Latest news and comment from Britain | UK news

Undercover police cleared ’to have sex with activists’ | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Undercover police officers routinely adopted a tactic of “promiscuity” with the blessing of senior commanders, according to a former agent who worked in a secretive unit of the Metropolitan police for four years.

The former undercover policeman claims that sexual relationships with activists were sanctioned for both men and women officers infiltrating anarchist, leftwing and environmental groups.

Sex was a tool to help officers blend in, the officer claimed, and was widely used as a technique to glean intelligence. His comments contradict claims last week from the Association of Chief Police Officers that operatives were absolutely forbidden to sleep with activists.

The one stipulation, according to the officer from the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), a secret unit formed to prevent violent disorder on the streets of London, was that falling in love was considered highly unprofessional because it might compromise an investigation. He said undercover officers, particularly those infiltrating environmental and leftwing groups, viewed having sex with a large number of partners “as part of the job”.

►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/22/undercover-police-cleared-sex-activists

Occupy London’s anger over police ’terrorism’ document | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Occupy London’s anger over police ’terrorism’ document

A notice sent out to businesses in the City of London has listed the protest movement among groups such as al-Qaida and Farc

Occupy London activists are angered at a police document that lists them with terrorist organisations. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

Police have angered Occupy London activists after listing the movement among terrorist groups in an advisory notice sent to the business community in the City.

The document issued by City of London police, headed “Terrorism/extremism update for the City of London business community”, included a detailed account of recent and upcoming Occupy London activities and was sent to “trusted partners” in the area.❞
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/05/occupy-london-police-terrorism-document?fb=optOut

’Honour’ crimes against women in UK rising rapidly, figures show | UK news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/03/honour-crimes-uk-rising?intcmp=239

Statistics from police forces detailing numbers of crimes planned and carried out by families or communities reveals 47% rise

#femmes #crime_d'honneur #RU

Il insulte un flic pendant les émeutes : 16 semaines de taule. #uk_riots
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/25/england-riots-personal-cost-youngsters-sentenced

Ricky Gemmell, 18, also discovered that a flash of stupidity would have unexpectedly serious consequences when he received a 16-week sentence for shouting abuse at a police officer in the early evening of 9 August, as riots erupted in central Manchester. There’s a bit of uncertainty about what precisely he said; prosecution lawyers claimed that he told a police officer he wanted to “smash” him. Ricky says he just called him a dickhead. In normal circumstances he could have expected a caution or a fine.

Mark Duggan was not armed when shot by police (The Guardian)
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/18/mark-duggan-ipcc-investigation-riots

The investigation into the death of Mark Duggan has found no forensic evidence that he was carrying a gun when he was shot dead by police on 4 August, the Guardian has learned. A gun collected by Duggan earlier in the day was recovered 10 to 14 feet away, on the other side of a low fence from his body. He was killed outside the vehicle he was travelling in, after a police marksman fired twice. (...) Source: The Guardian

Revealed: Mark Duggan was not armed when shot by police | UK news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/18/mark-duggan-ipcc-investigation-riots?CMP=twt_gu

The investigation into the death of Mark Duggan has found no forensic evidence that he was carrying a gun when he was shot dead by police on 4 August, the Guardian has learned.

A gun collected by Duggan earlier in the day was recovered 10 to 14 feet away, on the other side of a low fence from his body. He was killed outside the vehicle he was travelling in, after a police marksman fired twice.

The new details raise questions about the official version of events. The shooting triggered some of the worst riots in modern British history, which began in Tottenham, north London, in response to the treatment of the Duggan family. The investigation into Duggan’s death is being carried out by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), but the Guardian has learned new details of the shooting, and a much more complex picture than first revealed is emerging.

Police arrest EDL members to ’avert planned attack’ in London | UK news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/11/edl-arrests-london-occupy-armistice-day?newsfeed=true

Police arrested 179 members of the English Defence League after reports of repeated threats to attack Occupy protesters camped outside St Paul’s Cathedral on Armistice Day.

toujours aussi con, ils l’ont annoncé sur fessebouc :

The English Defence League had issued statements and made threats on Facebook to burn down protesters tents if they were still outside St Paul’s on Remembrance Sunday, according to Phillips.

#EDL #uk

Criminals fall for beer sting
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/12/police-beer-trap

Nineteen suspected criminals have been arrested after they were tricked by police who lured them in with a hoax offer of free beer.

Ce truc du faux cadeau promotionnel avait déjà été utilisé aux États-Unis il y a quelques années, mais je ne retrouve pas les sources.

Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral resigns over Occupy London protest row | UK news | guardian.co.uk
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/31/dean-st-pauls-resigns-occupy

The perceived dithering and divisions of church officials over the protest camp outside St Paul’s in London have claimed a second major scalp with the resignation of the cathedral’s dean, the Right Rev Graham Knowles.

The dean – whose job is sufficiently senior that a replacement must be approved by the Queen – announced that mounting criticism over the cathedral’s handling of the situation made his position “untenable”.

In a statement read on his behalf to the media at the Chapter House, opposite St Paul’s, Knowles said: "In recent days, since the arrival of the protesters’ camp outside the cathedral, we have all been put under a great deal of strain and have faced what would appear to be some insurmountable issues.

