Spycops' lawyer says inquiry should be wary of ‘judging 20th-century matters’ by today’s standards
by Bethany Rielly
A LAWYER representing spycops has urged the inquiry examining the long-running scandal to be wary of the “real dangers of judging 20th-century matters” by today’s standards.
The Undercover Policing Inquiry, which opened on Monday, is scrutinising the tactics of two secret units which, together, infiltrated over 1,000 political groups stretching back to 1968.
Yesterday’s session focused on the Metropolitan Police’s Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), which operated between 1968 and 2008, during which time officers stole the identities of dead children and duped activists into sexual relationships.
Similar stories
BEN CHACKO reports on the struggles against sexism, racism and the brutish British state that featured at Matchwomen’s Festival this year
The murder of an anti-racist protester in 1979 by a special unit of the Met Police was followed by a gruelling battle to win answers about what happened on that tragic day. Now material related to that campaign is available to the public and researchers for the first time at the Bishopsgate Institute. INDIANNA PURCELL reports
Ways of opposing the increasingly repressive measures from the British state against protesters will be discussed at the Arise Festival. BEN HAYES reports



