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| Police try to get parts of undercover officers inquiry heard in secret | Police try to get parts of undercover officers inquiry heard in secret |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Police have launched a legal attempt to have large parts of a public inquiry into the conduct of undercover officers heard in secret. | Police have launched a legal attempt to have large parts of a public inquiry into the conduct of undercover officers heard in secret. |
| A senior judge, Lord Justice Pitchford, has been commissioned by the home secretary, Theresa May, to examine the operations of undercover spies who have infiltrated hundreds of political groups since 1968. | |
| At a preliminary hearing of the inquiry on Tuesday, barristers for the police argued that “much of past and current deployments” should be scrutinised in private by the inquiry. | At a preliminary hearing of the inquiry on Tuesday, barristers for the police argued that “much of past and current deployments” should be scrutinised in private by the inquiry. |
| Related: Police accused of concealing role of undercover officers from judges | Related: Police accused of concealing role of undercover officers from judges |
| Jonathan Hall, QC for the Metropolitan police, said that “in the vast majority of instances” the police were likely to be applying for legal orders to keep secret the facts and details of covert deployments, including the identities of undercover spies. | |
| Hall said this information needed to be kept secret in order to protect the undercover spies and the covert techniques they had been using. | Hall said this information needed to be kept secret in order to protect the undercover spies and the covert techniques they had been using. |
| He said undercover officers and their families were likely to face real harm if they were identified. The harm, he said, could include revenge attacks and social ostracisation. | |
| He accepted that there had been wrongdoing by some undercover officers. He said the police were not “by a long shot” requesting a secret inquiry. | He accepted that there had been wrongdoing by some undercover officers. He said the police were not “by a long shot” requesting a secret inquiry. |
| The arguments from the police are opposed by those who were spied on. They are arguing that they are entitled to know the truth of how the police monitored them and intruded into their lives. Many of them have called for a list of the fake names of the spies and the groups they infiltrated to be published. | The arguments from the police are opposed by those who were spied on. They are arguing that they are entitled to know the truth of how the police monitored them and intruded into their lives. Many of them have called for a list of the fake names of the spies and the groups they infiltrated to be published. |
| On Tuesday, Pitchford told the inquiry that there was “a stark difference of opinion” between the police and those they spied on about how much information should be published. He is holding the two-day hearing to hear legal arguments about how much of the evidence should be aired in public. | On Tuesday, Pitchford told the inquiry that there was “a stark difference of opinion” between the police and those they spied on about how much information should be published. He is holding the two-day hearing to hear legal arguments about how much of the evidence should be aired in public. |
| He will make decisions at a later date on applications to keep secret specific pieces of information. | He will make decisions at a later date on applications to keep secret specific pieces of information. |
| It is one of a series of preliminary hearings before the inquiry starts to hear substantive evidence about the activities of the undercover officers. | It is one of a series of preliminary hearings before the inquiry starts to hear substantive evidence about the activities of the undercover officers. |
| Police have apologised to women who were deceived into forming long-term relationships with the spies. | Police have apologised to women who were deceived into forming long-term relationships with the spies. |
| The undercover officers also gathered information on grieving families including the parents of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence. | The undercover officers also gathered information on grieving families including the parents of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence. |