The Undercover Policing Inquiry is an independent statutory inquiry into undercover policing in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It was announced by

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

, the then

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

, on 6 March 2014, and its terms of reference were published on 16 July 2015. The Inquiry has been chaired by Sir John Mitting since July 2017, following the resignation due to ill-health of Sir Christopher Pitchford.

Background

Theresa May commissioned the Undercover Policing Inquiry in 2015, in response to a string of allegations about the activities of undercover units, including the disclosure that police had spied on campaigners fighting for justice for

Stephen Lawrence Stephen Adrian Lawrence (13September 1974 – 22April 1993) was an 18-year-old black British citizen from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus on Well Hall Road, Eltham, on the ...

. In 2012 Theresa May had commissioned Mark Ellison KC to review allegations of corruption relating to the initial police investigation of the 1993 murder of Lawrence. The report from the Ellison review, presented to Parliament on 6 March 2014, found a number of serious concerns relating to undercover policing practices. Ellison also highlighted a possible link between an allegedly corrupt police officer involved in the Lawrence campaign, and the 1987 murder of

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

Daniel Morgan Daniel Morgan (c. 1736 – July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...

Remit

The Inquiry is investigating undercover police operations conducted by English and Welsh police forces in England and Wales since 1968. It primarily examines the conduct of two now disbanded units: the Metropolitan Police's Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) and the

National Public Order Intelligence Unit The National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) was run by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), a private company connected to United Kingdom police intelligence, and was set up in 1999 to track green activists and public demonstr ...

(NPOIU). It is looking at allegations that undercover officers infiltrated and disrupted social justice groups and movements, deceived women into intimate relationships, stole the names of dead children to create fake identities, and concealed evidence in court cases.

Evidence and Reports

As of April 2018 the inquiry has confirmed that undercover police had infiltrated the following groups and movements:

Anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

groups,

Animal Liberation Front The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is a Far-left politics, far-left international, Leaderless resistance, leaderless, decentralized movement that emerged in Britain in the 1970s, evolving from the Bands of Mercy. It operates without a formal lead ...

Anti-Apartheid Movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-white population who were oppressed by the policies ...

Anti-Fascist Action Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) was a militant anti-fascist organisation, founded in the UK in 1985 by a wide range of anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations. It was active in fighting far-right organisations, particularly the National Front a ...

, Big Flame, Black Power movement, Brixton Hunt Saboteurs, Anglia Ruskin Churchill Society (Young Conservatives), Colin Roach Centre, Dambusters Mobilising Committee,

Dissent! Dissent! was the name adopted by an international network of local groups, which came together to organise opposition to the G8 summit held at Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, Scotland, in July 2005. Most groups shared an anti-capitalist orientatio ...

Earth First! Earth First! is a radical environmentalism, radical Environmental movement, environmental advocacy group that originated in the Southwestern United States. It was founded in 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron K ...

, Essex Hunt Saboteurs, Friends of Freedom Press Ltd,

Globalise Resistance Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with an alternative ...

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

Independent Working Class Association The Independent Working Class Association (IWCA) is a minor political party in the United Kingdom that aims to promote the political and economic interests of the working class, regardless of the consequences to existing political and economic ...

International Marxist Group The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s. In 1980, it had 682 members; by ...

, International Socialists, Irish National Liberation Solidarity Front, London Animal Action, London Animal Rights Coalition, London Boots Action Group,

London Greenpeace London Greenpeace was an anarchist environmentalist activist collective that existed between 1972 and 2001. They were based in London, and came to international prominence when two of their activists refused to capitulate to McDonald's ...

Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

No Platform No Platform, in the UK, is a form of student boycott where a person or organisation is denied a platform to speak. The British National Union of Students (NUS) established its No Platform policy in April 1974. Like other No Platform policies, it ...

, Antifa, Operation Omega,

Reclaim the Streets Reclaim the Streets also known as RTS, are a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterise the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalisati ...

Red Action Red Action was a British leftist political group formed in 1981. It became known for violently confronting groups such as the British National Party on the streets, and for being the main organisational force behind Anti-Fascist Action. In 19 ...

, Republican Forum, Revolutionary Socialist Students Federation,

Socialist Party (England and Wales) The Socialist Party () is a Trotskyist political party in England and Wales. Founded in 1997, it had formerly been Militant, an entryist group in the Labour Party from 1964 to 1991, which became Militant Labour from 1991 until 1997. It is a ...

, Socialist Workers Party, South London Animal Movement (SLAM),

Tri-Continental Tri-Continental is a Canadian blues, folk, and world music group consisting of musicians Bill Bourne, Lester Quitzau, and Madagascar Slim. They are most noted for winning the Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group at the ...

Troops Out Movement The Troops Out Movement (TOM) was an Irish republican organisation formed in the United Kingdom in 1973, following actions by the British Army in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, including the Bloody Sunday and Ballymurphy massacres by the ...

Vietnam Solidarity Campaign The Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) was originally set up in 1966 by activists around the International Group with the personal and financial support of Bertrand Russell. Ralph Schoenman acted both as Director of the Vietnam Solidarity Camp ...

, West London Hunt Saboteurs, Workers Revolutionary Party, Young Haganah, Young Liberals,

Youth against Racism in Europe Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Youth ...

. The Undercover Research Group has published an extensive list of known spycops and the groups they spied upon. Tranche 1, Phase Hearings of the inquiry took place in November 2020 and took evidence about the SDS between 1968-1972 from non-state witnesses and undercover police officers. The inquiry started hearing evidence on 2 November 2020, with seven days of opening statements then seven days of evidence hearings. The hearings were conducted remotely due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The inquiry was to focus on the deployment of about 140 undercover police officers to spy on over 1,000 political groups over more than 40 years. Tranch1, Phase 2 Hearings in April and May 2021 heard evidence about SDS activities between 1970-1979. In May 2022, Tranche ,1 Phase 3, the inquiry mainly heard evidence from SDS police managers over the period 1968-1982. The Inquiry published its interim report for Tranche One on 29 June 2023. The expected commencement of Tranche Two hearings is Spring 2024.

Criticism of the Inquiry

Criticisms levelled against the Inquiry have included concerns about long delays in its work (the Guardian said: "The inquiry has performed to perfection its dual function of creating the illusion of a political response, while firmly kicking the issue into the long grass"), the perceived suitability of Sir John Mitting as chair, and his decisions to allow many undercover officers giving evidence to the Inquiry to remain anonymous. In March 2018 campaigners and their legal teams walked out of an Inquiry hearing, calling for Mitting to stand down or appoint a full panel.Undercover policing inquiry: Chairman urged to quit
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', 21 March 2018. A number of the CPs (Core Participants) involved in the inquiry are campaigning together. They are the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS) and Police Spies Out of Lives.

References

{{reflist Public inquiries in the United Kingdom 2015 establishments United Kingdom commissions and inquiries

Background

Remit

Evidence and Reports

Criticism of the Inquiry

See also

References