Thread by @copscampaign

The #SpyCopsInquiry continues with the return of Imran Khan QC, this time speaking for Michael Mansfield QC in relation to the Stephen Lawrence case.

Khan: When the state appears to be having a wholesale attack on lawyer there are grave consequences. There are far right plots against law firms, & the Home Secretary criticising 'activist lefty lawyers

Khan: The Home Sec dismissed lawyers objecting to her comments, saying 'get back to work' even though she was actually objecting to their work

Khan: Mr Mansfield wonders if we're in an era when the legal profession is imperiled. The state has always tried to silence critics, but the scale of it varies. Mr Mansfield has given a voice to those who would otherwise be unheard. But why should he be wary of #spycops?

Khan: State says it believes in the rule of law, yet spies on lawyers. Mansfield has never shied away from representing those who challenge state iniquities. But he did not encourage or deserve targeting by #spycops

Khan: Mansfield has long been aware of state surveillance of lawyers. We know that it's not just police, the Home Office directly funded #spycops. Why shouldn't we know how many people are spied on in our name & at our expense?

Khan: seems to have been targeted by #spycops more than once in the 70s as he represented people perceived as a threat. He continued to represent people who had suffered at the hands of the police, eg (with Gareth Peirce) the Birmingham 6 wrongly convicted

Khan: The police are prepared to do anything, inc unlawful things, without respect for impact on citizens. But it has not intimidated Mansfield. He acted at Bloody Sunday inquiry for families of those assassinated. He represented families of Jean Charles de Menezes & Pat Finucane

Khans: Inquiries Act 2005 undermines confidence in law - it was not properly debated & repealed earlier effective laws. No parliamentary scrutiny of Inquiry decisions is allowed. Arbitray appointments mean inquiries are not independent

Khan: The #CHISBill will allow any state agent to be authorised to commit any crime, it's an open invitation to damage & destroy lives.

Khan: Mansfield represented Ricky Reel's family who we now know were targeted by #spycops while the killers still walk free.

Khan: Mansfield helped found @MonitoringGroup . These families didn't just deal with agents of the state, but also a secret state whose purpose was to disrupt them & undermine justice

Khan: We may never know how much Mansfield was spied on, But #spycops officer HN81 did spy on him at the Macpehrson inquiry. Who authorised it? What was his remit? Why was Mansfield relevant? powerbase.info/index.php/N81

Khan: Peter Francis @realspycop was asked to find dirt for the police to give to the media to reduce sympathy with the Stephen Lawrence campaign. No officer found anything concrete.

Khan: #spycops officer HN81 said he wouldn't have joined the SDS if he'd known the impact it would have personally. But still, he did it, which makes his claims of distaste questionable. Boss Bob Lambert lauded officer HN81's work

Khan: Ellison report refused to give details on N81 in order to protect which groups he'd infiltrated. But we know the groups were the Anti Racist Alliance, Monitoring Group, Anti Nazi League & Youth Against Racism in Europe.

Khan: In 1998 Commander Colin Black told Richard Walton that 'we need a conduit' for information on the Lawrence family campaign. Once started, when do they decide to stop spying?

Khan: We can only get the truth if we have the wider SDS issues, with the public seeing and hearing. Mansfield never deceived people, destroyed papers, or used a fake name. Why is he in public while #spycops are anonymised?

Khan: UN basic principles on lawyers say states must ensure equal access to lawyers of their choosing, who must work without intimidation or hindrance. Yet UK government is now challenging lawyers

Khan: Without lawyers who are up for challenging the state, you lose the ability to challenge the government at all & are in a tyranny. Yet only lawyers that bring such challenges are subjected to attacks & #spycops.

Khan: Mansfield takes on cases uncomfortable to the state, but this should have no bearing on how he is treated. A lawyer is a lawyer. Mansfield is just one of many who have been spied on. This Inquiry must find out the full extent, why it was done, and who authorised it.

Khan: If the Inquiry fails in this, fear & intimidation could replace fearlessness, & we lose capacity for challenging state wrongdoing. The police appear to have ignored history, acting with arrogance & impunity, and hope this Inquiry with its shroud of mystery fails.

Khan: There needs not only to be recommendations but implementation, as opposed to police just ignoring another set of recommendations. So many hard won inquiries are just left to gather dust in the Home Office, & we appear to be going backwards if anything

Khan: We must criminalise unjustified surveillance of lawyers. Mansfield wants a sincere apology to him & to the other core participants.

With that, Khan ends