The Undercover Policing Inquiry or Pitchford Inquiry is an independent public inquiry into undercover policing in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It was announced by

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

on 12 March 2015, and is due to report back in 2023. It is chaired by Sir

John Mitting Sir John Edward Mitting (born 8 October 1947) is a retired judge of the High Court of England and Wales. He is currently chairing the Undercover Policing Inquiry. Education Mitting attended Downside School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Legal caree ...

, following the resignation due to ill-health of Lord Justice Pitchford. In March 2018 campaigners and their legal team walked out of a hearing of the inquiry, calling for Mitting to step down.

Background

Theresa May commissioned the Undercover Policing Inquiry in 2015, in response to a string of allegations about the activities of undercover units, including the disclosure that police had spied on campaigners fighting for justice for

Stephen Lawrence Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

. In 2012 Theresa May had commissioned Mark Ellison QC to review allegations of corruption relating to the initial police investigation of the 1993 murder of Lawrence. The Ellison Report, presented to Parliament on 6 March 2014, found a number of serious concerns relating to undercover policing practices. Ellison also highlighted a possible link between an allegedly corrupt police officer involved in the Lawrence campaign, and the 1987 murder of

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

Daniel Morgan Daniel Morgan (1735–1736July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...

Remit

The inquiry is investigating the undercover infiltration of more than 1,000 political groups since 1968. It primarily examines the conduct of two now disbanded units: the Metropolitan Police's

Special Demonstration Squad The Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) was an undercover unit of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS or the Met), set up in 1968 with the approval of the Wilson government, to infiltrate British protest groups. It was part of the Sp ...

(SDS) and the

National Public Order Intelligence Unit The National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) was run by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), a private company connected to United Kingdom police intelligence, and was set up in 1999 to track green activists and public demonstr ...

(NPOIU). It is looking at allegations that undercover officers infiltrated and disrupted social justice groups and movements, deceived women into intimate relationships, stole the names of dead children to create fake identities, and concealed evidence in court cases.

Evidence

As of April 2018 the inquiry has confirmed that undercover police had infiltrated the following groups and movements:

Anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

groups,

Animal Liberation Front The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is an international, Leaderless resistance, leaderless, decentralized political and social resistance movement that engages in and promotes non-violent direct action in protest against incidents of animal cruelt ...

Anti-Apartheid Movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by the policie ...

Anti-Fascist Action Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) was a militant anti-fascist organisation, founded in the UK in 1985 by a wide range of anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations. It was active in fighting far-right organisations, particularly the National Front an ...

, Big Flame, Black Power movement, Brixton Hunt Saboteurs, Anglia Ruskin Churchill Society (Young Conservatives), Colin Roach Centre, Dambusters Mobilising Committee, Dissent!,

Earth First! Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that originated in the Southwestern United States. It was founded in 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron Kezar. Today there are Earth First! groups around ...

, Essex Hunt Saboteurs, Friends of Freedom Press Ltd,

Globalise Resistance Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as s ...

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

Independent Working Class Association The Independent Working Class Association (IWCA) is a minor working-class political party in the United Kingdom that aims to promote the political and economic interests of the working class, regardless of the consequences to existing political ...

International Marxist Group :''See also the International Marxist Group (Germany). The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and supporte ...

, International Socialists, Irish National Liberation Solidarity Front, London Animal Action, London Animal Rights Coalition, London Boots Action Group,

London Greenpeace London Greenpeace was an anarchist environmentalist activist collective that existed between 1972 and 2001. They were based in London, and came to international prominence when two of their activists refused to capitulate to McDonald's in the l ...

Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

No Platform No Platform, in the UK, is a form of student boycott where a person or organisation is denied a platform to speak. The British National Union of Students (NUS) established its No Platform policy in April 1974. Like other No Platform policies, it ...

, Antifa, Operation Omega,

Reclaim the Streets Reclaim the Streets also known as RTS, are a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterise the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalisa ...

Red Action Red Action was a British leftist political group formed in 1981. It became known for violently confronting groups such as the British National Party on the streets, and for being the main organisational force behind Anti-Fascist Action. In 199 ...

, Republican Forum, Revolutionary Socialist Students Federation,

Socialist Party (England and Wales) The Socialist Party ( cy, Plaid Sosialaidd Cymru in Wales) is a Trotskyism, Trotskyist political party in England and Wales. Founded in 1997, it had formerly been Militant tendency, Militant, an Entryism, entryist group in the Labour Party (UK), ...

, Socialist Workers Party, South London Animal Movement (SLAM),

Tri-Continental Tri-Continental is a Canadian blues, folk, and world music group consisting of musicians Bill Bourne, Lester Quitzau, and Madagascar Slim. They are most noted for winning the Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group at the Ju ...

, Troops Out Movement,

Vietnam Solidarity Campaign The Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) was originally set up in 1966 by activists around the International Group with the personal and financial support of Bertrand Russell. Ralph Schoenman acted both as Director of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign ...

, West London Hunt Saboteurs, Workers Revolutionary Party, Young Haganah, Young Liberals,

Youth against Racism in Europe Youth against Racism in Europe (YRE) is an anti-racist organisation founded by the Committee for a Workers' International (the international network of the Militant tendency) it campaigns among young people in 16 countries in Europe. YRE was launc ...

. The Undercover Research Group has published an extensive list of known spycops and the groups they spied upon. Tranche 1, Phase Hearings of the inquiry took place in November 2020 and took evidence about the SDS between 1968-1972 from non-state witnesses and undercover police officers. The inquiry started hearing evidence on 2 November 2020, with seven days of opening statements then seven days of evidence hearings. The hearings were conducted remotely due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The inquiry was to focus on the deployment of about 140 undercover police officers to spy on over 1,000 political groups over more than 40 years. Tranch1, Phase 2 Hearings in April and May 2021 heard evidence about SDS activities between 1970-1979. In May 2022, Tranche ,1 Phase 3, the inquiry mainly heard evidence from SDS police managers over the period 1968-1982. In July 2022 the Inquiry said they would issue an intermediate report but had not yet done so. Tranche 2 Hearings were scheduled for the Spring of 2024 and Hearings were expected to continue beyond 2024

Criticism of the inquiry

Criticisms leveled against the inquiry have included concerns about long delays in its work (the Guardian said: "The inquiry has performed to perfection its dual function of creating the illusion of a political response, while firmly kicking the issue into the long grass"), the perceived suitability of John Mitting as chair, and the decision to allow many undercover officers giving evidence to the inquiry to remain anonymous. In March 2018 at least 60 campaigners and their legal teams walked out of hearings examining whether the identities of undercover officers should be concealed. A number of the CPs (Core Participants) involved in the inquiry are campaigning together. They are the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS) and Police Spies Out of Lives.

References

{{reflist Public inquiries in the United Kingdom 2015 establishments United Kingdom commissions and inquiries