Thread by @copscampaign

First up at the #SpyCopsInquiry today is Rajiv Menon QC speaking for some spied-on people, finishing his statement that he started yesterday. He's talking about Tariq Ali, activist from the 60s to today, who will be the first to give witness evidence next week.

Menon: Ernie Tate would be giving evidence but, with such long delays, he is now too ill to give evidence in person. He was a founder of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign. The VSC was an open, nonviolent organisation, yet was targeted by the Special Demonstration Squad

Mnon: Tate was a founder of the Intyernational Marxist Group & became a friend of Tariq Ali. He has written a 2 volume memoir about his 60s work. He's always been open about his politics, no clandestine spying was necessary to find it out

Menon: in the VSC, Tate & Ali organised the demos against the Vietnam war in 1968 that led to the foundation of the SDS #SpyCopsInquiry campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2018/03/17/spy…

Menon: The Inquiry has seen TV news reports of the March 1968 demo that ended in trouble, & the pro-police commentary is at odds with the visuals; police corralled the head of the march near the US Embassy instead of steering it through a route agreed with police

....10 minutes in & the first of the day's delays breaks due to technical failure. The Inquiry has spent £30m yet its chaotic & counter-intuitive website functions like an adolescent's first attempt at web design, & the streaming tech is equally shonky with frequent breakdowns...

Apologies to Rajiv Menon QC for mistyping his attributional surname in live tweets. He doesn't speak with the unnaturally slow pace of most lawyers, & 'Menon' involves larger keyboard reaches than most names which a hurried two-finger typist won't always make with accuracy.

Menon starts again for those whose transmission wasn't working first time.

We missed the opening, so here's what we hadn't tweeted.

Menon: Tariq Ali was born in Punjab in colonial times & now 76. He's been in many political & campaigning organisations inc Vietnam Solidarity Campaign, International Marxist Groups & Stop the War.

Menon: Ali has written more than a dozen books on history & politics. President of Oxford Union in 1965 when Special Branch opened their file on him.

Menon: Ernie Tate was born in Northern Ireland. Founder of the VSC & was on its national council until 1969 when he emigrated to Canada.

Menon: IMG grew to about 1,000 members & was an influential group of socialists.

Menon: At March 1968 Vietnam demo, protesters were spread across the green, police failed to contain it & then rode in on horses. The Commissioner recognised it himself.

Menon: VSC press conference next day explained that injuries stemmed from prevention of handing in letter to US embassy despite agreement in advance. Despite being informed, Inquiry hasn't got the NCCL files that show this.

Menon: The lie that trouble awas due to intel failure was the original sin that led to the founding of the SDS. The lack of trouble at Oct demo was seen as success of SDS, but it was really due to better stewarding, & the intent protesters. Press at the time reported this

Menon: Intel played no role in avoiding trouble at Oct 1968 march, but the Mail ran a story about spycops infiltrating all meetings (true) and this was the reason. Commissioner Waldron gave a bottle of champagne to SDS.

Menon: SDS expected to be disbanded after Oct 1968 Vietnam demo, but MI5 saw the value of spycops having a permanent and much wider remit. Home Office gave it their blessing & successive governments gave it funding year after year. Secret from public but well known to government

Menon: Docs show PM & Home Sec expected advance reports on Vietnam demos. They totally knew. SDS spread to other 'subversive' groups. Police gleefully said new entrants to groups were identified & reported on within weeks. They were told to sweep wide

Menon: Spycops targeted irrelevant groups & spied on unthreatening people in order to be in the community that was in more serious targets. Police defend it to this day, right up to police lawyers this week at the Inquiry.

Menon: We know IMG office was burgled by spycops after officer 'Dick Epps' was trusted with the keys & made copies.

Menon: Only 1 SDS officer 'Alan Nixon' admits to brief interaction with Tariq Ali. Ali wants to hear condemnation of the unwarranted spying, but expects to hear justification. Spycops felt mudane tittle-tattle may turn out to be useful

Menon: Ali is proud to be a revolutionary. Proud socialist for peace but know he agrees violence is justifiable if you are a Vietnamese person fighting invaders or a Brit soldier fighting Nazis.