#religion

Met police using surveillance system to monitor mobile phones | UK news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/30/metropolitan-police-mobile-phone-surveillance

The surveillance system has been procured by the Metropolitan police from Leeds-based company Datong plc, which counts the US Secret Service, the Ministry of Defence and regimes in the Middle East among its customers. Strictly classified under government protocol as “Listed X”, it can emit a signal over an area of up to an estimated 10 sq km, forcing hundreds of mobile phones per minute to release their unique IMSI and IMEI identity codes, which can be used to track a person’s movements in real time.

Prince Charles has been offered a veto over 12 government bills since 2005 | UK news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/30/prince-charles-offered-veto-legislation?CMP=twt_gu

Ministers have been forced to seek permission from Prince Charles to pass at least a dozen government bills, according to a Guardian investigation into a secretive constitutional loophole that gives him the right to veto legislation that might impact his private interests.

Since 2005, ministers from six departments have sought the Prince of Wales’ consent to draft bills on everything from road safety to gambling and the London Olympics, in an arrangement described by constitutional lawyers as a royal “nuclear deterrent” over public policy. Unlike royal assent to bills, which is exercised by the Queen as a matter of constitutional law, the prince’s power applies when a new bill might affect his own interests, in particular the Duchy of Cornwall, a private £700m property empire that last year provided him with an £18m income.

Neither the government nor Clarence House will reveal what, if any, alterations to legislation Charles has requested, or exactly why he was asked to grant consent to such a wide range of laws.

UK riots analysis reveals gangs did not play pivotal role (The Guardian)
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/24/riots-analysis-gangs-no-pivotal-role

Gangs did not play a pivotal role in the August riots, according to the latest official analysis of those arrested during the disturbances. Official figures show that 13% of those arrested in the riots have been identified as gang members, rising to 19% in London. But even where police identified gang members being present, most forces believe they did not play a pivotal role. Source: The Guardian

UK riots analysis reveals gangs did not play pivotal role
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/24/riots-analysis-gangs-no-pivotal-role

Gangs did not play a pivotal role in the August riots, according to the latest official analysis of those arrested during the disturbances. Official figures show that 13% of those arrested in the riots have been identified as gang members, rising to 19% in London, but even where police identified gang members being present most forces believe they did not play a pivotal role.

#police #riots #émeutes #gangs #Angleterre

Police spy tricked lover with activist ’cover story’ | UK news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/23/police-spy-tricked-lover-activist

The Guardian has detailed the cases of seven undercover police officers known to have infiltrated protest movements, mostly in the past decade. Of those, five have had sexual relationships with women who were oblivious to their real identities.
(...)
In a statement, [undercover policeman Bob Lambert] offered an “unreserved apology” to the woman, who does not want her identity to be revealed, and said he was also sorry for deceiving “law-abiding members of London #Greenpeace,” a peaceful protest group.
His former partner, who recently discovered the long-haired political activist she had the relationship with in the 1980s was actually an undercover police officer, said she felt “violated” by the experience.

#police #infiltration #viol

L’universitaire progressiste Bob Lambert est en fait un ancien policier chargé d’infiltrer les milieux progressistes.

Progressive academic Bob Lambert is former police spy | UK news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/16/academic-bob-lambert-former-police-spy

An academic and prominent supporter of progressive causes has been unmasked as a former spy who controlled a network of undercover police officers in political groups.

During his current career as an academic expert on Islamophobia, Bob Lambert has regularly spoken at political rallies to promote campaigns against racism and fascism.

However, in his previous career as a special branch officer, which lasted 26 years, he ran operations at a covert unit that placed police spies into political campaigns, including those run by anti-racism groups. The unit also disrupted the activities of these groups.

Tout est dans le titre : David Cameron launches immigration crackdown | guardian.co.uk
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/10/david-cameron-immigration-crackdown

En fait, non, tout n’est pas dans le titre : le début est gratiné aussi...

David Cameron has urged the British public to report illegal immigrants and vowed to change the citizenship test so that it includes questions on British history.

Unicef criticises Britain for jailing children over riots | UK news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/09/unicef-britain-riots-children-jailed

Unicef has criticised the UK judicial system for locking up children allegedly involved in the August riots and warned ministers that they are likely to be in breach of their UN obligations to children’s rights.

The UN children’s fund said official figures showing that 45% of all under 18s detained on charges of rioting and looting had no previous criminal history were “very worrying”, and represented a possible breach of the 1989 UN convention on the rights of a child.

#enfants #incarcération

Flippant // UK chaplains in Afghanistan: ordinary priests with an extraordinary flock | UK news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/05/uk-chaplains-afghanistan-priests-congregation

The Rev James Francis was travelling in an armoured vehicle north of the Bowri desert in Afghanistan, accompanying the Brigade Reconnaissance Force during the stopping and searching of vehicles for insurgents, when a Royal Marine interrupted his chat with a gunner to ask if it was right to kill.

“That was a direct question,” says the padre for 30 Commando, “but it’s quite normal for these things to occur to people out here and it’s vital that when difficult decisions are being made we have direct answers, that as Christians we don’t retreat into some kind of holy huddle.”

#religion

The Detroit riots of 1967 hold some lessons for the UK (The Guardian)
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/05/detroit-riots-1967-lessons-uk

After America’s deadliest riots, a journalist and a professor proved that many assumptions about the looters were wrong (...)

Twitter study casts doubts on ministers’ post-riots plan | UK news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/24/twitter-study-post-riot-plans