preparations for demonstrations
01:01:19 for demonstrations and the major special branch effort in london
01:01:21 london apart from the irish problem is now applied to this issue in this respect the work done by the special demonstration squad
01:01:32 demonstration squad often in difficult and even hazardous circumstances has proved invaluable in keeping uniformed colleagues informed of the plans of demonstrators were revolutionaries behind and
01:01:44 were revolutionaries behind and exploiting every public demonstration pop festival or squat or sit-in or worse special branch
01:01:59 special branch even allowing for risks to national security generated by the cold war looking for reds under the bed was sds reporting for public order purposes in all the circumstances invaluable
01:02:16 there are references in the text which appear to be based upon specific reporting
01:02:19 reporting that we published in the course of phases one and two some examples are set out in the written version
01:02:25 version of this opening statement there are also numerous references to some of the inquiries non-state corps
01:02:39 some of the inquiries non-state corps participants who were politically active during the tranche one era diane langford
01:02:40 langford lord hayne pierce corbin tariqa lee
01:02:51 lord hayne pierce corbin tariqa lee joan ruddock the national union of mine workers freedom press and dave morris for example
01:02:58 the format of the special branch annual report
01:03:02 report includes sections on fields of activism of interest to special branch for the purposes of tranche 1 phase 3 the contents of the sections on
01:03:14 the contents of the sections on trotskyists maoists anarchists irish related groups anti-racists and the far right are of greatest relevance trotskyist groups the 1973
01:03:40 the 1973 annual report contains the significant observation that unlike the communist party and the maoists tropsists in britain have no association with and owe no allegiance to a foreign country this observation seems relevant to the question whether even in the cold war era trotskyist groups in the united kingdom
01:03:53 kingdom really threaten the state safety of the state we have heard ample evidence of their subversive aims but without the backing of a foreign power
01:04:04 backing of a foreign power were they a sufficient threat to meet the definition the 1974 special branch annual report contains a passage relevant to that question
01:04:13 question i quote
01:04:14 i quote trotsky's chair with orthodox communists the aim of the destruction of capitalism and the establishment of worldwide socialism
01:04:27 socialism unlike communists who have seen a partial realization of their aim trotskyists have never come near holding any sway
01:04:35 any sway and their failure has led to an almost obsessive indulgence in fine theoretical differences and sterile discussion this in turn has resulted in a
01:04:49 this in turn has resulted in a self-defeating and endemic fractionalism which proved once again to be the principal characteristic of the british trotskyist groups in 1974.
01:05:01 the section of the 1976 special branch annual report which deals with tropskyism commenced in a similar way but with added observations to the effect that one must look through their propaganda
01:05:12 propaganda to their relatively modest size properly to evaluate their revolutionary potency in contrast to these disparaging passages about the progress of
01:05:30 passages about the progress of trotskyist aims the annual reports go on to record the successful use of entry-ism by some trotskyists for example the 1976 report contained the following passage on the use of entries in the labour party
01:05:47 entries in the labour party by the revolutionary socialist league which became militant tendency i quote
01:05:48 i quote the principle of entry-ism is classically trotskyist and consists of working undercover in an organization
01:05:59 working undercover in an organization political party or industrial concern in order to influence and ultimately control its policies the tactic was first highlighted last year when attempts were made by the clandestine
01:06:11 attempts were made by the clandestine revolutionary socialist league to oppose re-adoption of labour's minister of overseas development reg prentice as parliamentary member for the newer northeast constituency
01:06:25 newer northeast constituency since then the rsl has changed its name to the militant tendency and with approximately 1 000 members and 80 branches distributed throughout the country controls a national organization of labour students and maintains
01:06:40 of labour students and maintains considerable influence over the labour party young socialists the youth wing of the labour party despite the adverse publicity their activities attract the militants persist in pursuing their aim
01:06:53 in pursuing their aim and through obtaining control of constituency labour parties have succeeded in threatening the positions
01:07:05 succeeded in threatening the positions of an estimated 12 members of parliament perhaps attendance's most controversial success during the year was in securing the appointment of andy bevin one of its members to the post of national youth organizer of the labour party
01:07:18 organizer of the labour party being a clandestine organization the militant tendency unlike many of its brothers does not take to the streets on demonstrations in its own name
01:07:29 demonstrations in its own name and as such cannot at present be regarded as a threat to public order
01:07:45 regarded as a threat to public order the reports also blame the trotskyist swp for major public order problems in particular the 1977 report apportioned blame to the swp for violence at what became known as the battles of wood green and lewisham it reads the swp
01:08:00 it reads the swp has also made much political capital out of the anti-national front campaign which brought about particularly violent clashes with police at duckett's common
01:08:12 clashes with police at duckett's common n8 on the 23rd of april and at lewisham on the 13th of august the main initiative for the physical attacks on the national front has come from the swp
01:08:24 from the swp although the notion of a total ban on national front marchers is widely supported by most sections of the left the mary
01:08:32 the mary cpeml have provided small but very violent contingents on anti-national front marches the bulk of their membership of about 100 persons is in east london and
01:08:48 east london and are a continuing source of trouble to police
01:08:50 police there are other passages which attributed violence to the swp by special branch the 1976 report refers to 43 police officers being injured and 44
01:09:06 officers being injured and 44 demonstrators being arrested on the 19th of march 1976 towards the end of the right to work march
01:09:17 march which is also described as quote the most successful trotskyist inspired event of
01:09:23 event of 1976. the same report also states that frequent confrontations took place between is supporters and members of the national front many of them occurring at the latter's weekly meeting place at brick lane e1
01:09:35 weekly meeting place at brick lane e1 and it was only the presence of a strong contingent of uniform police officers on each occasion that prevented any serious violence from breaking out
01:09:46 violence from breaking out special branch's perception of the swp more generally is perhaps exemplified by the 1979's report coverage of blair peach's funeral
01:10:02 coverage of blair peach's funeral sds reporting on which we heard evidence about
01:10:03 about in phase two i quote
01:10:11 i quote on the 13th of june blair peach was buried at the east london cemetery grange road london e3 the funeral was preceded by a carefully stage managed lying in state the
01:10:23 stage managed lying in state the previous night at the dominion cinema south hall there is little doubt that the great majority of mourners particularly the swp
01:10:31 swp regarded the funeral as a secular demonstration of solidarity and a propaganda exercise indeed the guardian was moved to comment on tony cliff
01:10:44 on tony cliff saying let us mourn but let us organize and mobilize at the time of the burial regardless of the outcome of the coroner's inquest on peach now adjourned to the 17th of july
01:10:55 to the 17th of july the peach affair will be used by the left for some time as an instrument of propaganda against police
01:11:08 propaganda against police the international marxist group which later became the socialist league in 1983
01:11:13 1983 although small is also asserted to be a source of public disorder problems for example the 1972 report states i quote
01:11:24 quote img members were well to the fore in the militant demonstration held under the auspices of the anti-internment league on the 5th of
01:11:36 anti-internment league on the 5th of february when attempts to breach uniform police cordons across downing street resulted in 127 arrests
01:11:40 arrests the 1975 report relates lord skarman's findings about the img's role during the disturbance of
01:11:53 the img's role during the disturbance of red lion square the year before quote it had assaulted the police in an uns unexpected unprovoked and viciously violent attack the 1979 report states that the img
01:12:05 the 1979 report states that the img including court participant piers corbin was expected to participate in resisting the greater undercut london council's efforts to evict squatters
01:12:20 efforts to evict squatters the 1980 report associates the img with entries
01:12:25 entries img now channels its efforts into three main areas namely the infiltration of industry the labour party and the campaign for nuclear
01:12:39 nuclear disarmament so too does a 1982 report the socialist labor league which became the workers revolutionary party in 1973 is frequently referred to in the annual reports
01:12:52 reports however it is not referred to as committing crimes as a public order threat or as an imminent threat to parliamentary democracy it is recorded as concentrating on industrial issues
01:13:06 industrial issues and organizing meetings which were well attended and orderly it is also recorded as participating in democratic elections from 1976 onwards there are references to it seeking and later receiving
01:13:24 to it seeking and later receiving funding from libya's then ruler colonel gaddafi and adopting the palestinian cause in return towards the end of the tranche one era red action emerges as a small potentially violent trotskyist group we will hear more evidence about red
01:13:39 we will hear more evidence about red action and its infiltration by the sds later in the inquiry
01:13:48 maurice groups feature regularly in the excerpts from the annual reports up to 1972
01:13:52 1972 but with fewer references to them thereafter they are typically described as small some but not all are described as being associated with violence or disorder for example in the 1970 report the
01:14:08 for example in the 1970 report the internationalists are described as a considerable public order problem whereas the communist party of britain marxist leninist is described as quote a long-range security problem rather than any
01:14:20 security problem rather than any immediate challenge to public order the 1971 report described a reduced level of public order threat quote although maoists were active
01:14:32 quote although maoists were active throughout the year their proclivity to ferment disorder was seen on remarkably few occasions and their ardor was confined
01:14:43 confined in the main to a series of internal feuds and schisms
01:14:58 feuds and schisms the 1978 report explicitly addresses the impact of political changes in china following mao's death in 1976 upon marist groups in this country it reads quote the political changes in china are perplexing pro-chinese communist organizations the revolutionary communist league of
01:15:09 revolutionary communist league of britain is gradually absorbing the smaller maoist groups and the communist party of england marxist leninist whose leader reg birch is the only individual in this area to
01:15:24 is the only individual in this area to exercise any real influence as a senior official of the auew has transferred its allegiance to albania
01:15:33 albania although president nixon's important visit to china in 1972 and the death of mao in 1976 appear to have brought about some changes to the activities of maoist groups in this country
01:15:48 groups in this country they continued to exist and to be of interest to special branch some maoist groups retain their reputation as a threat to public order the 1978 report includes a following
01:16:01 the 1978 report includes a following passage about the east london people's front i quote it was of course elpf members who instigated the trouble at the picket of the national front election meeting at ilford on the 25th
