A Special Branch report (2024)

From the September 2024 issue of the Socialist Standard

In 2014, following a scandal, the government set up an official inquiry into undercover policing. This Undercover Policing Inquiry has been hearing evidence ever since. By 2018 the inquiry had confirmed that undercover police had, over decades, periodically infiltrated the following groups and movements:

‘Anarchist groups, Animal Liberation Front, Anti-Apartheid Movement, Anti-Fascist Action, Big Flame, Black Power movement, Brixton Hunt Saboteurs, Anglia Ruskin Churchill Society (Young Conservatives), Colin Roach Centre, Dambusters Mobilising Committee, Dissent!, Earth First!, Essex Hunt Saboteurs, Friends of Freedom Press Ltd, Globalise Resistance, Independent Labour Party, Independent Working Class Association, International Marxist Group, International Socialists, Irish National Liberation Solidarity Front, London Animal Action, London Animal Rights Coalition, London Boots Action Group, London Greenpeace, Militant, No Platform, Antifa, Operation Omega, Reclaim the Streets, Red Action, Republican Forum, Revolutionary Socialist Students Federation, Socialist Party (England and Wales), Socialist Workers Party, South London Animal Movement (SLAM), Tri-Continental, Troops Out Movement, Vietnam Solidarity Campaign, West London Hunt Saboteurs, Workers Revolutionary Party, Young Haganah, Young Liberals, Youth against Racism in Europe’ (Wikipedia /Undercover_Policing_Inquiry).

Since then, groups like Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion, Islamist and far-right groups will also have been infiltrated.

We are not on this list. One reason might be that, as all our meetings and records (except the membership list) are open to the public as a matter of principle, a police spy would not need to actually infiltrate us to find out what we were up to. Even so, this has not prevented the police spying on us, as a document published on the Inquiry’s website in July shows.

As can be seen, it’s a report on a debate between us and a well-known Labour Party MP, Ron Brown, in 1988. It happens to be fairly accurate. In fact, the ‘secret and reliable source’, whoever they were, seems to have been impressed by our speaker and the case he presented. The abbreviation ‘(ph)’ stands for phonetic, indicating that the spy wasn’t clear how the name of the person who chaired the meeting was spelt. ‘UI’ means under investigation, indicating that we as a Party were being ‘investigated’ by Special Branch, even if not infiltrated. It is not clear whether the spy was actually a member of the police force or (perhaps more likely) just an ordinary snout, or how much they were paid.

METROPOLITAN POLICE

SPECIAL BRANCH 

9th day of December 1988

1. The following information has been received from a secret and reliable source:-

2. “On Wednesday, 7th December 1988, between 8pm and 10pm, at the Council Chamber, Lambeth Town Hall, a debate was held by the Socialist Party (SP) (aka the Socialist Party of Britain/Great Britain) entitled ‘Which Way Forward for the Working Class?’. Approximately 25 persons attended, which was considered, by the organisers, to be a poor turn-out.

3. The chairwoman, [Privacy] (ph), introduced the two main speakers who were Ron BROWN, Labour Party MP, and Steve COLEMAN of the SP.

4. Steve COLEMAN spoke first, attacking Labour Party policies and accusing it of being a traitor to the ‘working class’ and of being almost as ‘capitalist’ as the ‘Tories’. He quoted, at length, the Labour Party’s past record to back up his allegations. COLEMAN presented himself as a powerful orator who was both amusing and convincing in his argument.

5. BROWN spoke for the next 25 minutes, choosing not to answer COLEMAN’s allegations but presenting Labour Party policy on numerous issues.

6. After both speakers had finished, the meeting was opened up to the floor for debate. The meeting was closed after another hour.”