Police ‘cover-up' their blacklisting role

Unions and campaigners have called for a 'Leveson-style' inquiry after new evidence emerged that police are involved in a 'cover-up' of their participation in a blacklisting scandal. The demand came after the Guardian reported it had seen evidence that the police gathered intelligence on trade union activists and passed the information to The Consulting Association, a clandestine blacklisting agency that unlawfully stored secret files on thousands of workers. Peter Francis, the whistleblower who revealed that police spied on supporters of the Stephen Lawrence family, says he believes that he personally collected some of the intelligence that later appeared in the files of the blacklisting agency. The testimony from the former undercover officer points to information he gathered on the personal lives and protest activities of the trade unionists. It has been disclosed as a team of police officers led by Derbyshire chief constable, Mick Creedon, investigates the conduct of the Special Branch unit that planted spies in political campaigns for four decades. The union GMB has said the police should not be investigating itself. General secretary Paul Kenny said: 'There is a clear need for a Leveson-style enquiry into blacklisting and the involvement of state forces in it. This also points to the need for it to become a criminal offence for anyone to interfere with the civil rights of any worker to be represented by a trade union in their workplace. This is because under existing laws the employers and the police systematically interfered with these civil rights for decades with impunity.' Dave Smith, a spokesperson for the union-backed Blacklist Support Group, said: 'Policing investigating the police is never going to get to the truth. This smacks of a cover-up. Only a judge-led public inquiry will get to the facts of collusion between the state and the blacklisters.' He added: 'This is a cover up - plain and simple. How can victims of this human rights abuse have any faith whatsoever in the truth being uncovered when the police are investigating themselves? Only a full Leveson-style public inquiry will get to the truth - what more evidence do the bloody politicians need?' On the prime minister's instruction, Lord Justice Leveson investigated the role of the press and police in the phone-hacking scandal which led to many of its usually celebrity victims receiving substantial compensation payouts.

The Guardian and related commentary.

GMB news release.

Blacklist blog.

The Mirror.

Morning Star.