1973 SDS Report touching on the Shrewsbury Defence Campaign

Spycops Hearings Communication Group, 2 November 2020 – updated 17 November 2020

Today was the first day of the Undercover Policing Inquiry hearings. Dealt with is the earliest part of the Special Demonstration Squad, 1968 – 1982.

As part of today’s opening statement by the barrister to the Undercover Policing Inquiry, a list of groups targeted by undercover from 1968 to 1975 was read out, a good number being named for the first time. Update: we have since done a quick sweep of the Inquiry Opening Statement, which included even more groups. We list them below, the new ones first.

These admissions are welcomed by core participants who have long campaigned for this. However, it falls short of the full list of groups as demanded. The Inquiry has confirmed years ago that over 1000 such groups have been spied on, but less than a quarter have been named (see the URG Who’s who list of groups that the Inquiry admitted have been targeted). This is an important issue for campaigners: if people do not know they were spied upon, they are not in a position to come forward to challenge the police’s narrative.

This list of groups are named in the Annual Reports of the Special Demonstration Squad, and do not represent the entirety of the reporting on groups, merely the ones that were singled out for attention. The majority were deliberately targeted, some listed as being penetrated to a lesser degree, reported on rather than being specific targets. However, it is clear that all were of interest to Special Branch and we do not accept this rather arbitrary differentiation. Part of the spycops’ tactic was to use one group to gain access to others and we know they would have been privy to personal details, etc, of these other groups regardless.

Update: The list now also includes the names that particular undercover officers have reported on, but only those spycops who gave evidence. So while we now have more detail on specific branches of groups that were targeted, it is still limited only a small part of what the SDS did in those early years. On top of that, the Inquiry redacted names of groups from their annual reports, which may explain, for instance, that the Angry Brigade is not included in the overview.

N.B. It’s a quick scan, and it might still include mistakes the Inquiry made in names.

While it is indeed a long time ago, we are interested in speaking to anyone who was active in London in these groups and might have encountered the undercovers. Even if you do not specifically recall the spycop, having an insight into the nature and activities of the group will also be helpful. Please contact the Undercover Research Group.

The groups are also named at pages 67-73 of the Opening Statement of David Barr QC, Counsel to the Inquiry with more details of which annual reports they appear in. The updated version of the list includes the names of groups in the summary of the spycops giving evidence, also in the Inquiry’s Opening Statement.

List of New Groups 1969-1975 (100 in total)

‘Commitment’ Group
Action Bangla Desh
Action Committee Against NATO
Action Committee Against Racialism
Afro–Asian American Association
Agitprop
Anarchists in Central London
Angry Brigade (only in relation to the Women Liberation Front)
Art College’s October Revolution Account
Battersea Redevelopment Action Group
Black Defence Committee
Black Unity and Freedom Party
Britain Vietnam Solidarity Front BVSF
British Campaign for Peace in Vietnam
Ceylon Solidarity Campaign
Chemical and Biological Warfare Action Group
Claimants Union
Clann na h’Eireann
Committee for Solidarity with Vietnam
Communist Party – Barnet branch
Communist Party – South Hertfordshire branch
Croydon Libertarians
Fight On
Foundation of the Anti–Imperialist Solidarity Movement
Freedom Collective
Friends of China
Friends of Korea
Group ’68
Hackney United Tenants Ad–Hoc Committee
Independent Labour Party – Tower Hamlets branch
Indo–China publication
Indo–China Solidarity Committee
International Communist League
International Socialists – Camden branch
International Socialists – Croydon branch
International Socialists – Fulham branch
International Socialists – Hammersmith branch
International Socialists – Havering branch
International Socialists – Lambeth branch
Irish Solidarity Campaign
Irish Solidarity Campaign – Central London branch
Justice for Rhodesia
Liberation
Libertarian Left (meeting with Lewisham Anarchists, Socialist Current, London Solidarity Group, Fullham Anarchists and East London Libertarians)
London Federation of Anarchists
London Revolutionary Socialist Students Federation
Lower Down
LSE students’ Union
Marxist–Leninist Workers Association
National Convention of the Left
National Union of Students
National Women’s Conference in Bristol
National Women’s Liberation Conference in Acton
New Socialists
North London Alliance in Defence of Workers Rights
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association – Islington branch
Notting Hill People’s Association
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Pavement
Peace Action
People’s Democracy
People’s Democracy – London branch
Poster Workshop
Red Circle
Red Circle – North London branch
Red Defence Group
Red Europe 1970 Conference in Belgium
Revolutionary Communist Group
Revolutionary Marxist–Leninist League
Revolutionary Women’s Union
Save Biafra
Schools Action Union
Shrewsbury Two Defence Committee
Spartacus League
Spartacus League – Notting Hill branch
St Pancras & Camden United Tenants Association
Stoke Newington Eight Defence Group
Stop All Racialist Tours
Stop the Apartheid Rugby Tour
Stop The Seventies Tour – North–West London branch
The Joint Committee of Communists
Trotskyist Tendency
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign – Camden branch
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign – Croydon branch
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign – Durham branch
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign – Hampstead branch
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign – Havering branch
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign – Highgate and Holloway branch
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign – Kentish Town branch
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign – North West London branch
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign – Notting Hill branch
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign Ad Hoc Committee
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign Ad Hoc Committee – North West London branch
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign Ad Hoc Committee – South East London branch
Vietnam Solidarity Committee – Earl’s Court branch
West Ham Anarchists
Women’s Liberation Movement
Women’s National Co–ordination Committee

Groups of same era already disclosed as targets (26 in total)