Undercover police are running a network of hundreds of informants inside protest organisations who secretly feed them intelligence in return for cash, according to evidence handed to the Guardian.
They claim to have infiltrated a number of environmental groups and said they are receiving information about leaders, tactics and plans of future demonstrations.
The dramatic disclosures are revealed in almost three hours of secretly recorded discussions between covert officers claiming to be from Strathclyde police, and an activist from the protest group Plane Stupid, whom the officers attempted to recruit as a paid spy after she had been released on bail following a demonstration at Aberdeen airport last month.
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Matilda Gifford, 24, said she recorded the meetings in an attempt to expose how police seek to disrupt the legitimate activities of climate change activists. She met the officers twice; they said they were a detective constable and his assistant. During the taped discussions, the officers:
• Indicate that she could receive tens of thousands of pounds to pay off her student loans in return for information about individuals within Plane Stupid.
• Say they will not pay money direct into her bank account because that would leave an audit trail that would leave her compromised. They said the money would be tax-free, and added: “UK plc can afford more than 20 quid.”
April 25th, 2009 at 5:48 am
The police can not be trusted. They are the enemy. They could be our best friends as before, but until they reject unlawful actions they are to be shunned.
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April 25th, 2009 at 8:46 am
“• Claim they have hundreds of informants feeding them information from protest organisations and “big groupings” from across the political spectrum.”
This is very disturbing.
April 25th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Well done that girl! She should release the recordings now to as many people as possible.
April 25th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
It is about accessing RIPA funding for kickbacks on informer vehicles and housing. It is also about career development for ambitious and unethical law enforcement officers.
The RIPA Act allows for a police officer of any rank, municipal authority official, local health boards, the postal service or any other public official to initiate any kind of surveillance that could last for a year without further applications. All the Act requires is the authority of a senior police officer or a civil servant above PO7 grade.
As the rcession bites, you are going to see further expansion of the use of the RIPA Act because it is a money cow.
April 26th, 2009 at 1:24 am
Carn`t wait 20 Quid to tell these arse holes the king zarp is coming and the earth might not be green as you think, its not man that poluting but the earth its self.
April 26th, 2009 at 8:23 am
The only thing more despicable than a rat, is a child rapist. This kind of police work is “big brother” in orientation, and completely out of line. More and more people are being tagged like this without representation- creating dangerous precedents. Such as the “terrorist watchlist” here in the US. And we have all seen the seditious Homeland Security and MIAC documents, cause for severe concerns.
In my opinions, these documents are more than sufficient evidence to indict the government on charges of conspiracy against the people. But where is our representation? A pussy and bought congress? This is all becoming a joke. The government views anyone who cares about their Constitutional rights as a “right wing extremist”.
In other words, the unspoken message is the usual- comply or die.