Thread by @copscampaign

Today at the #spycopsinquiry we'll be hearing from four different lawyers, all representing various groupings of 'Non State Core Participants'

#spycops

#spycops

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.

#spycops

@ucpinquiry #spycops

They made a joint Opening Statement at the start of 'Tranche 1, Part 3'
which you can download from ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

@ucpinquiry Tariq Ali appeared as a witness back in 'Tranche 1, Part 1' on 11 Nov 2020

You can see his statement at ucpi.org.uk/publications/f…

Or watch the videos: ucpi.org.uk/hearing/eviden…
#spycops

@ucpinquiry Ali became active as a student in the mid 60s, and was particularly involved in opposing the war in Vietnam. He now knows that Special Branch opened a file on him in 1965, when he was elected President of the Oxford Union.
#spycops

@ucpinquiry The #spycopsinquiry has already published at least 112 pieces of evidence in which Ali is named.

Many of these are Special Branch reports, about meetings, marches and other events.

There's a telegram about his being arrested in Paris.
#spycops

@ucpinquiry There's a record of the interest Special Branch took in 'Black Dwarf' – a radical paper edited by Ali – its Soho office was raided by the police in September 1968

#spycops
ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

@ucpinquiry #spycops

Tariq Ali is interviewed about this raid by the @guardian at the time:

theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/s…

@ucpinquiry @guardian More about Black Dwarf archived by the Specil Branch Files project:
specialbranchfiles.uk/1968-protest-a…

And a longer excerpt from Ali's book: static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Gua…
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian The police formed their first new #spycops unit in 1968, in response to demonstrations against the war in Vietnam, and Ali was undoubtedly one of their first targets...

@ucpinquiry @guardian The evidence mentioning him goes right up to the 21st century, including reports from 2003 which note his involvement in Globalise Resistance and the Stop the War Coalition.
@STWuk
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk Back in the 'Tranche 1' period Ali was a member of the International Marxist Group (IMG), part of the 'Fourth International', as well as the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC).

#spycops were sent to infiltrate both groups.

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk His witness statement is an interesting read.
ucpi.org.uk/publications/f…

He goes into a lot of detail about the radical and revolutionary movements which existed in those days, their
politics and his own personal memories of key events.
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk His account of 23 April 1979, the day when Blair Peach was killed by the @metpoliceuk in Southall (an event we heard about yesterday from Celia Stubbs' lawyer)...

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk ...includes his being beaten unconscious by a line of cops from the Special Patrol Group, in the same incident that left Misty in Roots singer, Clarence Baker, severely injured.

(mentioned in the Ruts classic, 'Jah War')

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk He says he wasn't surprised to learn that he'd been spied on – he'd “expect nothing less” from the British State, but believes the impact of this on his own political activity has been “negligible"...
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk In his words:
“I question the wisdom of providing such massive resources for agencies that therefore serve no purpose, except the prurient interest of spies and their paymasters”
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk #spycops

You can read more about Tariq Ali's life in his book
'Street Fighting Years: an autobiography of the sixties'

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk A thread to explain what's going on at the #spycopsinquiry today

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk Ernest Tate and Piers Corbyn were also members of the IMG. They both attended the big anti-war demos in London in 1968.

They too supplied the #spycopsinquiry with written witness statements.
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk Piers spent less than 3 years living in a squat in Elgin Avenue, West London, during which time he became a self-styled 'leader' of the squatting movement.

You can download his witness statement from: ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk IMG members assumed that the authorities had them under surveillance
So they adopted pseudonyms (what they called their “party names”), but Piers admits that this “was not taken too seriously as we didn't stick rigidly to it and used real names and initials as well”.
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk He appeared as a witness during 'Tranche 1, Part 2', on 21 April 2021, having made a personal Opening Statement for that Tranche: ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk Ernie Tate was unable to appear and give evidence due to ill health.

However his statement was “read into” the Inquiry on 12 November 2020, as part of 'Tranche 1, Part 1”.
Download it from ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk Sadly, Ernie died in 2021, at the age of 86, having never received answers to his questions or access to his Special Branch file.

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk He said he hoped this Inquiry would “finally expose the gross violations of people's civil Liberties that took place at the hands at the British security services for so many years”.

Let's see if it does.