01:16:12 election meeting at ilford on the 25th of february it did not escalate into a larger incident because the trotskyist elements of the picket would not support the elpf agitators
01:16:33 anarchists anarchists appear to have been regarded as posing little threat to political stability in this country but as a public order threat on the extremes of the anarchist scene were people capable of committing very serious acts of violence notably bombings
01:16:44 bombings bomb attacks carried out by the angry brigade were the most prominent but not the only such incidents
01:16:57 the only such incidents the 1970 report summarized anarchists as i quote
01:16:58 i quote essentially so individualistic in outlook and their philosophy is capable of so many diverse interpretations that they offer little threat to political stability in this country
01:17:12 political stability in this country by the same token however any type of anti-authoritarian activity from passive resistance to extreme violence can be reconciled with anarchism and in
01:17:27 reconciled with anarchism and in consequence its adherents continue to pose a public order problem despite their small numbers the same report also recorded petrol bombings by both members of the ninth of may movement and four other
01:17:39 may movement and four other anarchist-inspired bombings believed to be the work of the spanish first of may group
01:17:46 group the annual reports refer to numerous anarchist groups as well as connections with activism connected to squatting and the claiming of state benefits
01:17:59 the claiming of state benefits for example the claimant's union incongruously and perhaps indicative of attitudes within special branch towards women and women's rights we note that the activities of the
01:18:15 we note that the activities of the women's liberation movement are recorded under the heading anarchism and neo anarchism in some reports in 1973 under that heading
01:18:28 in 1973 under that heading what is recorded about that movement about involved entirely legitimate political expression it reads quote most activity within the women's liberation movement is organized at
01:18:40 liberation movement is organized at group level and the movement as a whole had shown itself unable to mobilize large numbers at short notice the only demonstration of note occurred on the 2nd of february when about 120
01:18:54 on the 2nd of february when about 120 women demonstrated outside the house of commons during a debate on the anti-discrimination bill some entered the public gallery where they applauded and cheered later about 200 marched to downing street to present a petition
01:19:08 street to present a petition the 1976 report described anarchist groups in london as generally quiet and seeking a more respectable image i quote
01:19:18 i quote anarchist groups in london remain generally quiet during the year due partly to their inability to bridge the gap between ideology and any kind of effective action
01:19:34 effective action and partly to their noticeable attempts over the past year to present a more respectable image anarchist ideas have suffered in reputation from the criminal activities
01:19:47 reputation from the criminal activities of groups such as the angry brigade and the bada meinhof group and there are currently no personalities in the anarchist field of sufficient standing to persuade the present student generation that anarchist principles
01:19:59 generation that anarchist principles have any relevance to today's political problems
01:20:04 problems however the same report also noted that anarchist black cross remained the most potentially dangerous of all anarchist factions as it
01:20:15 of all anarchist factions as it advocated individual acts of violence by its members the 1979 report refers to the trial of the mills bennett group of anarchists
01:20:26 the mills bennett group of anarchists which led to the acquittal of four who pleaded not guilty to conspiring to cause explosions and the conviction and imprisonment for nine years of a fifth who pleaded guilty it also referred to proceedings at the
01:20:40 it also referred to proceedings at the anako syndicalist conference which had taken place in november 1978 as well as a reference to core participant dave morris
01:20:51 participant dave morris the part of the text is of interest because it sharply contrasts these anarchists with those who perpetrated serious acts of violence the direct action suggested at the conference was limited to
01:21:07 conference was limited to riding on buses without paying the fare breaking windows and the production of stickers for distribution to anaco anarcho-syndicalist groups
01:21:18 anarcho-syndicalist groups the latter suggestion received the most support
01:21:20 support the may section of the 1979 report contains an unusually lengthy passage about an individual core participant dave morris
01:21:32 dave morris who is described as an increasingly key individual and an archetypal anarchist the 1979 section relates the arrest and charging of a young anarchist who had infiltrated the national front
01:21:46 infiltrated the national front headquarters and was intending to cause criminal damage there i referred earlier to the police raid on freedom press and little a printers in 1982
01:21:54 1982 which is the last entry of note about anarchists in the special branch annual report from the transone era
01:22:03 era anti-racists special branch interest in the activities of anti-racist campaigns is reflected in several ways in its annual reports
01:22:13 reports in the early years 1970 to 1973 there are sections entitled racialism which
01:22:24 are sections entitled racialism which covers specifically anti-racist groups stop the 70 tour black power action committee against racialism the anti-apartheid movement and stop all racialist tours
01:22:36 racialist tours although there are some mentions of disorder in relation to some of these groups a good deal of the content of these sections recites the group's activities
01:22:51 activities in 1971 there are references in the section to only minor disorder and the 1973 section states that no
01:23:03 and the 1973 section states that no serious disorder was expected from the stop all racialist tours campaign clashes between the far right and groups which oppose them feature prominently in the reports particularly from 1974 onwards
01:23:15 from 1974 onwards the monthly sections of the 1979 report include many sub-sections which concern or touch upon racial issues a good deal of the content does not
01:23:31 a good deal of the content does not expressly concern public disorder but recites the activities of groups or instances of racial tension
01:23:42 instances of racial tension for example there is a section on community relations in islington the race riots of 1981 feature prominently in the 1981 annual report the far right the public order section of the 1977
01:23:57 the public order section of the 1977 special branch annual report succinctly confirms other evidence before the inquiry which might explain why the sds in this era infiltrated far left
01:24:10 in this era infiltrated far left organizations but not the far right special branch had other sources the relevant passage reads i quote
01:24:21 the relevant passage reads i quote the internal threat to public order has come mainly from the organizations of the extreme left with the occasional incursion from their opponents at the opposite end of the spectrum
01:24:33 opposite end of the spectrum both factions are under close scrutiny by the branch irish related groups events relating to the troubles were
01:24:45 events relating to the troubles were plainly high on special branches agenda during the tranche one era because at that time it had responsibility for irish related terrorism on the mainland in addition to the terrorist
01:24:59 in addition to the terrorist organizations responsible for atrocities the annual reports refer to many irish-related campaign groups most of which are familiar to us from the sds's reporting there is some reference to public
01:25:13 there is some reference to public disorder but many demonstrations are described as passing off without disorder
01:25:14 disorder there is limited reference to fundraising for terrorist purposes a good deal of the relevant content of
01:25:25 a good deal of the relevant content of the annual report concerns the internal affairs of the groups the 1972 report contains a significant observation about groups campaigning about events in ireland i quote
01:25:36 about events in ireland i quote our monitoring of irish republican extremist groups have shown a distinct bias in favor of relatively innocuous
01:25:48 bias in favor of relatively innocuous political and fundraising roles rather than a move towards violence this conclusion accords with and may
01:26:00 this conclusion accords with and may well have been based upon sds reporting on irish related groups at the time record keeping awareness of the politically censored political sensitivity attaching to the keeping of records relating to public
01:26:14 keeping of records relating to public disorder is expressly acknowledged by deputy assistant commissioner brian he signed the 1979 report which included
01:26:27 he signed the 1979 report which included the passage quote a substantial increase in civil staff and the formation of a data entry team ensured significant progress in the computerization of those selected special branch records
01:26:38 selected special branch records concerned with terrorism and public disorder
01:26:40 disorder i am aware of its political sensitivity an insight into the scale of special
01:26:53 an insight into the scale of special branch record keeping is afforded by statistics in the 1979 report in that year 5268 dockets were opened there were one million 179
01:27:04 179 503
01:27:09 503 entries in the nominal index 229
01:27:12 229 314 searches made
01:27:19 made a snapshot of the size and composition by rank
01:27:23 by rank of special branches included in the 1979 report
01:27:27 report the effective strength of special branch at that time was 386. sergeants and constables were by far the most populous ranks
01:27:44 most populous ranks the 1979 report also provides an insight into the scale of special branches vetting work at the time amongst other things in 1979 there were 8025
01:27:59 reports on information obtained by individual officers and 2 846
01:28:05 846 inquiries for box 500 that is to say the security service so would now be a convenient moment to break
01:28:13 break yes indeed it would um we will break now for 15 minutes now i first of all apologize to uh those in the public gallery
01:28:19 gallery uh to whom i had intended to extend a welcome at the start of our proceedings but difficulties with my
01:28:32 proceedings but difficulties with my equipment prevented me from doing so i now wish to put that right thank you we'll break for 15 minutes
01:45:16 i'm moving now to special branch management and security service documents so yes a number of documents evidence liaison between the metropolitan police and the
01:45:27 between the metropolitan police and the security service during the tranche one era
01:45:30 era they record what appears to have been a complex and fluctuating relationship the earliest document is a memorandum
01:45:42 the earliest document is a memorandum which shows that on the 10th of january 1974 the then head of the sds hn2 hn294
01:45:51 hn2 hn294 and his deputy detective inspector derek bryce attended the security services officers
01:45:53 officers there they were informed that the security service was forming a new f6 section which would be responsible for i quote extremist politics to the left of the communist party i.e
01:46:09 left of the communist party i.e trotskyists maoists anarchists the alternative society etc the associated minute sheet records a defensive response from senior police officers
01:46:23 officers the then deputy assistant commissioner vic gilbert first wrote on the 30th of january 1974 to the assistant chief constable
01:46:37 to the assistant chief constable i shall ensure that senior officers here are even more protective of the work of the sds
01:46:41 the sds to ensure that any operation by mi5 which goes wrong does not expose police officers to personal risk or potential embarrassment
01:46:59 or potential embarrassment in particular i propose to limit further the opportunities mi5 may have for personal contact with supervising officers
01:47:00 officers in charge of the sds shortly afterwards he passed the instruction down the chain of command to the chief superintendent of sea squad
01:47:12 the chief superintendent of sea squad through commander operations describing it as a prudent precaution a police memorandum later the same year dated the 13th of november 1974.
