Call for Scottish probe into spy cops

In the wake of the Home Office decision not to extend the Pitchford inquiry to Scotland, a group of 24 core participants who were spied on by police have issued a statement asking the Scottish Government to set up its own inquiry into undercover policing.

The Pitchford Inquiry was set up to examine undercover policing in England and Wales after revelations that undercover officers with Met Police units abused their positions while spying political protest groups.

There were calls for the inquiry to be extended to Scotland after it emerged that some Met Police officers worked up north too.

Some officers duped women into relationships including one policeman who fathered a child with a woman he was spying on before abandoning both her and his child.

Other officers used the names of dead babies while working undercover prompting calls from families for the Pitchford Inquiry to inform them of the truth.

The full statement was published by Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance and can be read here — http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2016/08/01/core-participants-condemn-scotland-exclusion/