The anti-apartheid activists would seek to disrupt matches and sometimes carried out pitch invasions.
(this picture is from Murrayfield in Edinburgh)
Jonathan talked about finally (“I tried several but I'm not very good at climbing fences”) getting on the pitch in Aldershot .
He pointed out that the police took photographs of them, which should have been destroyed when he and his co-arrestees were found not guilty of any charges, and made the point that the police should follow the law themselves.
The first document shown today was [UCPI 00000 34318] – we are told that this is a Special Branch (not purely SDS) report on the Anti Apartheid League's 1969 AGM.
The Inquiry tell us that this has not been shown to Jonathan before, but does not explain why they withheld it from him.
They still have not uploaded it to their website so you can't see it either.
He was on the exec committee of the Anti Apartheid Movement around this time, and thinks he was likely present at this AGM.
He explained more about the Special Action group – Hummerstone asked if they functioned as the 'covert arm' of the Stop the Seventy Tour?
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Again , there is no public live-stream today, so the only way to follow Helen's evidence to the #spycops inquiry is via tweets here (and occasional reaction videos throughout the day hosted by @tombfowler
Helen Steel returns to the #spycops inquiry today to give evidence for a second time.
Today’s hearing will be starting slightly later than planned...
Helen says she remembers the impact Channel 4’s broadcast of the ‘Animals’ film had on the British public – the animal rights movement ‘mushroomed’ after that.
#spycops
Geoff Sheppard appears remotely again today, for continued questioning by David Barr KC.
Barr got straight into it, with no preamble. Sheppard had to reassert what he’d said yesterday about not being prepared to refer to ‘Mr X’ by any other name.
#spycops
In the witness statement he provided back in 2017, he said that he’d been recruited to take part in the incendiary device action by a ‘fourth person’. Did he mean Paul Gravett or Person X?
The #spycops inquiry didn't hold a hearing this morning.
This afternoon's hearing - featuring Geoff Sheppard - starts at 2pm.
To follow proceedings, check out twitch.tv/ucpinquiry for a handy round-up of whatever evidence can be tweeted/ shared publicly. With added music. x.com/ucpinquiry/sta…
David Barr KC led the Inquiry’s questioning of Geiff Sheppard, and went straight into looking at Sheppard’s witness statement, supplied to the Inquiry in July 2024
He says that since writing that statement, he has changed his views somewhat.
He no longer thinks there was any justification for the deployment of undercovers in the animal rights movement.
Follow @tombfowler for updates from the hearing room.
Some of those spied upon (and their lawyers) have now been granted access via Zoom, thanks to the arguments made by lawyers in Tuesday morning's hearing.
However many of the people whose lives have been impacted by the abusive intrusive practices of the SDS and other #spycops units - and the wider public, who are understandably interested in this issue - are still not able to watch or hear these proceedings....
..unless they are able to take time off work/ away from other commitments, and travel to the hearing room in London on the days the Inquiry sits (and there is space in the public gallery for them).
Not what is normally understood as 'open justice'.
Martyn Lowe is giving evidence at the @ucpinquiry this afternoon.
You can watch today's proceedings at
Martyn confirmed his involvement in the Peace Pledge Union, part of War Resisters International (WRI), a pacifist organisation with sections across the world. They support conscientious objectors, and are recognised by the United Nations.
The Inquiry asked him to explain what he meant be ‘nonviolence’? A philosophy about not causing any hurt to any individual. He states that he would not be willing to join any group that advocated violence.
These hearings are being live-streamed on Youtube, so from 10am onwards you'll be able to watch the proceedings as they happen -
First up today is Rajiv Menon KC
He represents three men who were politically active in the period covered by this 'Tranche' of the @ucpinquiry – the years 1968-82 – Tariq Ali, Piers Corbyn and Ernie Tate.