01:47:27 dated the 13th of november 1974. records further measures being taken to safeguard the sds in its dealings with the security service the material part reads in future
01:47:34 in future all copy reports from this section will bear the initials sds at the top of the reports by the classification stamp and the file or minute sheet to which the
01:47:49 the file or minute sheet to which the report is attached will carry the words if a copy report is sent to box 500 it must be sent under cover to f6 redacted only
01:48:03 only as at present the decision to forward such a copy will rest with the chief superintendent of the squad concerned this change to the filing system which was made to enable dissemination of sds
01:48:24 was made to enable dissemination of sds intelligence within the security service to be controlled has been of great significance to our investigation the resulting files contain solely sds reporting which has greatly assisted us in identifying what was sent to the security service by the sds however the reporting under this system
01:48:43 however the reporting under this system was not attributed to individual offices this has made attribution to individual offices difficult in many cases we note that the decision whether to forward any given report to the security service rested with the chief
01:48:54 service rested with the chief superintendent of the squad within special branch which had received the report from the sds although it is clear that a great deal of sds reporting was sent to the
01:49:08 of sds reporting was sent to the security service it follows that we cannot assume that it all was a series of three documents records an exchange in late 1975 early 1976
01:49:21 exchange in late 1975 early 1976 between the security service and special branch about their respective role in relation to the passing of security information about employees to certain employers
01:49:37 employers the relevant employers were described as government departments list x companies and public corporations including the atomic energy authority bank of england british airport authority
01:49:49 british airport authority british airways european and overseas divisions
01:49:50 divisions post office corporation british broadcasting corporation british council
01:49:59 council national research development council and crown agents for overseas governments and administrations the security service described its understanding of its role and the
01:50:11 understanding of its role and the potential consequences for affected individuals as follows where a person with an adverse security record is found to be employed in the
01:50:26 record is found to be employed in the civil service the security service has a duty to establish whether or not he has access to classified information to provide his department with a summary of the information and to offer an assessment of the risk which the
01:50:41 assessment of the risk which the continuation of any such access might entail
01:50:45 entail the transmission of security information to an employing authority can have serious consequences for the person concerned
01:50:51 concerned leading in extreme cases to purge from the civil service or in other cases to denial of access to classified
01:51:02 denial of access to classified information which kavham can have an advantage and forgive me have an adverse effect in careers
01:51:11 careers three documents evidence the institution of a system of informal twice yearly meetings between senior special branch managers and representatives from the security service we are publishing notes from the first
01:51:25 we are publishing notes from the first and third such meetings held on the 11th of october 1976 and the 27th of september 1977. two of the matters referred to in the
01:51:36 two of the matters referred to in the notes of the october 1976 meeting call for comment first there is a reference to the security services vetting role which i have just touched upon
01:51:50 have just touched upon it suggests a streamlining of the work being done to inform vetting i quote
01:51:57 i quote there then followed some discussion on box 500's need to fully identify applicants to join subversive organizations in view of their vetting responsibilities there was general agreement that basic identification was the main need
01:52:10 identification was the main need nowadays and that the days had passed of long involved reports many of the reports produced by the sds including those sent to the security
01:52:22 including those sent to the security service were reports about individuals including identifying information and information about their membership of various left-wing groups second there is a reference to special
01:52:34 second there is a reference to special branch work relating to racial tension in brixton and notting hill i quote from the document at paragraph seven
01:52:43 seven commander watts then turned to the subject of the build-up of racial tension in the brixton and notting hill areas he stated that we were not sure of the potential for serious disorder
01:52:55 the potential for serious disorder but we're currently undertaking a study of the problem a special section led by a di and consisting of a sergeant and a dc from e-squad and a sergeant and a dc from
01:53:12 e-squad and a sergeant and a dc from c-squad had been set up for this purpose the study would commence in the brixton area and one of its most important aspects was to discover to what extent left-wing extremists were influencing the colored people in this area
01:53:30 the colored people in this area the study referred to does not appear directly to have involved the sds but it is notable because it may together with the special branch annual reports
01:53:42 reports help to put both isolated sds reporting on race related issues and specific deployments for example that a few years later of the officer who used the cover name barry tompkins
01:53:53 barry tompkins into the east london workers against racism group into a wider context such reporting and deployment often concern the work of left-wing activists with people of color
01:54:07 with people of color but intelligence gathering on this topic was clearly not limited to the sds it was being conducted more widely by special branch and discussed with the security service
01:54:18 security service a final observation on the october 1976 meeting concerns the prevalence of links between the special branch attendees and the sds
01:54:30 the sds the meeting was chaired by commander watts under whose command by chief superintendent bicknell the sds was at the time
01:54:37 the time commander saunders was a former sds manager and superintendent r wilson had also been involved with the sds in the past
01:54:53 past it is an illustration of what a small world special ranch was at senior management level the september 1977 document is notable for what it records about investigative journalism unfortunately the document does not
01:55:07 unfortunately the document does not fully explain the thinking of those involved in a discussion about investigative journalism but it states that i quote the chairman underlined the need to explain the dangers of
01:55:20 need to explain the dangers of investigative journalism to special branch training courses we have received evidence in earlier phases of reporting about journalists and on contact between activists and
01:55:35 and on contact between activists and journalists whether it was simply the result of an unfiltered approach to reporting
01:55:39 reporting or whether there is more to do more to it is presently unclear three documents from 1977 evidence the security service and metropolitan police liaising to make the best use of
01:55:54 liaising to make the best use of metropolitan police special branch and security service resources it was agreed a deputy assistant
01:56:09 it was agreed a deputy assistant commissioner level on the police side that detective chief superintendents would meet their security service counterparts to discuss what was described as source planning for our purposes a memorandum from the then chief superintendent of sea squad a dickinson
01:56:19 dickinson and commander operations recording the outcome of the former's meeting with his security service counterpart is particularly relevant it shows an interest in filling gaps in
01:56:34 it shows an interest in filling gaps in the knowledge of membership of specific groups on the far left and the security service requesting information about subversive activity within industry
01:56:46 within industry finally in this category are documents which show that the security service invited special branch officers to a thank-you party that was scheduled to take place on the 24th of october 1983.
01:56:58 1983. they include a list of those due to attend which is notable because of the number of attendees with links to the sds
01:57:06 sds commander phelan had upon his recent appointment just assumed responsibility for the sds commander bicknell detective chief
01:57:19 commander bicknell detective chief superintendent pride wilson neil fisher and kraft
01:57:22 and kraft had all been involved in the past with the sds in some capacity as had detective superintendent greenslade hn 200 who used the cover name roger
01:57:36 hn 200 who used the cover name roger harris and hn 96 who use the cover name michael james although they come all together they comprised almost a third of the guest list it is another example of what a small world special branch was
01:57:54 home office documents the first two documents we have obtained from the home office date from 1974 and relate to special branch activity in the industrial field the first is a minute of a meeting
01:58:06 the first is a minute of a meeting between the then newly appointed home secretary roy jenkins and seven labour members of parliament including john prescott which took place on the 30th of april 1974.
