Unions meet Sir John Mitting on blacklisting!

On Wednesday 11th July, blacklisted workers and lawyers representing the FBU and UNITE the union held a 2 hour private meeting with Sir John Mitting, the judge in charge of the undercover policing public inquiry. There are legal restrictions on what can be disclosed about the discussions. 

Dave Smith, Blacklist Support Group co-secretary commented:

'We had a frank exchange of views about the future direction of the public inquiry. We hope that Mitting is now fully aware of our serious concerns about a number of issues that we feel will impede the truth about the activities of the UK's undercover political police units being fully investigated. We continue to have fundamental disagreements with many of the decisions being taken by the Chair and believe that the Home Secretary should set up a panel that will allow for a greater understanding of issues such as sex, race and class bias that are at the heart of the public inquiry. However, for a number of our specific concerns relating to state spying on trade unions, we were given assurances that we view as positive. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating and until we see concrete action rather than fine words, our view of the public inquiry remains highly skeptical.'  

Blacklist Support Group

book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

Freedom Press now participant in Spy-Cop Inquiry

 Police plant edited the anarchist newspaper Freedom
by Brian Bamford

Spy-cop Roger Pearce aka Roger Thorley

ON the 20th, March 2018 Sir John Mitting Chairman, Undercover Policing Inquiry, designated Freedom Press as a core participant in Category K of the purpose of the Undercover Policing Inquiry.

The 'person' categorised as 'Friends of Freedom Press' ('Freedom Press') did previously apply to Sir Christopher Pitchford, when he was the previous Chairman of the same Inquiry in October 2015, Pitchford then stated that he would keep under review the application of any person to be designated as a core participant who was not then so designated by him.

He at that time, declined to designate them because, on the information which he then had, it was unlikely that they were relying on a direct and significant role in the subject matter of the Inquiry

On the 23 January 2018, Saunders Solicitors Limited again wrote to the Inquiry to ask whether Sir John Mitting would now entertain a fresh application for core participant status by Freedom Press. 

Having considered this new request last week, Sir John decided: 

' I will designate Freedom Press as a core participant in Category K.  I do so on the basis of material which Sir Christopher [Pitchford] would not have taken into account when making his original ruling: Operation Herne interview notes, which suggest that HN85 became editor of Freedom Press in Whitechapel and in that capacity wrote virulent anti-police articles.  Accordingly, Freedom Press did play a direct and significant role in the subject matter of the Inquiry and it is appropriate that they should be designated as a core participant.' 

Exclusive report on 'Spychief infiltration'

 On the 24th, March, the Freedom website carried an unsigned article which it described as an 'exclusive' entitled 'The Met spy chief who infiltrated Freedom Press'.   In this post the Freedom Press author wrote:
'Earlier this week it was disclosed that Freedom Press would now be considered a core participant in the Undercover Policing Inquiry, following official confirmation that Pearce had operated as “Roger Thorley,” a former writer for Freedom in the 1970s and ’80s.'

The writer, who may well himself be a solicitor, says that after a comprehensive investigation of the Freedom archives and consultation with old comrades it is revealed that 'Freedom can confirm that Pearce, writing under the moniker R.T, penned a series of articles over the course of the period 1980-81 and then joined a fact-finding mission to Belfast, before disappearing from sight.'

Special Branch man becomes Freedom 'editor'

This weekend I spoke to several present and former members of the 'Friends of Freedom Press' (F. of F.P.), and they all say they didn't know Roger Thorley in the early 1980s.  I haven't as yet spoken to the present secretary of F. of F.P., Stephen Sorba, who may well have been around, but I was writing for Freedom in the late 1979s and early 1980s, when I believe my friend the carpenter Peter Turner was still associated with the paper.  Barry Woodling has just told me that he's seen reports and articles written by me in March 1980, after I had reported for the old Syndicalist Workers Federation (SWF) on the V Congress of the CNT (National Confederation of Labour) in Madrid, which took place in December 1979.



What is so noticeably about the old issues of Freedom edited by the police spy and future head of Special Branch, Roger Thorley/Pearce*, is that it is clear the quality of Freedom has declined immensely since the 1980s.  The analysis of the last signed article of Roger-the-Dodger suggests he is so insightful about the situation in northern Ireland, that it can only produce nostalgia in those of us knew the old Freedom.  The current production, whether on the website or in the occasional hard copies of Freedom, are so full of cookbook thinking, cliques and childish slogans as to reduce one to tears.



The author of Freedom's socalled exclusive report writing this Saturday says:
'What can be confirmed is that when inquiry head Mitting defined Pearce’s writing as “virulently anti-police” he wasn’t exaggerating — and it was specifically in favour of the IRA. In one article, Prisoners of Politics (Vol 41, No. 22, Nov 8th 1980) the editors debate “R.T” over his demand that IRA detainees should have political prisoner status, noting that “all prisoners are political”.'



