Spycops sent thousands of surveillance reports to MI5, inquiry documents reveal

"It can now be revealed that most of those clandestine reports were sent to MI5, helping the Security Service to build up large files on peaceful protesters who were engaged in democratic protests for an array of causes. Many of the reports were handed over at the height of cold war paranoia when MI5 and the police spies collaborated to monitor a large number of leftwing campaigners. MI5 still retains these surveillance reports in its files today."

"The scale of the long collaboration between covert police officers and MI5 from the late 1960s until the 1990s has been illuminated by the spycops inquiry, which has published a trove of internal MI5 records, as well as copies of the surveillance reports. Officers have been criticised for spying on thousands of political organisations such as campaigns against racism and nuclear weapons, the Socialist Workers party, justice campaigns and trade unions."

"Their reports logged personal information about protesters, including their marriages, sexuality, holiday plans and bank accounts, as well as their plans for political action such as demonstrations. The reports recorded the political beliefs of children as young as 13, along with photographs of them. They also recorded the births of campaigners' children and noted details about the lives of politically active parents, such as the fact they had a child with Down's syndrome."

Thousands of surveillance reports compiled by undercover police officers were routinely passed to MI5. Undercover officers undertook long-term deployments to infiltrate mainly leftwing protest groups and gathered large quantities of political and personal information. MI5 built extensive files on peaceful protesters engaged in democratic campaigns, retaining many reports today. The collaboration between covert police units and MI5 spanned from the late 1960s until the 1990s. Reports included intimate personal details such as marriages, sexuality, bank accounts, holiday plans, births of campaigners' children, and the political beliefs and photographs of children as young as 13. Scotland Yard's Special Demonstration Squad worked closely with MI5.

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