01:58:21 on the 30th of april 1974. the mps were evidently concerned about whether special branch was operating appropriately in the industrial field and the documents are plainly of
01:58:34 and the documents are plainly of relevance to blacklisting generally there is no specific reference to undercover policing or to the special demonstration squad but the concerns raised are wide enough to include concern about the use to which intelligence
01:58:46 which intelligence about persons active in the trade union movement gathered by special branch as a whole was being put that is to say wide enough to include amongst other things intelligence
01:59:01 amongst other things intelligence obtained by sds officers about members of far-left organizations who were also trade unionists the mps pressed for an independent inquiry
01:59:14 inquiry mr well beloved expressed the view that it was quote unacceptable to have what amounted to a political police force and mr atkinson was concerned about the use
01:59:26 mr atkinson was concerned about the use to which information gathered by special branch was being put he is recorded as stating that quote special branch activity in the industrial field seems to have intensified in the last two years
01:59:41 intensified in the last two years inquiries by the police into trade unions had been taking place it could be seen as a part of a general attempt to smear the trade unions
01:59:55 attempt to smear the trade unions people were anxious and apprehensive and ask themselves what reason could there be
01:59:56 be for the police investigating matters relating to trade unions unless it was to enable the management to be warned of likely militancy basic questions were whether this was
02:00:10 basic questions were whether this was the right use for a branch of the police force and whether employers were entitled to information about employees and potential employees from special branch sources
02:00:22 branch sources there has been recent discussion in the auew
02:00:24 auew of the function of the police we have recovered an sds intelligence report about the international
02:00:38 report about the international socialists which covers a strike meeting the meeting was chaired by an ae auew member who was suspected of being a member of the communist party of great britain in other words collateral reporting on the auew
02:00:49 reporting on the auew the second document is an internal minute to the home secretary dated the 3rd of june 1974 which is stated to have followed a discussion with sir michael hanley the then director general of the
02:01:04 hanley the then director general of the security service that had taken place on the 13th of may 1974. the broad conclusions are recorded in these terms one
02:01:14 one we ought not to be too sweeping in anything said about infiltration because special branches are interested
02:01:27 because special branches are interested in threats to public order which are not in themselves the business of the security service as well as with subversive activity which is but there is certainly no infiltration of trade unions so far as the security service is concerned and although we have not gone around
02:01:39 and although we have not gone around checking with every chief officer it would be very surprising if there was any infiltration for ordinary police reasons
02:01:48 reasons we ought however to recognize that special branch officers engaged in finding out either about subversion or about threats
02:02:00 either about subversion or about threats to public order may very well be thought to be finding out about trade unions since the various subversive bodies make it an object of policy to infiltrate the unions
02:02:09 unions not for information but for influence and the police may try to infiltrate the subversive bodies denials about their interest in the
02:02:25 denials about their interest in the unions may be disbelieved as i gather they were by mr atkinson three
02:02:26 three in view of the sensitivity of the subject it would be as well to remind special branch officers about the particular need for more care
02:02:38 particular need for more care and discretion in the industrial field this is clearly related to the additional guidance provided by the security service to chief constables entitled subversive activity in industrial disputes dated the 29th of
02:02:54 industrial disputes dated the 29th of may 1974 which we published in phase two the minute goes on to deal with the use to which information obtained by special branch offices was put in a passage which is revealing on three counts
02:03:08 counts first because it accepts that this was dangerous ground secondly because it appears to refer to the economic league without naming that organization and thirdly because it also accepts
02:03:24 and thirdly because it also accepts implicitly that information obtained by special branch about trade unionists might well be given either to other trade unionists or to employers albeit without authority it reads
02:03:34 it reads the members expressed fears that information obtained by special branch offices about trade unions might be given either to other trade unionists or to employers this is difficult ground
02:03:50 to employers this is difficult ground we know ourselves that some employers plead to be given warning if known agitators seek or obtain employment with them
02:03:59 them the official response has always been refusal
02:04:03 refusal sometimes with a hint that there are unofficial bodies which might help but when a special branch officer is himself seeking help from an employer or from a union official
02:04:16 or from a union official it is asking a good deal to expect him to insist invariably that he is engaged in a one-way traffic only good and experienced officers can maintain this position
02:04:30 maintain this position and the most we can do is run the point home
02:04:31 home whenever there is a chance
02:04:38 subversive activity in schools the next two documents that we have obtained from the home office concern the gathering of information by the police for the security service in relation to subversive activities in schools
02:04:50 subversive activities in schools they may help to explain why we have found sds reporting on children involved in activism
02:05:03 in activism for example the extensive reporting on school kids against the nazis arising from hn126 who used the cover name paul gray's deployment between 1977 and 1982 the first document is a circular
02:05:18 the first document is a circular produced by the security service dated the 16th of december 1975 which is addressed to chief constables
02:05:35 which is addressed to chief constables it seeks information from police forces about subversive activity in schools particularly and i quote one members of the teaching or administrative staff at a school who are using their position for subversive purposes
02:05:53 purposes for example attempting to convert pupils while making school premises available to subversive organizations two
02:05:54 two older pupils 14 or over who are active in subversive organizations which are exploited for
02:06:05 organizations which are exploited for subversive purposes such as the national union of school students the nuss three members of governing bodies of
02:06:17 three members of governing bodies of schools or of other bodies who appear to be promoting subversion in the schools for which they are responsible recognizing the sensitivity of the territory the circular goes on to state
02:06:28 territory the circular goes on to state at paragraph two quote we do not ask you to make inquiries in schools on our behalf but we would welcome any help you could give us on the basis of information which comes your way from
02:06:48 information which comes your way from the local papers or from members of the public or by recourse to other sources outside schools which you can use without risk of embarrassment the second document is the letter dated the 8th of december 1978 from the security service to the home office which records that the circular was
02:07:03 which records that the circular was agreed between sir michael hanley and sir arthur peterson the latter was a permanent undersecretary of state in the home office at the material time special branch training
02:07:19 special branch training the home office has provided the inquiry with a copy of the timetable for the initial training course for special branch offices held between the 3rd and the 21st of september 1979 this document helps to add some detail
02:07:33 this document helps to add some detail to the oral evidence given by numerous of the early sds officers that they received formal specialist training when they joined special branch a day and a half of the course is devoted to subversion with amongst
02:07:47 devoted to subversion with amongst others sessions devoted to the role of the security service police security service liaison subversion in industry tropsiests
02:08:00 tropsiests anarchists and the alternative society and
02:08:03 and i quote the language used in the document
02:08:08 document subversion in the uk colored community a further day covered public order including a8 public order the ultra left
02:08:20 including a8 public order the ultra left public order in the industrial field and voting offences trotskyists in public order and right-wing extremism i pause to note that the speaker for the session on trotskyists and public order was detective inspector les willinghale
02:08:37 was detective inspector les willinghale who had served in the sds as a sergeant and then as a detective inspector between 1975 and 1977 at the end of the first week there was a 50-minute session entitled the racial scene
02:08:48 scene during the second week a day and a half was devoted to the irish republican army covering both the official and provisional ira and protestant extremism
02:09:05 and protestant extremism there is no reference in the syllabus either to the sds or the use of undercover police officers
02:09:12 terms of reference for special branch the remaining four documents obtained from the home office are arguably the most significant they relate to the terms of reference
02:09:26 they relate to the terms of reference for special branches assistance to the security service you will recall sir that we published these terms of reference which are dated the 8th of april 1970 in phase 1. the documents that we are now putting into evidence show that at the end of
02:09:44 into evidence show that at the end of the 1970s senior officials within the home office had a number of concerns about the terms of reference they were asking fundamental questions about the way in which special branch was assisting the security service
02:09:57 was assisting the security service insofar as they encompassed the work of the sds
02:09:59 the sds they were questions that remained pertinent to the work of this inquiry more than 40 years later
02:10:12 more than 40 years later the home office's concerns were such that at one point a senior official wrote that the only thing that the home office could not do was nothing
02:10:25 could not do was nothing however we have yet to find any evidence that anything of substance was done during the tranche one era our investigations are continuing as part of our tranche one module 2c investigation and will continue into trance 2.
02:10:39 and will continue into trance 2. the documents in question start with a minute from the home office's f4 to mr phillips dated the second of april 1979. we understand this to be sir hayden
02:10:54 we understand this to be sir hayden phillips then assistant secretary in the home office it confirms that the security services june 1970 terms of reference for special branches as supplemented by the circulars on
02:11:05 supplemented by the circulars on subversive activities in industrial disputes and subversive activities in schools remained current it then refers to a meeting held by the then permanent secretary at the home
02:11:21 then permanent secretary at the home office sir robert armstrong on the 7th of december 1978 which had discussed the work which special branches undertook for the security service
02:11:33 security service at the meeting it appears that it had been the then chief inspector of constabularies who had initially raised concerns about how the relationship between the security service and special branch was working in practice
02:11:46 working in practice the memorandum reads hmcic
02:11:50 hmcic had expressed the view on an earlier occasion that the security service sought more information from special branches than they really needed
02:12:04 branches than they really needed and certainly as mr heaton has noted the question of how fast special branches should go on behalf of the security service and who decides this are begged by the 1970
02:12:19 who decides this are begged by the 1970 terms of reference which talk only about special branches collecting information about subversives and potentially subversive organizations and individuals in consultation with the security service
02:12:31 service the permanent secretary is recorded to have rather tentatively proposed agreeing and up-to-date statement i quote sir robert armstrong indicated that although we should be in no hurry
02:12:45 that although we should be in no hurry to reopen the question of the existing terms of reference we should give consideration to putting forward a note to any new home secretary following a general election which represented an
02:12:56 general election which represented an agreement and up-to-date statement of what was feasible and acceptable to the security service and the police
02:13:07 and the police the author of the memorandum records that there had been subsequent discussions about how to proceed and proposed a working party to produce produce more detailed guidance for the police
02:13:21 police the only other document in the group of four documents which bears a date is a note from david heaton to mr andrew and say brian coven copied to mr phillips
