Thread by @copscampaign

Next at the #SpyCopsInquiry, we hear from Rajiv Menon QC, representing Piers Corbyn

From the start of the #SpyCopsInquiry, the spied on have been concerned about the state's prioritisation of secrecy, the lack of redress on these matters, & the late disclosure of evidence by the Inquiry

We note the police lawyers are having a judicial review of an Inquiry decision, but we're not being told what it's about. So much of this 'public' inquiry excludes victims & the wider public. Without full inclusion of those spied on, the Inquiry is not worth having

Piers Corbyn is now 74 but has not given up his lifelong activism. He was one of the 1st people to apply to be a Core Participant in the Inquiry, 5 years ago.

The evidence we've been supplied with has issues. The pasges scream out the fact that the SDS was never about protecting parliamentary democracy or maintaining public order. It was to spy on people & orgs because of their ideas & politics.

Limited public disorder involving spycops was largely minor, & doesn't justify the huge spycops operations. There's a 21 page report on an IMG conference in 1972, & 55 pages on 1976 one. These detail currents in IMG & summarise debates, as well as details of attendees

There is nothing about protecting parlaimentary democracy nor preventing public disorder. It was weird Orwellian-Monty Python spying on the left, despite the far right violence on thee streets at the time. This partisanship is not opinion, it is plain fact.

Spycops admit gathering as much info as possible, however personal or trivial, for others to discern.
MI5's 'Witness Z' confirms the SDS has always been subordinate to MI5.

Witness Z is not being called to give evidence, we cannot understand why this is. Their statement provided shows they have so much vital knowledge about #SpyCops.

The secret state itself undermines our democratic institutions.
The Inquiry is only calling 8 of the officers from the era begin examines 1973-82 are being called. 10 others are not coming for various reasons.The Inquiry should be hearing from as many spycops as possible.

We saw in the last hearings that witnesses remember detail under questioning that they did not when writing statements.

We are also dismayed that fully anonymous SDS officers' evidence is redacted to an 8 page group gist. We cannot say which officer did what. We need to know what they did individually if their info is any use to anyone at all.

Most vintage reports made spycops by aren't in the documents we've been given. We though it was due to others being destroyed, but police lawyers say the Inquiry has many more but is choosing not to release them

We're told lots of the files we've seen that many docs are MI5 copies. This suggests Special Branch has been destroying files, which is worrying. Notable MI5 isn't handing over its own relevant docs, just copies of police ones

The Inquiry is redacting names of groups spied on. None of this is justifiable. We're looking at 35-50 years ago, what's the problem? What are they hiding? [here's the most complete list @UndercoverNet was able to compile theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-int… ]

Reports 1969-84 have 130 group names redacted. Why must these remain secret forever, at the insistence of those who did the spying. It's a betrayal of the purpose of the #SpyCopsInquiry. We call for all these names to be unredacted.

We're not being given enough time to read & digest material by the Inquiry. We were meant to get docs in mid march, but another 2000+ pages have been added in April. Nobody can go through all that in a matter of a couple of weeks.

Piers Corbyn had no idea of the extent of the spying on him. Having been a Core Participant for over 5 years, he knew little until recently. He has always been open about his politics & has nothing to hide, in contrast with the anonymous spycops who spied on him.

Why was Piers Corbyn of interest? His file was opened in 1969, & he still can't see it. He was President of ther Imperial College Union. He joined the International Marxist Group. He supported Irish rights, anti racism, & trade union rights.

He was very active in London squatting in the 1970s. In1982 he joined the Labour Party, & campaigned on the cost of public transport. He became a Labour councillor for 4 years. He is mentioned in passing in one spycops report that we've seen.

2 officer HN299 Dave Hughes & HN353 Gary Roberts mention him in their witness statements to the Inquiry but will not be giving evidence. The Inquiry has shown him pics of some spycops but not the ones who spied on him!

He was granted Core Participancy on the grounds of his 1970s squatting activism, but this apparently isn't the basis of the spying. What we want to see is his file, to see the full nature of what he was spied on for. Why won't they let him see it?

Why can't the Inquiry compel the police to do it? Is it because it's so tedious & unnecessary that it will embarrass them? Or something else? We'll never know. While secrecy trumps openness, the Inquiry will never achieve its purpose.

The police lawyers express concern about Tariq Ali's comments about the killing of Blair Peach & what Piers Corbyn said about the killing of Kevin Gately. But Peach was killed by a police officer. That is the truth. It is not inflammatory or contentious.

To ignore the fact that a police officer's blow killed Peach is to deny history. Ali was also hit over the head by police on at the demo at which Peach was killed

Kevin Gately died at a 1974 demo from a blunt hard object, while mounted officers while striking at heads in the crowd. Those are the facts. It's reasonable for people such as Piers Corbyn to believe the most likely explanation is that it was a police truncheon blow.

The victims of spycops are dismayed at the new delays to the Inquiry. This benefits those who want delay. More documents will be lost and destroyed, more witnesses will die. justice delayed is justice denied. campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2021/04/20/new…

With that, Menon concludes. There will now be an hour's break for lunch, proceedings will resume at 2.15pm