UNDERCOVER police officers spied on anti-racism campaigners in the wake of the Brixton riots in 1981, an inquiry heard today. 

The riots, sparked in April 1981 amid anger over the abuse of stop-and-search powers against the black community in the south London area, were considered the “most significant event in the public order field” by senior police officers in a secret Metropolitan Police unit.

An annual report by the unit, called the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), in 1981 stated that following the riots “political extremists made efforts to exploit the situation with a view to the fomentation of further disorder.”