02:13:39 phillips it is dated the 8th of october 1980 and detaches an internal discussion paper about special branches also dated october 1980 the note appears to have followed a meeting between at least mr andrew and sir brian coven the day before
02:13:50 sir brian coven the day before at which the internal discussion paper had been mentioned so brian was by then the permanent under secretary of state at the home office
02:14:01 secretary of state at the home office having succeeded sir robert armstrong the discussion paper repays careful reading and i do not pretend to be able to do it full justice here however i will seek to a light upon some of its more salient features
02:14:20 of its more salient features it sought to identify current issues and in a preliminary way how they might be tackled
02:14:21 tackled it begins by noting that the 1970s had seen quote a growth in the proportion of security service effort devoted to monitoring terrorism
02:14:36 monitoring terrorism and subversion as opposed to counter espionage work which meant that special branches had in recent years become more heavily involved in those aspects of their
02:14:47 involved in those aspects of their duties which are the most politically sensitive
02:14:50 sensitive the paper then moves on to summarize criticisms of special branch generally the criticisms are that branches are over secretive and under accountable
02:15:03 accountable and that they interest themselves in and record the activities of people who are merely undertaking proper political or industrial activity
02:15:17 political or industrial activity specifically criticism has centered on special branch work in monitoring subversion an activity branches undertake largely on behalf of the security service
02:15:32 on behalf of the security service there has been concern about the records kept by special branches on individuals particularly on those judged to be subversive specific recent incidents which are described as having fueled criticism of special branch are then enumerated
02:15:45 special branch are then enumerated non-directly concerned the sds but the nature of the information gathered in these incidents is often not unlike that which we know was gathered by the sds
02:15:56 which we know was gathered by the sds one records the illusion of opposition to racism with subversion quote a young man who was recorded as a potential subversive interest because of some badges he was wearing when he
02:16:09 some badges he was wearing when he passed through dover which indicated that he was opposed to racism i also note in passing that the police had distanced themselves from the raid on the wrps white meadows education center
02:16:24 white meadows education center quote the raid by the derbyshire police on the workers revolutionary party training center on the advice of the security service but much against the advice of the metropolitan police special branch
02:16:42 special branch concerns on the part of chief constables about their work for the security service are recorded quote
02:16:45 quote there have in the relatively recent past been indications that some chief constables are not entirely at ease about the work of special branches
02:16:57 about the work of special branches specifically their anxieties seem to be about a
02:17:06 about a whether there was ministerial approval and authority for the work done by special branches on behalf of the security service b
02:17:17 b the nature of the work done on behalf of the security service and its potential for creating difficulties in ordinary police work and damaging relations between the police and the public c
02:17:27 c the way to put on security service requests
02:17:30 requests for special branch to undertake particular tasks
02:17:38 so too are concerns that operational officers and special branches seem uncertain about the proper extent of their role in the context of whether information that was being recorded was really of security interest
02:17:50 security interest an example is given of the practice which is stated to have grown up amongst port officers quote of reporting trade
02:18:06 port officers quote of reporting trade union office holders who left the uk on holiday or to attend a union meeting abroad
02:18:12 abroad having noted that the growth in special branches assistance to the security service is likely to continue the discussion paper proceeds to consider in turn quote those issues on which there is a present uncertainty and to
02:18:25 there is a present uncertainty and to prepare answers to those on which there is criticism the first such issue is the special branch terms of reference
02:18:37 branch terms of reference and on this topic the paper contains two particularly important paragraphs i quote
02:18:38 i quote in the course of last year and in response to the public and police concern mentioned earlier
02:18:52 concern mentioned earlier f4 division attempted a consolidation and updating of the 1972 terms of reference
02:18:53 reference and subsequent letters of guidance a copy of the resulting document was welcomed by hmcic and the head of mpsb
02:19:06 and the head of mpsb the security service saw no case for revising the terms of reference and indeed likely disadvantages in so doing they suggested that all that might be
02:19:19 they suggested that all that might be needed was for some arrangement whereby the attention of newly appointed chief officers would be drawn to the 1970 terms of reference and other relevant documents
02:19:31 documents the difficulty with this and indeed with the draft revision of the terms of reference produced last year is that the 1970 document begs a number of very important questions
02:19:44 of very important questions some of the more difficult aspects of the document are indicated by underlining on the copy at annex a it therefore seems that a
02:20:00 a the 1970 document plus additions may not be a satisfactory starting point as a statement of special branch functions b before a revision of the documents can be attempted however certain central questions need to be answered
02:20:11 answered c
02:20:12 c any attempt to continue with the revision of the terms of reference is going to require careful explanation too
02:20:23 going to require careful explanation too and discussion with the security service and the police
02:20:32 we believe that we have a copy of the underlined annex a referred to in the discussion document which identifies those parts of the terms of reference
02:20:44 those parts of the terms of reference which the home offices f4 division were particularly concerned about could we display please ucpi 604459
02:21:09 and
02:21:16 scroll down now please
02:21:25 onto the next page please thank you
02:21:36 could we scroll down to the bottom half of that page thank you
02:22:09 could we go further down please thank you
02:22:34 time
02:22:38 could we go to the next page please
02:23:08 scroll further down please
02:23:16 keep going i'm looking for the next underlining thank you
02:23:37 and could you scroll down to the bottom please
02:23:40 thank you
02:23:56 you scroll further down please
02:24:27 and could you just scroll down to the very bottom
02:24:35 thank you
02:24:39 could that be taken down now please
02:24:51 the second and related issue considered in the papers is the work of the special branches on behalf of the security service
02:24:52 service f4 describes this work as the most sensitive aspect of the work of special branch and quote the work which can most easily jeopardize police public relations and
02:25:04 relations and also the area in which the police themselves or some of them seem least certain of the authority for their role the papers go go so far as to state
02:25:20 the papers go go so far as to state quote it may be appropriate to ask how valuable is the work which special branches do on behalf security service and what would be the implications of dropping or curtailing it
02:25:31 dropping or curtailing it the paper next moves to consider the definition of subversion and contains important passages which criticize the use of the harris definition of subversion
02:25:44 subversion of particular concern to f4 was the lack of any requirement for conduct to be unlawful before it could fall within the harris
02:25:54 harris the relevant passages read quote
02:26:00 quote this definition has been repeatedly criticized by mr robin cook mp and others and contrasted with the definition of lord denning in his 1963 report that subversives are those who
02:26:11 report that subversives are those who would contemplate the overthrow of the government by unlawful means it is the absence in the present definition of a clear reference to unlawful activities which prompts most of the criticism
02:26:23 of the criticism in the in german in the adjournment debate initiated by mr cook on the 7th of november last year mr britain answered criticism that the present definition enables special branches to spy on
02:26:38 enables special branches to spy on perfectly proper political or trade union activity by saying that the definition is such that both limbs must apply before an activity can properly be regarded as subversive
02:26:55 regarded as subversive in other words there has to be an actual or potential threat to the safety or well-being of the state and an intention to undermine parliamentary democracy which taken together in police terms will mean the detection of an illegal act or the
02:27:12 detection of an illegal act or the prevention of a possible illegal act in correspondence with kevin mcnamara mp we use the phrase that special branch officers are properly concerned with information
02:27:24 properly concerned with information relating to terrorism subversion or other breaches of the law but it may be doubted whether these attempts to impart the concept of unlawfulness into the present definition of subversion
02:27:35 of subversion are wholly successful i note that whilst focusing on whether the definition of subversion should require illegality the paper dilutes the requirements of
02:27:55 the paper dilutes the requirements of the harris definition as to the degree of threat required by interpreting it widely enough to include not only an actual
02:27:56 actual but also a potential threat the paper records a difficulty that special branch officers were finding in practice and defining subversion it states quote
02:28:14 states quote there is certainly evidence that special branch officers find difficulty in practice in defining the proper boundaries of subversion and quoting a senior police officer it is nowadays often difficult to establish
02:28:25 nowadays often difficult to establish where legitimate political activities end and subversion begins i am sure that no special branch officer doing his job efficiently can avoid
02:28:36 doing his job efficiently can avoid becoming involved at least on the fringe of legitimate politics of either wing on this issue the author's conclusions show that they were clearly dissatisfied with the status quo
02:28:51 with the status quo and felt it to be fundamentally flawed they wrote neither the present definition of subversion nor the 1970 terms of reference assist officers in resolving this dilemma
02:29:05 officers in resolving this dilemma nor do they provide ministers or chief officers with a watertight basis on which to justify the work of police officers in investigating and recording the activities of subversives
02:29:17 subversives the concerns about the difficulties with the definition of subversion are carried over into a discussion about record
02:29:30 over into a discussion about record keeping particularly in the context of the advent of computerized records the authors wrote quote it seems reasonable to assume that in the area of subversion the difficulty which arises in defining the proper extent of special branch interest
02:29:46 extent of special branch interest also arises in deciding what information should be recorded and concluded the nature of information stored by special branches is in many respects secondary to the question what special branches are there to do
02:29:59 special branches are there to do the more clearly the proper extent of their interest in subversion is defined for example the more easy it should be for officers to judge what they should record and what not
02:30:16 record and what not but there may also be a case for taking more positive steps perhaps through hm inspectorate to ensure that forces procedures for judging what to record and for weeding out or disposing of
02:30:34 and for weeding out or disposing of irrelevant information are satisfactory these are important observations and concerns in the context of our investigation the intelligence reports from the tranche one era that we have recovered were not computerized but even so we
02:30:47 were not computerized but even so we have retrieved sds intelligence reports from both metropolitan police and security service records in large volumes that date back 40 or 50 years or more
02:31:03 more they contain a great deal of information about the private lives of a large number of people the questions that you must ask sir are not so very different from those being asked in the home office in 1980
02:31:16 being asked in the home office in 1980 should all of this information have been recorded
02:31:18 recorded should it have been kept for so long
02:31:26 the authors considered the accountability of special branches about which they also had concerns they observed that much of special branches work is carried out on behalf
02:31:41 branches work is carried out on behalf of the security service which meant that the security service had an important say in what work special branches actually did however they further observed that quote the security service does not of course have responsibility for the way in which that work is discharged
02:31:57 in which that work is discharged as for police authorities and the home office
02:31:59 office they wrote quote neither police authorities nor the home office have responsibility for special branch operations any more than they have for the