Menon: Piers Corbyn is in his 70s and still protesting, currently at anti lockdown. Always open about politics with nothing to hide. He attended VSC rallies in the late 60s & joined IMG in 1971. Joined antifascist, Irish & union causes, but squatting is what got him spied on

Menon: in 1986 Piers Corbyn became a Labour councillor for 4 years. He will not appear in this early stage of the Inquiry but will appear in Phase 2 in 2021. Police claim they don't know what name relevant officer HN338 used!

Menon: Why was Corbyn asked about spycop Alan Nixon, yet officers aren't asked about him. He can't say how he was spied on because police & Inquiry won't say who the spies were. he sees no justification for SDS spying on anyone

Menon: The Advisory Service for Squatters has been advising people since 1974 & has sole 150k copies of the Squatters Handbook since 1976. Squatting became illegal in 2012, yet was spied on long before that. ASS don't know why or how they were spied on. Only given 2 docs so far

Menon: Tenants & housing groups seem to have been spied on since 1971. SDS called squatting 'the nursery of extremists'. ASS say it was indefensible. Mike Zeitlin is a core participant but has no idea who spied on him, police & Inquiry won't say.

Menon: Friends of Freedom Press - FP is the largest anarchist publisher in UK, oldest in the world. Set up with blessing of William Morris in 19th century. Constantly raided by police during world wars for producing Freedom paper @Freedom_Paper

Menon: FP HQ firebombed by fascists in 1993. Did spycops know about it? Decide not to stop it? Spycop Roger Pearce infiltrated FP 1979-84. Wrote articles for them. Later went on to run the SDS

Menon: Spycop 'Doug Edwards' attended FP meetings. FP have had 11 intel reports 1974-77. Haven't been asked for a witness statement, nor told which officers spied on them so can't comment properly. One key FP member died last year, another person failed by Inquiry delays

Menon: Norman Blair has been a political & social activist since the 80s. Was in London Greenpeace, spied on by spycops John Dines. Was at Genoa anticapitalist protest in 2001 & helped to convict police for their behaviour

Menon: Blair believes spycops were tasked to 'raise the stakes', they caused division & acted as agents provocateur thereby showing their bosses they were spying on dangerous groups. But most groups had people with the best intentions wanting positive change

Menon: Richard & Audrey Adams saw their oldest son Rolan take responsibility of his younger siblings. Studous, about to take GCSEs, footballer scouted by West Ham & Wimbledon apprentice, & passionate about writing music

Menon: in Feb 1991, gang of 12-15 racists chased & stabbed Rolan. Brother Nathan escaped & returned to find Rolan dying. Racist attacks were on the rise since BNP moved HQ to the area in 1989. Gang called themselves Nazi Turnouts. Police knew who they were, yet they were bailed

Menon: Neither police nor CPS admitted the crime was racism, an ongoing problem of the institutions. Racist stereotype of no innocent black boys. Nathan was instead harrassed & criminalised by police, arrested & searched

Menon: Trial judge said attack WAS racist & sentenced one person to jail. CPS uses 'joint enterprise' frequently, yet didn't prosecute any other attackers with murder here. Rolans parents formed a campaign for justice. Made links with others [see @UFFCampaign ]

Menon: police were hostile campaign, intercepting people coming to their house clearly with advance knowledge. Family being harrassed but got no protection. They had to leave their home for their own safety 3 months after Rolan was murdered

Menon: If police had focussed on attacker rather than family perhaps this could have been avoided. Rolan's father speaks movingly of the huge psychological impact. Family became involved in protests against BNP.

Menon: Adams family still angry & grieving; angry at lack of charges, culture of denial of the racist culture that led to Rolan's murder. If police took decisive action, used intel against racists rather campaigns than justice campaigns & could have prevented later murder in area

Menon: Adams' know racism is still endemic in society. They want to know why police spied on their family. Would a white family have been spied on? Richard says as racist murders rose, more young black men were arrested. We had to try to keep my surviving son & other kids safe

Menon: Adams' are worried that Inquiry is not assisted by as diverse panel. Richard says knowing he was spied on has helped him regain a bit of sanity. The 34-year delay proves nobody cared about Rolan's name.