By Rory |
Published: 19 March, 2015
An
undercover police unit that monitored political groups over a 40 year period
gathered intelligence on members of at least five trade unions, a whistleblower
has revealed.
Former
undercover police officer Peter Francis said he spent four years spying on
political activists.
A statement
from Francis was delivered to a packed 12 March meeting in parliament that
marked the launch of a new book about the blacklisting of thousands of workers
by multinational construction firms. The book, ‘Blacklisted’, presents evidence
of how police shared information about trade unionists with the blacklisters. Francis
has revealed how he believes that he personally collected some of the
intelligence that was stored on the blacklisting files held by
industry-financed covert blacklister the Consulting Association.
Francis, in
a statement read out by Labour MP John McDonnell, said the trade unionists
spied on were members of UNISON, FBU, CWU, NUT and the students’ union NUS.
Francis
promised to give evidence to the public inquiry into undercover policing
announced earlier that day by home secretary Theresa May. The inquiry, which
will be led by Lord Justice Pitchford, will have the power to compel witnesses
to give evidence.
The
union-backed Blacklist Support Group (BSG) demanded “that blacklisting is part
of the inquiry,” adding “the full remit should only be decided after
consultation with the victims of police spying. BSG also support the call for
Peter Francis and other police whistleblowers to be exempted from the Official
Secrets Act (OSA) when they give evidence in court or in any public inquiry. The
OSA is being used by the police in order to cover up the scandal.” An online
petition is backing up the call.
Unions CWU,
GMB and UCATT all called for blacklisting of trade unionists to be included in
the scope of the Pitchford inquiry.
The
‘Blacklisted’ book, authored by BSG founder member Dave Smith and investigative
journalist Phil Chamberlain, has attracted widespread press coverage, including
national papers the Guardian and the Mirror, and is rapidly becoming a labour
movement and civil rights ‘must read’.
Change.org
petition calling on Theresa May to ensure the OSA is not used against inquiry
whistleblowers.
Blacklisted:
the secret war between big business and trade union activists, New
Internationalist, March 2015. ISBN 978-1-78026-257-4. eBook ISBN:
978-1-78026-258-1. £9.99. Book video trailer.
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