02:32:13 any more than they have for the operational aspects of other police work chief officers are generally speaking and for understandable reasons reluctant to disclose to police authorities anything other than the most general information about their branches
02:32:28 information about their branches the home secretary's national powers and responsibilities including his special position in
02:32:39 including his special position in relation to the security service and the metropolitan police mean however that the home office has more of an opportunity for influence in recent years a close-working relationship has developed between the home office the security service and mpsb
02:32:52 mpsb particularly on terrorist matters and under pressure of events this relationship is gradually being extended into other areas but there are limits to which this is
02:33:06 but there are limits to which this is particularly so of course in relation to provincial special branches the role of the home office in this area is often limited to picking up the pieces after some unfortunate incident
02:33:19 some unfortunate incident in their concluding section the authors returned to their unease about the definition of subversion writing that quote there are a number of respects most notably that in relation
02:33:34 respects most notably that in relation to the monitoring of subversion in which it is difficult to ensure that very generalized definitions are easily turned into readily defended operations and procedures and calling for quote a more coherent
02:33:45 and calling for quote a more coherent and coordinated approach on the basis that we
02:33:46 that we the security service and the police have a clear and common view of what special branches are for and what they are doing they then turned to some of the
02:33:58 they then turned to some of the difficulties which they foresaw in trying to establish such an approach
02:34:09 the difficulties in the way of developing this sort of approach are obvious
02:34:16 obvious there is the inherent sensitivity of the work special branch do there is the operational independence of chief officers and equally important in this case
02:34:22 case of the security service there are the operational jealousies of the police and the service there is the need for us to define more clearly our own role and to recognize
02:34:44 clearly our own role and to recognize the limitations for example because of lack of information and the need to distance a home secretary from the details of operations which must inevitably be placed upon it the paper concludes by proposing five possible ways in which to take matters forward
02:34:58 forward of particular importance for our purposes are the first two which read one
02:35:01 one we might seek a further discussion with
02:35:11 we might seek a further discussion with the security service on the question of the work done by special branches on behalf of the security service sir robert armstrong chaired such a discussion in december 1978 but matters have moved on since then and a meeting now might deal in particular with the
02:35:25 might deal in particular with the questions of the revision of the terms of reference and of the definition of subversion it is for consideration at what point hmcic and the head of mpsb should be brought in two
02:35:41 two we might try to define more clearly the justification for and proper limits of special branch and security service interest in some of the more sensitive issues
02:35:47 issues a good current example is race
02:35:55 we also have nxb to the discussion paper which is f4s draft consolidation and updating of the 1970 terms of reference for special branch of particular note of the proposed
02:36:08 of particular note of the proposed revision to the definition of subversion and proposed guidance on the collection and dissemination of intelligence about the subversive background to public disorder
02:36:18 disorder the proposed revision to the terms of reference read quote subversive activities are defined as those which threaten the safety or well-being of the state and which are intended to undermine or overthrow
02:36:33 intended to undermine or overthrow parliamentary democracy by political industrial or violent means this includes the activities of organizations or individuals which while
02:36:48 organizations or individuals which while operating at present within the law have as their long-term aim the overthrow of parliamentary democracy the proposal is striking it would have included activity which was both lawful and posed no current threat to the
02:37:00 and posed no current threat to the continuation of parliamentary democracy for example a group such as the workers revolutionary party on the evidence that we have received about it would appear
02:37:17 we have received about it would appear to fall within the proposed definition whereas it does not appear to fall within the harris definition turning to the guidance on the subversive background to demonstrations paragraph seven of the draft revised terms of reference stated quote in
02:37:30 terms of reference stated quote in consultation with the security service to investigate any subversive background to demonstrations and breaches of public order
02:37:43 order the function at one above which is the provision of intelligence affecting public order will provide the opportunity for the collection of information about subversive elements whether individuals or organizations in a particular demonstration
02:38:00 in a particular demonstration investigations should go no further than is necessary to fulfill the function
02:38:12 is necessary to fulfill the function and should be conducted with sensitivity in order to avoid any suggestion that the special branch is investigating legitimate expression of views for consideration is whether the above wording if it had been adopted in the
02:38:23 wording if it had been adopted in the terms of reference might have brought about a change in the approach to intelligence gathering which we have heard former sds officers give evidence about
02:38:36 about an approach which seems to have involved applying little if any filter to what was reported and or recorded before i move to the significant covering note which accompanied the internal discussion paper i paused a
02:38:53 internal discussion paper i paused a deal with an important but undated note from david heaton to mr andrew and mr wright
02:38:54 wright it seeks o'brien cubbin's views about the continuation of the examination of the terms of reference for special branches
02:39:06 branches although it is hard to be sure this document appears to predate the discussion paper of particular significance is the section of note which deals with the terms of reference it is apparent that it was thought that
02:39:17 it was thought that consolidated and updated terms of reference for special branch were needed particularly in order to ensure that there was ministerial approval and
02:39:31 there was ministerial approval and authority for the work done by special branches on behalf of the security service
02:39:35 service however the draft consolidation had not satisfied david heaton it is not absolutely clear whether he is referring to the draft terms of
02:39:46 referring to the draft terms of reference which i have just spoken to or some earlier version but mr heaton wrote this consolidation has now been done but it has proved to be more of a shoring up than a pulling together and the result is a poor thing
02:40:04 is a poor thing it is clear that no consolidation based on the 1970 terms of reference can be satisfactory this is because those terms of reference begged a number of important questions which would have to be examined if
02:40:15 which would have to be examined if consolidated terms of reference were to be issued
02:40:22 be issued whether under imprimatur of acpo akpo or the home office these questions are a
02:40:26 a how can the work of police officers which all members of special branch are in investigating subversion as currently defined
02:40:37 as currently defined be justified given that the definition covers some activities which are not as such unlawful the current working definition of
02:40:50 the current working definition of subversion is activities threatening the safety or well-being of the state and intended to undermine or overthrow parliamentary democracy by political industrial or violent means
02:41:08 industrial or violent means how valuable is the work which special branches do on behalf of the security service and what would be the implications of dropping or curtailing it
02:41:13 it c
02:41:17 c should special branches be involved at all in such areas as carrying out inquiries relating to immigration control
02:41:23 control d
02:41:24 d who should have effective control over individual special branches and decide on the extent of their activities
02:41:36 on the extent of their activities the chief officer of the force concerned or the security service these are all questions of major importance which need careful examination before answers can even be sketched out
02:41:55 before answers can even be sketched out time and effort would be needed for such an examination we now therefore need to decide whether to proceed further or whether to let the current terms of reference and security service circulars stand as they are the arguments for continuing the
02:42:07 the arguments for continuing the examination further are first the simple one that times have changed since the present terms of reference were issued and it seems only prudent to look at them again to see if they are still sensible
02:42:18 sensible second
02:42:21 second there is no point in special branches doing sensitive work likely to attract public criticism if examination would show that such work was not really necessary or not necessary to such an extent
02:42:34 necessary to such an extent third new terms of reference issued after such an examination would it is to be hoped dispel most of the anxieties felt by special branch and chief
02:42:49 felt by special branch and chief officers about accountability and control and reassure them about ministerial approval and support for their work
02:43:00 their work against these arguments stand the security service who have pointed out that the original proposal to consolidate the 1970 terms of reference was made at a time of
02:43:15 of reference was made at a time of ministerial questioning of the role of special branches and that part of its purpose was seen as reassurance to ministers vulnerable to critics of special branches
02:43:26 to critics of special branches there is also a pandora's box argument i.e
02:43:27 i.e that if we once undertake a radical examination of the basis of special branches work we may well destroy the confidence built up between chief
02:43:40 confidence built up between chief officers special branches and the security service not to speak of the relationship which the home office has with each of them
02:43:52 the home office has with each of them finally there is a question of resources at present f4 has not the capacity to undertake such a major exercise either more staff query a principle would be needed admittedly only for a limited period or some current work in
02:44:03 limited period or some current work in f4 would have to be diverted elsewhere returning now to the covering node which accompanied the october 1980 discussion paper mr heaton
02:44:21 paper mr heaton in his document expresses a view that the home office could not do nothing quote i attach a copy of the paper it is an admirable and comprehensive analysis
02:44:37 analysis the question is where do we go from here there are obvious constraints not least the sensitivities of the security service
02:44:38 service the operational independence of chief
02:44:50 the operational independence of chief officers and the limited resources which given air force other heavy commitments we can afford to devote to this area but
02:44:54 but the issues are too important to allow us to do nothing the first two proposals particularly the question of the terms of reference and of the definition of subversion are important
02:45:05 important but also more abstract and difficult you may like to have the issues in mind when you visit the security service with the secretary of state on the 22nd of
02:45:16 the secretary of state on the 22nd of october and thereafter to have a meeting with mr andrew mr phillips and myself to consider how best to proceed
02:45:32 consider how best to proceed we are continuing our investigation of the issues raised in these important documents
02:45:36 documents and we'll need to consider them further once our investigation is complete in particular they will need to be analyzed
02:45:48 analyzed in the context of the totality of the module 2b and 2c evidence and the legal framework
02:45:56 police regulations and general orders the police disciplinary regime during the tarantula era was provided in the police discipline amendment regulations 1967
02:46:12 1967 a copy of which we are publishing today i apologize for the poor copy quality of particular note is regulation one discreditable conduct which appears wide enough to cover inappropriate sexual
02:46:23 enough to cover inappropriate sexual activity by undercover police officers it reads
02:46:25 it reads discreditable conduct which offends is committed where a member of a police force acts in a disorderly manner or any manner
02:46:37 disorderly manner or any manner prejudicial to discipline or reasonably likely to bring discredit on the reputation of the force or the police service
02:46:48 service regulation 15 is relevant to situations where undercover police officers committed criminal offences at least where the offence is committed without proper authority it provides criminal conduct which offence is
02:47:00 criminal conduct which offence is committed where a member of a police force has been found guilty by a court of law of a criminal offence
02:47:13 of law of a criminal offence we have obtained and are posting on the website the public and other events section of both the 1969 and 1982 editions of the metropolitan police general orders and regulations