#spycops
#SpyCopsInquiry

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk You can read more about Ernie's life in his two-part memoir:

"Revolutionary Activism in the 1950s and 60s, Ernest Tate, A Memoir' published by Resistance Books.
resistancebooks.org/?s=ernest+tate

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk There will be a short break mid-morning, with James Scobie KC scheduled to start making his submissions (on behalf of another three activists: Lindsey German, 'Mary' and Richard Chessum) from 11:10am onwards

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman currently serves as the Convenor of the Stop The War Coalition and is well-known for her involvement in left wing politics over the years
stopwar.org.uk

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman #spycops

Her witness statement, written for the #spycopsinquiry a year ago, can be downloaded:
ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman In it, she explains what she does know about the infiltration she and the groups she was part of (primarily the International Socialists, later known as the Socialist Workers Party) suffered.

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman Of all the (1000+) groups known to have been the subject of #spycops reporting, the IS/SWP was undoubtedly the most heavily infiltrated over the 50 years covered by this Inquiry.

She also has a lot of questions

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman Lindsey became politically active as a teenager in London, and has since played a part in many campaigns and movements for social change.

She says “Police infiltration of such organisations is not new, but it is not acceptable in a supposedly democratic society”
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman She rejects

“the accusations & attempts to slur people whose aim was to create a better world, the apportioning of blame for violence where time and again we have seen that violence coming from the police themselves, or the fascists that they have spent so much time protecting”

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman “I hope that this inquiry will take into account the fact that great injustices have often only been rectified by the actions of campaigners — and that they deserve credit, not harassment”

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman She appeared as a witness on 12 May 2022 and you can watch the videos online: ucpi.org.uk/hearing/ucpi-t…
#spycopsinquiry

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman 'Mary' is yet another woman who was deceived by one of the #spycops – a man who called himself “Rick Gibson”.
At the time she had come to London from South Africa and was a student at Goldsmiths College.

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman 'Mary' was active in student politics and a number of other campaigns; her flatmate was active in the Troops Out Movement, which Gibson targeted.

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman She and her flatmate both had similar (short-term, (in her words) “sexually dysfunctional” encounters with Gibson and when they swapped stories realised they shared the same suspicions about his behaviour.

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman They weren't the only ones to be suspicious of “Gibson”.

Later on they discovered that Richard Chessum and other Big Flame activists had unearthed a death certificate for a child named 'Richard Gibson' so had confronted the undercover.
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman (Big Flame took security seriously and carried out background checks on new members)

This caused huge consternation back at base. Rick's deployment came to an immediate and abrupt end.

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman Despite the issue being caused by the discovery of the death certificate though, #spycops continued to use this discredited and risky method as a way to create cover identities

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman Andy Coles seems to have reintroduced the practice at around the same time as he put together the #spycops 'Tradecraft Manual' – see specialbranchfiles.uk/sds-tradecraft…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman Yes, that Andy Coles
The one whose brother was in a famous band, and whose autobiography helpfully outed Andy as one of the 'Hairies' (the nickname of the SDS #spycops unit)

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman Coles went on to become a Conservative Party (no surprise there) Councillor in Peterborough, and refused to resign, even after it was discovered that during his time undercover, he has taken advantage of a young female activist, 'Jessica'

#spycops
@sackandycoles

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles You can read her story at the
@out_of_lives site: policespiesoutoflives.org.uk/our-stories/je…

#spycops
#institutionalsexism

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives You can also read more from 'Mary' herself
– she supplied the Inquiry with a statement in 2018 ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

followed by another two years later: ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/j…
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives Her coming forward proved that the @ucpinquiry's original assumption was false

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives (that #spycops in later years used women in this way - to gain access to other activists and radical groups, collect information about people, bolster their cover stories or allay suspicions – but that it didn't happen during the earlier days of the units' existence)

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives Richard Chessum tells his part of the story in his witness statement: ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives #spycops

He also appeared as a witness on 5 May 2021 – video at ucpi.org.uk/hearing/eviden…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives There's more.

We now know that Rick Gibson's real name was Richard Clark.

Explained here by @UndercoverNet - undercoverresearch.net/2018/05/07/mar…

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet Big Flame was an interesting group.

Founded in Liverpool in 1970, they described themselves as a “Revolutionary Socialist Feminist organisation”.

You can read more about them and see their online archives at bigflameuk.wordpress.com/about/

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet A thread to explain some of the background to today's #spycopsinquiry hearing

#spycops

Follow @tombfowler for live tweets throughout the day.

You can watch proceedings from 10am onwards at

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler You can now download the written closing statement of Tariq Ali, Piers Corbyn and Ernie Tate:
ucpi.org.uk/publications/c…
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler We're still hearing closing submissions from James Scobie KC, representing 3 people who were spied on by the #spycops during the 1968-82 era:
@LindseyAGerman
'Mary'
& Richard Chessum

#SpyCopsInquiry
You can now download their written statement:
ucpi.org.uk/publications/c…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler The Inquiry will break for lunch soon, it usually takes an hour for this.