Meanwhile, the undercover policemen seem to have had a beano engaged in what my Dad use to call 'Bobbies Jobs'; employed in cushy numbers reporting on the activities and miscellaneous tittle-tattle of anarchists and trade unionists.  But with a job like that of Roger Pearce, drafting columns and perhaps editorials for Freedom in the late 1970s or early 1980s, it must have given him a glorious opportunity to hone his skills in spy craft; even with London Greenpeace it has been said that Bobby Lambert actually wrote the leaflet on McDonald's that ultimately led to the famous libel case..  I suppose that the conscientious policeman in his determination to do a decent job, will actually get a thrill out of writing and polishing up articles using anarchist analytical tools.  Both Roger-the-Dodger Pearce and Bobby Lambert seem to have been street-wise engaging in their workman-like operations, and moreover to have had a good deal more talent than many of the anarchists that they were spying on.

*   According to the website 'powerbase' which does public interest investigatuons -  Roger Pearce was appointed Director of Intelligence (SO11) on 2 November 1998 and held it until 4 March 2003.^[13] In 1999, Pearce was appointed head of Special Branch (SO12) and held both posts concurrently until his retirement in 2003.^[5][4][14] In this latter role he also had oversight of the Covert Operations unit SO10.^[15]. As Head of Special Branch he was:^[16] ... responsible for surveillance and undercover operations against terrorists and extremists, the close protection of government ministers and visiting VIPs, and other highly sensitive assignments... 

 

https://freedomnews.org.uk/roger-pearce-infiltrated-freedom-press/

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MASS WALK-OUT AT MITTING INQUIRY

VICTIMS of undercover police units and their lawyers staged a mass walk out during today's hearing of the undercover policing public inquiry calling for the removal of Sir John Mitting as the new judge in charge of the inquiry.  Sir John Mitting has told the inquiry, that victims will be be met with a 'wall of silence' in key parts of the inquiry and is granting anonymity to almost every police officer - so the public inquiry will be held mainly in secret.  This will not be justice. We are not prepared to participate in a process in which the victims are merely window dressing. 

Below and attached is the full transcript of the submission made by Phillipa Kaufman QC, representing over 200 of the 'non-state, non police core participants' in the inquiry including Doreen and Neville Lawrence, women activist who were deceived into relationships with undercover officers, anti-racist campaigners and trade unions. 

Blacklisted workers and the Blacklist support Group have been granted 'core participant status' in the inquiry because of undercover police infiltration of trade unions and were part of the walk out. 

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Blacklist Support Group Statement for Undercover Policing Public Inquiry hearing on Wed 21st March 2018:

'Blacklisted workers who have been kept under surveillance by political policing units were always skeptical about whether the British state investigating itself would truly provide justice.  But under John Mitting, the public inquiry has descended into a good old fashioned establishment cover-up.

'Mitting was put in charge to carry out a job of work on us - and he's doing it.  Time and again he gives the police the benefit of the doubt, to the detriment of those whose lives have been torn apart by this human rights scandal.

'Tinkering around the edges isn't going to change things.  We have no confidence in Mitting.  He must go and needs to be replaced with a panel of experts who have have at least some degree of empathy with the victims and are prepared to question the accounts of undercover police officers who have been trained to lie.'

Dave Smith: core participant in 
'union strand' of public inquiry (21/3/18).

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Spy-cops inquiry ducks disclosure of victims

Sir John Mitting - A Judge with a background in secrecy

1. Wed 6th December is the Blacklisting Day of Action. 

Protests are planned across the UK plus a lobby of MPs at Westminster.

Blacklist Support Group urge all our supporters to publicize the events and where possible to attend. Bring your banners and wear your 'Blacklisted' t-shirts with pride. 

Lobby of Westminster parliament

Assemble at Old Palace Yard, Westminster, SW1P 3JY 

12pm  – Rally with speakers from Unite including Gail Cartmail, assistant general secretary

1pm – Photo call with MPs

2pm – Meeting with MPs in the Boothroyd room - please note, this is in Portcullis House not the Palace of Westminster  

4pm finish & pre-Xmas drinks 

• Full public inquiry into blacklisting 
• Make blacklisting a criminal offence 
• No public contracts for companies involved in blacklisting

More info for the regional events via UNITE:

Scotland: steven.dillon@unitetheunion.org
NEYH: (north east) tom.usher@unitetheunion.org
NEYH (Yorkshire) mark.martin@unitetheunion.org
North West andrew.fisher@unitetheunion.org
East Midlands: shaun.lee@unitetheunion.org
West Midlands: martin.orpe@unitetheunion.org
London and Eastern: guy.langston@unitetheunion.org
South East: malcolm.bonnett@unitetheunion.org

2. Spycops public inquiry update

Sir John Mitting is the new head of the undercover policing public inquiry. Last week, in his first ever speech he told us that he was not intending to disclose which campaigns have been infiltrated by spycops or even all of their cover names during deployment. To paraphrase the rest of Mitting's statement -  spying on the Stephen Lawrence family and what happened to the women activists was morally unacceptable. What happened to everyone else is a matter of national security and therefore we were considered fair game.  Jonathan Hall QC representing the Metropolitan Police argued that it would be “extraordinary” if blacklisting by undercover police officers is to be considered as wrongdoing. 