02:47:27 general orders and regulations i do not propose to summarize all of the relevant provisions now but make four specific observations first the general orders make clear the role of the section of the metropolitan police known as a8
02:47:42 police known as a8 in relation to public meetings involving groups at the far end of the political spectrum
02:47:48 spectrum paragraph 59 of both the 1969 and 1982 general orders reads quote early notification of all important meetings of communists fascists or other
02:48:02 meetings of communists fascists or other similar political organizations is to be sent by telephone in urgent cases to special branch and a8 giving the time and place and if possible the names of the principal speakers
02:48:19 speakers secondly the 1969 and 1982 orders deal at paragraph 67 subsection 2 with police powers to enter private premises stating that it must be remembered however that
02:48:31 it must be remembered however that police have a common law right of entry in certain circumstances for example fear of a breach of the peace or anticipation of seditious speeches thirdly the 1969 and 1982 orders both
02:48:49 thirdly the 1969 and 1982 orders both deal at paragraph 68 with the attendance of plain closed police officers at meetings
02:48:50 meetings requiring that officers in plain clothes on duty at meetings should obtain copies of all hand bills and pamphlets distributed or
02:49:06 hand bills and pamphlets distributed or sold which will be submitted with their reports whenever practicable three copies should be obtained fourthly in relation to racial disturbances the 1969 orders stated paragraph 76a
02:49:17 paragraph 76a that brief information of all disturbances or incidents where there is some racial significance is to be sent forth with by teleprinter to a7 and
02:49:31 forth with by teleprinter to a7 and confirmed by a report in triplicate with an additional copy for special branch
02:49:42 an additional copy for special branch paragraph 76a of the 1982 orders contain significantly developed provisions in relation to racial incidents it provided that one any incident whether concerning crime or not which is alleged by any person to
02:49:56 which is alleged by any person to include an element of racial motivation or which appears to the reporting or investigating officer to include such an element will be reported to the district community liaison officer too
02:50:07 too in addition to one above any such incidents which may have serious impact upon community relations or arouse media
02:50:18 upon community relations or arouse media interest will be reported immediately to a7
02:50:23 a7 a8 special branch press bureau and the district community liaison officer by teleprinter using the coded format rac inc
02:50:34 coded format rac inc which is contained in the metropolitan police directory a full report will be submitted in confirmation three
02:50:44 three serious racial disturbances will be reported in accordance with the instructions contained in para 95 further uca reporting and associated documents
02:50:55 documents we are reducing 54 further reports and other documents not previously published which predominantly
02:51:10 which predominantly from tranche one ucos and are relevant to their deployments and or non-state core participants a table of attribution as far as it is known has been provided to assist comprehension of these documents
02:51:23 open transcripts and excerpts from the tranche one closed hearings last autumn we called five fully anonymous former sds undercover police
02:51:35 anonymous former sds undercover police officers from the tranjuan era to give oral evidence at a closed hearing the transcripts of those hearings have been put through the inquiry's
02:51:46 been put through the inquiry's restrictions order process and are being published today there are five attributed transcripts
02:51:57 there are five attributed transcripts together with some unattributed excerpts the office is concerned are hn 21 hn 41
02:51:59 hn 41 hn 109 hn 302 and hn 341 time does not permit me to introduce all
02:52:13 time does not permit me to introduce all of this material but i will mention some of the salient features hn 21
02:52:15 hn 21 hn 21 infiltrated the socialist workers party at the end of the 1970s and start of the 1980s
02:52:27 of the 1980s like most sds undercover officers he was a married man he gave oral evidence that he had had sex on two occasions six or seven months apart
02:52:40 apart with a woman whom he had got to know quite well at an evening class he attended whilst undercover he stated that the woman was apolitical and not an activist he socialized with her as part of a small group
02:52:51 small group his evidence about the first time was that they had both been drinking and i quote
02:53:00 quote it was one evening whereby she was living in redact and she was quite frightened and i stayed overnight because one of the guys
02:53:13 stayed overnight because one of the guys redact had been making approaches to her and she was a bit frightened and i stayed there one one evening till slightly later and then and then it happened we weren't too pleased about it because we were friends
02:53:24 we were friends hn 21 described the second occasion on which he had sex with the same woman in the following terms quote i accept there was one other occasion when she moved flat
02:53:39 when she moved flat redact so i it was one of the things that because i had a car you shift stuff around and that happened at her new flat and that was just a relaxing time but it was some time afterwards
02:53:57 but it was some time afterwards hn 21 described getting amorous by which he meant kissing and cuddling the woman on other occasions hn 21's oral evidence about sexual activity in his undercover identity was
02:54:12 activity in his undercover identity was inconsistent with his witness statement which refers to two women hn 21 raised the fact
02:54:22 hn 21 raised the fact that he wished to change his evidence in this regard prior to the hearing and at the hearing described the reference to the second woman in his witness statement as a mistake which he did not spot before he signed the statement hn 21 described being a part of the
02:54:39 hn 21 described being a part of the small group of friends to which he and the woman he accepts that he had sex with belonged and attending events with them was quite important to his cover he stated that he had alluded to his
02:54:51 he stated that he had alluded to his backstory but did not go into detail with her
02:54:52 with her he used contraception he expressed regret about what he had done
02:54:59 done but could not explain why he did it saying initially i don't really know he later said quote it was a particular time and place which was slightly surreal
02:55:17 which was slightly surreal and there were occasions when you were deployed that became surreal it became unreal you forgot about what your actual work was and you started to relax which is really dangerous that's when things go terribly wrong
02:55:30 that's when things go terribly wrong so i regret from a personal point of view from my upbringing and also from a professional point of view
02:55:45 professional point of view but it was a weakness which i regret and he said it was me not being professional and not following what i should have done
02:55:53 done hn 21 knew what he did was wrong and said that he did not tell anyone hn 21 also gave significant evidence of his experiences whilst infiltrating the swp
02:56:04 swp including being involved in violent incidents and being directed to attend blair peach's funeral which he did to identify people there
02:56:17 which he did to identify people there as to who was initiating violence on the streets he stated it depended on exactly where it was and how many people were there
02:56:32 how many people were there from the swp side it was mostly shouting from the far right thing it was mostly physical violence you know
02:56:37 you know you knew if the police weren't there then you would have to run for it he described maoist activists being violent towards the police stating it was mostly scuffles but against the police it was full-on
02:56:53 against the police it was full-on full-on redact yes they were a very strange bunch hn 21 has provided the inquiry with a name for the woman with whom he had sex during his deployment
02:57:07 during his deployment we have attempted to identify and locate the woman in question using an inquiry agent
02:57:11 agent however those inquiries did not produce details of any person who sufficiently fitted the information which the inquiry has about the woman in question from hn 21 to justify an approach
02:57:34 from hn 21 to justify an approach hn 41 was present at the demonstration at southall at which blair peach died he may have provided intelligence in advance about this event his managers had some reservations about him attending quote because uniform police were going to clamp down on the demonstrations
02:57:47 on the demonstrations he provided a statement to police investigating blair beecher's death but he had no involvement with material
02:58:00 but he had no involvement with material events and did not recall coming across mr peach during the day hn 109
02:58:08 hn 109 hn109 is one of the few officers from the tranche one era who recalls any written training material however he cannot recall there being any written instruction about sexual contact with people in his undercover identity
02:58:24 with people in his undercover identity he does recall oral instructions to the effect that it was not permitted and understood that the sds recruited married officers because i quote it had the potential to prevent involvement with others in sexual contact
02:58:37 with others in sexual contact he received global reports for his work which was described as extremely important to special branch and the security service he recalls congratulations from downing street
02:58:49 congratulations from downing street being passed to the sds for success and combating public disorder
02:58:56 hn 302 hn 302 gave evidence that whilst undercover and building up his cover he met a woman at meetings and got to know her over a period of months he could not remember her name
02:59:11 he could not remember her name he said that he did not deliberately pick her out but that a certain free song developed between them he socialized with her both with others and alone
02:59:23 and alone he felt that their friendship bolstered his cover
02:59:24 his cover he described her as a peripheral activist whom he did not see again after they had sex he said that he had sex with the woman after an evening in the pub
02:59:37 after an evening in the pub in circumstances where both had been drinking
02:59:38 drinking but neither were drunk he invited her back to his bedside where they had sex he used contraception she did not know that he was a police
02:59:55 she did not know that he was a police officer and suspects it and he suspects that she would not have consented had she known
03:00:01 she known he thought having sex with her might have enhanced his cover but it didn't he answered no when asked whether it crossed his mind that he was a police officer
03:00:08 officer on duty
03:00:09 on duty during this episode he did not tell his supervisors or superiors because he didn't think that it was necessary he thinks
03:00:25 he thinks that if he had told them he would have been given words of advice he told no one else on the question of subversion and the revolutionary potency of the groups that he infiltrated hn 302 said given the
03:00:36 he infiltrated hn 302 said given the opportunity and the leadership and the right catalyst the social circumstances perhaps at the time
03:00:48 perhaps at the time i believe there was a possibility that that outcome might have taken place or
03:00:49 or been attempted hn 341
03:00:54 hn 341 hn 341 gave evidence of a relaxed and communal atmosphere in the safe house but did not recall any conversation
03:01:06 but did not recall any conversation about women being targeted or women in the groups being targeted or uco sleeping with women
03:01:13 women he felt that he had provided valuable public order intelligence during the course of his deployment which was its primary purpose his deployment was terminated after an incident which was stress related he found the work very
03:01:28 stress related he found the work very stressful and smoked and drank a great deal to self-medicate the unattributed excerpts on the topic of using deceased children's identities one officer gave
03:01:42 children's identities one officer gave evidence that he decided to adopt some particulars of a deceased child and did so after his managers accepted the proposal another officer recalls being told by
03:01:55 another officer recalls being told by the office that hn 297 richard clarke's cover had been blown when he was presented with the death certificate of the child whose particulars he had adopted
03:02:05 adopted an officer gave evidence that during the course of his deployment he attended a small wedding in his undercover identity having been invited and secured the authority of his managers he also babysat during the course of his
03:02:20 he also babysat during the course of his deployment he did both because they were good for his cover the same officer also took cannabis during the course of his deployment
03:02:33 during the course of his deployment an officer witnessed violence on one of the occasions on which hn 13 who use a cover name barry or desmond loder was arrested and describes maoists as being involved in the fighting the officer himself was chased by supporters of the far right
03:02:48 supporters of the far right in relation to the industrial dispute at the grand wick factory one officer describes attending about half a dozen times
03:02:54 times witnessing some violence and his managers being pleased with the intelligence which the undercover officers were providing another recalls being present and telephoning through intelligence
03:03:07 telephoning through intelligence consistent with that described in the sds annual report for 1977.