#spycops

From 2pm onwards you'll be able to watch the afternoon's proceedings live at

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler From 2pm onwards, Owen Greenhall will be making a statement on behalf of another three men: Peter Hain, Ernest Rodker, & Jonathan Rosenhead

All three were active in the anti-apartheid movement.

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler Peter Hain's parents were English-speaking South Africans, who were 'banned' and briefly imprisoned by the regime for speaking up against Apartheid.

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler Blacklisted from working, they left the country when Peter was 16, and ended up living in South London. You can read more in Peter's book: 'Ad and Wal'

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler Peter Hain's witness statement: ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

Lord Hain gave evidence to the #spycopsinquiry on 30 April 2021.
You can still watch these sessions: ucpi.org.uk/hearing/eviden…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler #spycops

He and Rosenhead supplied an Opening Statement for 'Tranche 1, Part 3' in June 2022: ucpi.org.uk/publications/o…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler #spycops
Ernest Rodker was unwell, and unable to attend the hearing on 28 April 2021 himself, but his son read out parts of his statement on his behalf.
Download the full written statement from: ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler Learn more about Ernest in the Anti Apartheid Movement archives: aamarchives.org/archive/interv…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler The Anti Apartheid Movement archive site has more information about the campaigning, eg aamarchives.org/campaigns/spor…

and an interview with Christabel Gurney OBE, arrested alongside Rodker and Rosenhead in Richmond in 1972:
aamarchives.org/archive/interv…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler Christabel appeared at the #spycopsinquiry as a witness on 29 April 2021 – video at ucpi.org.uk/hearing/eviden…

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler 51 years after this arrest, in the carpark of the Star and Garter – where they obstructed a coach due to be used by the British Lions rugby team on their way to play in South Africa...

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler ..the trio recently made legal history by being the first of those targeted by the #spycops to have their unjust convictions overturned.

hja.net/news-and-insig…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler As their lawyer, Mike Schwarz of @HJAcivillibs says

“These convictions should never have happened. The deployment of undercover police into the anti-apartheid movement was unjustifiable, legally and morally. It was a political decision”.
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs Adding:
“That egregious act, taken 50 years ago, would never have been uncovered had it not been for the tenacious efforts of activists & others to expose police misconduct & force the authorities to act. I have no doubt that many other abusive acts by the State remain uncovered”

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs There are many others which have been flagged up, and which we hope the @ucpinquiry will refer to the Miscarriages of Justice Panel for review.
ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…
#spycopsinquiry
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs Finally today, we'll hear from Kirsten Heaven.

She's delivering a statement from the entire 'cooperating group' of 'Non-State, Non-Police Core Participants'

#spycopsinquiry
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs (several hundred people, all granted CP status by the Inquiry because at some point it's thought that they were spied on by these undercover officers).
#spycopsinquiry
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs NB: Some of them still have no idea who spied on them when, as the Inquiry has not yet provided them with any evidence or documentation, & they haven't seen the files the police held on them...

#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs ...so they're doing their best to 'participate' in the process but are extremely frustrated by the lack of disclosure, almost a decade after this Inquiry was first announced.
#spycopsinquiry
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs Many others do know when they were spied on, and even know the cover names used by the #spycops who targeted them and the groups they were involved in (or just hung out with).
#spycops

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs However none of them have seen their files either. Everyone's got questions, and so far the #spycopsinquiry hasn't provided many answers.

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs #spycops

All of the written statements, along with any exhibits or evidence attached to them, will be published by the @ucpinquiry as the day goes on – you can download these from

ucpi.org.uk/hearing/ucpi-c…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs A thread to explain what's going on with the #spycopsinquiry

The afternoon session is starting now. Follow @tombfowler for live tweets this afternoon

#spycops
Watch the proceedings at

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs You can now download the written closing statement of Jonathan Rosenhead, Ernest Rodker & Peter Hain

#spycops

ucpi.org.uk/publications/c…

@ucpinquiry @guardian @STWuk @metpoliceuk @LindseyAGerman @sackandycoles @out_of_lives @UndercoverNet @tombfowler @HJAcivillibs And the one made by the entire group of 'Non State Non Police Core Participants' (represented by Kirsten Heaven)
#spycops
ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/upl…