Thread by @copscampaign

The #SpyCopsInquiry now hears its last opening statement of the day, from Dave Morris. Dave is a lifelong campaigner for environmental & social justice, peace & other issues of compassion. He is perhaps best known as one of the #McLibel 2.

Morris is responding to material he's recently seen about spying on him by spycop Graham Coates, which the Inquiry has known about for years but only just shared.

Morris reiterates Heaven's conclusion, & reaffirms his earlier statements to the Inquiry, including parts endorsed by 90 Core Particpants.

Morris has been an activist from 1974, including workplace, anarchist, socialist, and community self-organisation groups. Currently Chair of National Federation of Parks & Green Spaces. He wants to tackle injustice & encourage people to have control over their lives.

He left school in 1972, did volunteering then became a postal worker. He saw a BBC Open Door programme on anarchism in the 70s. The abolition of hierarchy replacing it with cooperation, mutual aid & sharing, ideals within the heart of most community groups

In early 1975 he attended Freedom newspaper collective meetings, moving on to Anarchy Magazine, discussing housing, poverty, feminism, exploitation; a friendly, sociable, advertised & open group.

he was active in the Union of Postal Workers until 1980. Elected to attend UPW annual conference, becoming branch secretary. Took part in industrial disputes but got on with most managers.

I never hid my views nor forced them on others. Anarchy Mag had some articles I was uncomfortable with (eg anti abortion, antifascist strategy, guerilla groups abroad) but recognised the importance of publishing diverse views.

Arrested at Bulgarian Embassy in 1977 in support of dissidents under Soviet Bloc rule, also went to Poland in late 70s to support Solidarnosc trade union movement against government.

Became involved in anti nuclear & environmental groups in late 70 & it's been main focus since. I support cooperation 7 have never hit another person, but believe in the right to self defence. I've worked for decades with local & national government for community issues.

Spycop Graham Coates infiltrated groups I was in, & I was personally targeted. It's a breach of not only my trust, but that of others, eg the family whose house Anarchy Collective met in. It's Stasi-like behaviour.

All of my activity was standard campaigning activism, albeit at the left of the spectrum. Organising public meetings, social events, protests, defence form people whose rights were infringed etc. These are rights enshrined in international law & should have the highest protection

We're friendly trustworthy people, not a threat from Planet Zog as spycops imply. Coates says 'anarchist I reported on posed a minimal challenge to public order... didn't even discuss activities that could be a public order threat...

Spycop Coates said 'I do not not think any info i provided was significant'.

The right to take part in political, religious & union activity are fundamental.

I was in the McLibel trial to help defeat McDonald's attempt to silence critics. Corporations haven't tried that again. With @helensteel12 I won an additional victory at the European Court of Human Rights because our trial was unfair.

After the Kingsnorth Climate Camp 2008 I won a case against the police, and showed that mass stop and search of campaigners was in fact illegal.

Countless thousands of people have asserted their political & human rights, and will continue to do so.Spycop Coates says 'I do not specifically recall the content of any of the reports, though I accept I must have provided the info in some of them'

The spycop report on me reports the area I was brought up in, what A levels I did and more - and all the details are wrong! What less subjective stuff were they also wrong about?

Some spycop reports are written a month after the event described & may have been embellished by officers who weren't even there.

A spycops report says I said that the Anarchy Collective should be involved in fire-raising activity on government building in support of a firefighters strike. But I remember the group decided it would produce stickers & join local picket lines.

It's possible someone may have made an offhand joke, but the police should be able to discern between that and genuine beliefs of intent

The groups targeted all sought to improve society & encourage people to organise for themselves. I was spied on by police & MI5 from the mid 70s, which fascists were seemingly ignored.

A proper risk assessment of threats to society would have decided to target fossil fuel companies, tobacco companies, tax havens, car companies.

Also, the military intervention in Northern Ireland, and major construction companies who ran an industry blacklist (that both myself & Helen Steel were added to!). Why didn't the SDS target these threats to the public?

London Greenpeace was spied on from about 1978. I came across them though anti nuclear work in the 70s, I joined in 1982 - we'll hear more about it in later Inquiry hearings dealing with those years.

It campaigned against nuclear weapons & militarism. It opposed nuclear power, for which it was spied on. It was named in a secret government report from 1980 as part of 'small anarchist dominated groups' opposing nuclear power.

The report said most such groups were opposed to violence & not a terrorist threat. The nuclear industry itself should have been investigated - the Three Mile Island & Chernobyl nuclear incidents showed the threat to the public.

London Greenpeace's opposition to McDonald's was wide ranging - not just the manufacture of the food, but its workers rights,its subversion of the parent-child relationship & more. Why was this subversion not targeted by the SDS?

The spying on me and the groups had no reasonable basis. It was a gross breach of our human rights. It has no shred of legitimacy as it was used to protect those who control wealth and power from the real needs of the public.

With that, Morris concludes.

That's the end of the #SpyCopsInquiry for the day. It will be back on Monday at 12 noon, for evidential hearings. These will not be live streamed, instead there will be a live transcript and - for those in England & Wales only - an audio feed.

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