03:03:17 in relation to the battle of lewisham and the sort of advanced intelligence provided by the sds one witness stated that the sort of intelligence provided was quote that it was going to kick off that it was that this was going to happen
03:03:28 this was going to happen if they marched that particular route at that particular time coming up that road then a lot of my comrades seemed to be aware of where they were going to come out or the only possible way they could
03:03:44 out or the only possible way they could go and so the focus was on that on that particular area on the topic of sexual relationships one witness described hn67 who used the cover name alan bond
03:03:58 who used the cover name alan bond being ribbed or subjected to banter by possibly
03:04:03 possibly vince harvey suggested that hn 67 might have fathered a child quote i think one of the words was i saw somebody pushing a pram and it looked just like you or something in that
03:04:14 just like you or something in that region i thought that was a bit of banter but i didn't think there was any basis in that particular comment
03:04:25 basis in that particular comment a witness described hn 300 who used a cover named jim pickford as a sexual predator and an alcoholic
03:04:31 alcoholic but was not aware that hn 300 had married someone he met in his undercover identity
03:04:41 identity a witness described hn 297 richard clarke
03:04:42 clarke as a womanizer and carnivore he also recounted that clark had told him that quote he had been involved in
03:04:54 him that quote he had been involved in in fact two sexual relationships which led to his compromise however the witness was convinced that richard clarke would not have told jeffrey kraft about their sexual activity
03:05:09 activity quote because jeff kraft's attitude was sort of conservative and straight down the line and i cannot believe for a second he wouldn't have been apoplectic about that and we wouldn't have all been
03:05:22 about that and we wouldn't have all been lectured at length about it i am sure he and the office weren't aware utterly convinced of it the same witness went on to describe being shocked because the account of richard clarke's compromise given in the safe flat by his managers was not the
03:05:38 safe flat by his managers was not the one that he was later given in the pub quote i was shocked because i'd been told a story and i can't remember whether it was on the same day
03:05:45 same day i am sure it probably was on the same day in the in the flat about him being presented with a birth certificate and
03:05:58 presented with a birth certificate and then i am getting a completely different story in the pub and i just thought it was
03:06:03 was leaving aside the morality of it it was incredibly stupid to do that sort of thing whilst you were engaged in undercover work because it was a quick road to disaster as it turned out to be for him
03:06:20 for him he described the conversation in the pub as involving four five or six people in the pub he did not report what richard clark had said to management the same officer also gave evidence hn 300 jim pickford had confessed falling in love with
03:06:31 in love with someone in his group although not to actually entering into a relationship the officer explained the position to the office and that rapidly led to hn
03:06:44 the office and that rapidly led to hn 300 withdrawal from his deployment in december
03:06:45 december 1976.
03:06:47 1976. the witness described the officer who used the cover named jim pickford as a man who couldn't hold himself not a carnivore but a man who quote
03:07:00 not a carnivore but a man who quote genuinely fell in love with people all over the place when asked who in the office he had
03:07:12 when asked who in the office he had spoken to the officer stated that it was angus mcintosh he said managers did not speak to officers about what had happened to the officer who used name jim pickford and the dangers of relationships when told of the other undisputed sexual activity which the inquiry has received
03:07:25 activity which the inquiry has received evidence of in tranche one he said that he was shocked at the stupidity and the wrongness of it a witness recalls richard clarke
03:07:37 a witness recalls richard clarke saying that there was a lot going on in his group as far as quote horizontal politics was concerned meaning sexual activity
03:07:47 activity another witness recalls that quote rick had a certain reputation and it gradually came out that he had had a sexual relationship which led to his being compromised and that was to my way of thinking
03:08:01 and that was to my way of thinking generally well known among the existing sds officers
03:08:07 trench one phase three witness statements a number of broad observations can be made about the content of the witness statements that we have obtained for this phase of the inquiry's hearings
03:08:22 this phase of the inquiry's hearings these observations are of course subject to the oral evidence which is to come there are also many other issues that i and other members of the council team
03:08:34 and other members of the council team will be exploring in oral evidence and those who are being called
03:08:44 all of the witnesses had prior experience within special branch before assuming either an administrative or managerial post within the sds there is no evidence of a formal application process for a role within
03:08:55 application process for a role within the administration or management of the sds
03:08:56 sds all state that there was no formal training provided specifically for a role within the management or administration of the sds
03:09:15 administration of the sds any training was informal and on the job the sds as a unit issued no formal guidance to its officers to set boundaries when it came to the extent to which undercover officers interfered with private lives became involved in sexual activity in their undercover identity or
03:09:33 activity in their undercover identity or reported on legal professional privilege there was no equality or diversity training
03:09:39 training although some of the early witnesses had attended meetings or demonstrations in plain clothes whilst in the sds none of the witnesses worked undercover in an assumed identity
03:09:52 in an assumed identity there are differing recollections about who made decisions on targeting and tasking
03:09:56 tasking none of the witnesses states that he was aware of any sexual activity between contemporary sds undercover officers and people whom they met undercover however there is some evidence of an
03:10:10 however there is some evidence of an awareness of the risk that this might occur none of the witnesses give first-hand contemporaneous evidence of
03:10:24 first-hand contemporaneous evidence of the sds's decision to adopt the practice of using deceased children's identities as part of the process of building a cover identity there is evidence that the sds was not the first either to have the idea or to use this technique
03:10:35 or to use this technique many witnesses give evidence to the effect that the technique improved the officer's cover and or that they did not think that the families would ever find out
03:10:49 families would ever find out there is evidence relevant to the arrests and prosecutions of the officers who use the cover names michael scott and desmond or barry loder none of which suggests that the relevant courts knew that the men in front of
03:11:01 courts knew that the men in front of them were undercover police officers no phase 3 witness states that he knew of violence being used by an sds undercover police officer
03:11:13 undercover police officer the manager's evidence is that trade
03:11:24 the manager's evidence is that trade unions were not specifically targeted and any reporting about trade unions arose because the sds targets were involved with them next steps the approach that we have taken in tranche one has been to publish evidence relating to the management of the sds
03:11:36 relating to the management of the sds the dissemination of its reporting and the involvement of relevant government bodies as we have proceeded thus some module 2b in module 2c evidence has
03:11:51 some module 2b in module 2c evidence has already been reduced however our work is ongoing in this area we are moving away from our original plan which was to deal with these issues in a separate tranche trench six
03:12:04 in a separate tranche trench six instead we are seeking to deal with them by incorporating them into the chronological approach that we are taking in tranches one to four the approach that we are taking to
03:12:16 the approach that we are taking to evidence gathering in module 2b that is to say senior management and the dissemination of intelligence was recently outlined with the draft module 2b issues list that we have circulated for submissions
03:12:34 for submissions a draft module 2c issues list will also be produced and circulated for submissions the inquiry has been notified figure problem the inquiry has been notified that sadly both hn 80 who use a cover name colin clark and hn 106 who
03:12:49 cover name colin clark and hn 106 who use the cover name barry tompkins have passed away i know that you said we'll be considering whether to review the restriction orders which prohibit publication of their real names
03:13:01 publication of their real names we will need amongst other things to cover the legal framework it is essential to the assessment of whether the sds's activities were justified and to the fulfillment of
03:13:16 justified and to the fulfillment of other parts of the terms of reference in that regard we are grateful to ms kilroy queen's council and her team for the helpful legal submissions that she is going to make at this hearing and which we have had advanced sight of
03:13:27 advanced sight of we are considering them we also anticipate that state court participants will wish to respond once they have had sufficient opportunity to do so
03:13:45 do so once our module 2b and 2c investigations are further advanced decisions will be taken
03:13:46 taken based on the evidence obtained as to whether oral hearings will be necessary in relation to the trench one era
03:13:57 in relation to the trench one era i know sir that you wish to produce an interim report in order to enable those who had participated in tranche one to have your findings without having to wait until the end of the inquiry
03:14:11 wait until the end of the inquiry the scope of that report is a matter which i also know you will be considering once the further tranche one era investigations that i have just mentioned are further advanced the time scale will of course be
03:14:28 the time scale will of course be dependent upon the scope of the interim report and the completion of the necessary investigations those who have participated in tranche one including those representing the coordinating group of non-state corps participants will be afforded the
03:14:43 participants will be afforded the opportunity to make closing submissions in due course turning to tranche 2 we intend to start evidential hearings in the spring of 2024
03:14:52 2024 unlike tranche one we are preparing to hear evidence of officers and relevant managers within the sds without the long gaps between phases that have been necessary in tranche one
03:15:07 necessary in tranche one i'm afraid that it is not possible to provide a firm timetable for the remainder of the inquiry at this stage work is ongoing on tranches three and four concurrently with our work on tranches one and two
03:15:22 tranches one and two finally i would like to thank all of those who have contributed to the preparations for this phase of the inquiry's work as with previous phases it has involved
03:15:40 as with previous phases it has involved a great deal of effort on the part of a great many people both within and outside the inquiry we are grateful
03:15:44 thank you mr barr we will now take an hour off for lunch and will therefore resume at five past two rather than two as planned
03:15:55 two rather than two as planned we will hear uh i anticipate from uh mr skelton uh council for the acting commissioner of the metropolitan police until
03:16:29 you