Just to add to the general feeling of despair and the collapse of civilisation. The Spy Cops hearings have started again. They started in 2015. But we haven't forgotten.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/02/met-chiefs-apology-to-deceived-women-outrageous-says-ex-undercover-officer?CMP=share_btn_url
The inquiry, led by the retired judge Sir John Mitting, has been examining how around 139 undercover officers had spied on more than 1,000 political groups since 1968. The inquiry began in 2015 following a series of revelations about the misconduct of the undercover officers.In July, at the start of the current round of hearings, Peter Skelton, the barrister for the Metropolitan police, issued the unreserved apology on behalf of Rowley. He said the relationships were “abusive, deceitful, manipulative, and wrong”. The Met admitted that the managers of the undercover officers had failed to prevent the relationships, which had resulted from a wider culture of sexism and misogyny.Asked on Friday if he agreed with the apology, Morris said it was easy for the commissioner, who did not know what it was like to work undercover, to make such an apology. “It is relatively unacceptable that the commissioner says that as though it means nothing to him … Did he ever do that job? No, he didn’t. Did he know what it was like not seeing your family growing up? No, he didn’t. It’s outrageous.”Morris said many of the undercover officers had experienced mental ill-health because of the stress of their covert work.This week, the inquiry has been scrutinising the undercover deployment of Morris between 1991 and 1995. During that time, he had a relationship with a woman, known as Bea, for more than a year, and a sexual encounter with a second woman, known as Jenny.