Currently every state institution complicit in the human rights violations carried out by the political policing units has a huge legal team including a 11 separate QCs for the Met Police, Home Office, ACPO etc.. all paid for by the taxpayer  Whereas those who were spied on including the relatives of murder victims, the women activists, anti-racism campaigners and blacklisted workers have to share one counsel. The trade unions who were infiltrated have been officially denied any funding, so must pay their own legal costs. This is a massive imbalance of power and exactly what we talk about when people say that the legal system is stacked against us.   

We responded to Mitting by protesting inside the courtroom.

http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-0dd5-Uproar-in-court-after-Mitting-says-spycops-may-never-be-named#.WhhaZLacbeS

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/21/undercover-police-abuse-public-inquiry-cover-up

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-a9b9-Spycops-names-must-be-revealed#.WhhXwracbeS

http://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/national/article/Anger-as-police-spying-inquiry-told-true-identity-of-officers-will-be-protected-b69e05fa-d9d3-4106-9734-8398d55c317c-ds

3. other bits & pieces

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-b69a-Shock-as-notorious-blacklister-awarded-Nottingham-contract#.WhhZt7acbeR

Blacklisted t-shirts available at: https://shop.hopenothate.org.uk/component/hikashop/product/78-blacklisted-t-shirt

Blacklist Support Group

book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

What happened to the undercover police inquiry?

TWO years into the public inquiry into undercover policing and campaigners spied upon by the state this week claimed that progress has stalled and no information had been revealed about the officers involved. Jon Robins reports:

Speaking at an event at the Labour fringe on undercover policing and police surveillance, core participants in the undercover policing inquiry together with  their lawyers accused the government of delay and expressed concerns about the new chair of the inquiry.
Helen Steel is one of eight women activists who began legal action against the police having discovered that former long-term partners had been undercover policemen. Steel, who was representing the Police Spies out of Lives group, told delegates they were as much in the dark as the day that the inquiry was launched in July 2015. ‘More than two years into the inquiry and we still have had no disclosure about the relationships or the officers involved. The public has learnt absolutely nothing new about the extent of police in the abuse or how this was allowed to happen,’ she said.
In May this year, Sir John Mitting took over the chairmanship of the inquiry from Lord Justice Pitchford, who had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease. The inquiry has long become bogged down as the police have called for proceedings to be held in secret to protect the identities of the undercover officers – as reported on the Justice Gap (here).
‘The inquiry has finally acknowledged upwards of a thousand groups were spied upon but still hasn’t released the names of those groups,’ Steel told the meeting organised by the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers. Steel argued that whilst the police were prepared to confirm that they sent undercover officers into Isis, ‘they claimed it would be too dangerous to confirm the names of the thousand campaigns spied upon by the Special Demonstration Squad and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit,’ she said. ‘It beggars belief.’
In a message to the meeting Michael Mansfield QC, the president of the Haldane Society, claimed to be ‘under no illusions as to the extent to which agencies in the state have taken an interest in me’ in relation to his work on political cases such as Orgreave, Hillsborough and the Shrewsbury pickets.

For more go to: 

Whatever happened to the undercover policing inquiry? - The Justice ...

thejusticegap.com/2017/09/whatever-happened-undercover-policing-inquiry/

Blacklist Complainants Object to Inquiry Chair!

Secret Court of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal 

A PACKED meeting in parliament of core participants, other activists and lawyers for those targeted by undercover police voted unanimously for Sir John Mitting to be removed as chair of the public inquiry into undercover policing.  This follows deep unease by those spied on by police about the 'Minded To' Notes published by Mitting on the UCPI website which appear to be heading in the direction of an inquiry held in secret rather than an open transparent and public inquiry.  Mitting is one of the hand picked members of the senior legal profession to sit in the secret court the Investigatory Powers Tribunal - the antithesis of open and transparent justice.

'paradigm shift'

Neville Lawrence told the meeting he and many other victims of undercover police spying had 'lost faith' in the inquiry given the new direction taken by Mitting.

Imran Khan, lawyer for Doreen Lawrence and the Blacklist Support Group told the meeting that there had been a 'paradigm shift' since Mitting took over from the former head of the inquiry Lord Justice Pitchford who was forced to stand down due to ill health. 

The public inquiry was announced 3 years ago by the then Home Secretary Theresa May but to this day not a single witness has given evidence and not a single document disclosed to the lawyers of the victims.  Suresh Grover from the Monitoring Group told the meeting that "the police have deliberated obstructed justice". 

Garrick Club & 'institutional sexism'

Helen Steel argued that his credentials as a member of the men-only Garrick Club meant he was the wrong person to rule on institutional sexism of the undercover police.  A new 'timeline' on the inquiry website fails to mention the public apology made by the Metropolitan Police to the women activists deceived into long term relationships by the police spies.

Stafford Scott, from Tottenham Rights told the meeting that "families of murder victims are being denied access to files kept on them" due to ongoing institutional racism by the Met Police. 

Dave Smith, blacklisted union activist said that victims had "always been sceptical whether the British state would truly expose the truth about the UK's secret political police units". 

The meeting was chaired by Naz Shah MP who said she would raise the concerns on the Home Affairs Select Committee and with the Home Secretary.

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