Spycops Inquiry and ongoing state repression
JVL Introduction
The Spycops – sorry the Undercover Policing Inquiry is coming to its end and the evidence presented shows the ugly and insidious machinations of the State in its determination to maintain the status quo and undermine efforts to change the way things work in the interests of the majority rather than the wealthy and powerful. This Undercover Policing Unit did its work for 40 years and its undercover operations included forming relationships and even having children with women activists, indeed to leading a double life.
Is this a sensible use of resources? Is what is coming out through the Inquiry one more indication of how limited our democratic rights really are? The Unit may be no more but the work continues, for example in the undermining of protest and protesters and the fact that the focus is so often on those campaigning for peace and how rarely on racist and far right organisations is telling. Now there is a particular clamp down on protests in support of Palestinian rights and against genocide. The proposed changes to the law on protest are clearly mainly to reduce the number and location of marches. We keep hearing about how uncomfortable Jewish people feel because of them. The media largely ignores the presence of the Jewish Bloc and the Holocaust survivors and descendants or the fact that 1300 jews signed letter in favour of the Nakba march going ahead on its usual route, which has been given to a far right march.
LL
This article was originally published by Counterfire on Wed 15 Apr 2026. Read the original here.
What the Spycops Inquiry tells us about state authoritarianism today
Parallels are emerging from testimony uncovered in the Spycops Inquiry and the draconian actions of the police clamping down on protest today
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If you had said that this was going to happen in The United Kingdom some 30 years or so ago, you would have been laughed at. The UK Law was thought to be world leading, streets ahead of most Countries around the World. At some point a group of people, decided the Working Class needed putting in their place and started manipulating how the Law was going change, in such a way that we would lose our Rights to Protest, even changing the laws that took our rights to protest away.
Many of us believe that it goes right back to the Miners strike, which Thatcher was out to stop them from striking, encouraging the Police to use force, they even had Policemen dressed in plane clothes pretending to be Miners that were encouraging Miners to stand up for themselves. I’m sure it was from then, they introduced more rules for protesting and we are seeing today the results of the Law changes, the breaking in to Protesters homes, stealing all their Lap Tops, Computers and Mobile Phones, even keeping them in Prison for months, even more than a year!! We definitely need a Political Party to say they will change the Laws to protect our Right to protest and treat us with respect!!
I listened to “Bed of Lies” podcast some time ago so nothing here surprises me.
All very chilling.