Domestic surveillanceU.K. government spent millions on botched spy ring
The U.K. government spends £5 million a year to operate the NPOIU, which monitors domestic environmental and animal rights activists; the NPOIU has been hit with a series of scandals after it was revealed that one of its spies began actively to aid the group he was sent to monitor; the operation led to the failed trial of six activists after the agent offered evidence in their favor; the unit has been stripped of its funding and placed under the command of the Metropolitan Police; the unit was previously run by a private entity
Mark Kennedy, NPOIU agent who "turned" // Source: fitwatch.org.uk
Each year the British government spends £5 million to monitor domestic environmental and animal rights activists.
Established in 1999, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit’s (NPOIU) primary mission is to “counter domestic extremism.” In particular the NPOIU focuses on animal rights groups, environmental activists, and protestors as it is an expansion of the Animal Rights National Index, which collected information on these groups.
According to the Telegraph, the unit has dramatically grown with its budget doubling in four years. In 2005 it had an annual operating budget of £2.6 million before it jumped to its current £5 million budget in 2009. According to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the NPOIU “performs an intelligence function in relation to politically motivated disorder” by “[coordinating] the national collection, analysis, exploitation and dissemination of intelligence on the extremist threat to public order.”
Critics claim that this unit is a waste of valuable government resources.
The unit became notorious after recent a series of articles, published by the Guardian, exposed a scandal where the NPOIU spent nearly £1.75 million over seven years to finance Mark Kennedy, an agent who eventually began to actively aid the organization he was spying on.
Mark Stone, as he was known to activists, took part in violent clashes, helped plan protests, became romantically involved with those he spied on, and is purported to be a central figure in the launch of the Icelandic green movement.
The unit arrested six people Kennedy was embedded with, accusing them with a plot to occupy a power station. The trial eventually collapsed after Kennedy offered to give evidence in their favor.
As a result of the botched operation, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the private company that ran the NPOIU, was stripped of its funding as well as all of its operational duties.
The ACPO has come under sharp criticism for its actions because it is a private entity and therefore not accountable to the public.
Before the Home Affairs Select Committee, Home Minister Nick Herbert stated, “It is not desirable that nationally operated units like that are run by ACPO.”
He is “strongly of the view that there needs to be proper accountability for ACPO.”
A wave of new information has surfaced, adding further scandal to the beleaguered NPOIU and ACPO, with three spies identified as having sexual relationships with the people they were targeting. One went eventually married a woman he was spying on and had children with her.
The Metropolitan police will assume control of the unit in addition to other surveillance related units that the ACPO oversees.
Dr. Peter Harbour, a 70- year old retired physicist and university lecturer, was surprised to find himself on a terror list operated by the ACPO. Dr. Harbour has never been convicted of a criminal offense, but was placed on the database because he petitioned a local power plant to not drain a lake by his village.
The unit refused to remove his name from the list, despite his best attempts.
George Monbiot, a columnist for the Guardian, is incensed by the revelations of spying on, what he believes are, good citizens peacefully participating in a democratic society.
He writes, “There is no obvious connection between the kind of people in these files and criminality: they’re distinguished only by the fact that they have taken an interest in politics. You might expect that this would mark them out as good citizens.”
In the wake of these revelations, there have been increasing calls for more accountability and better management of resources.
Tim Godwin, Scotland Yard’s acting commissioner, expressed his concerns over the ACPO and the Kennedy case. He said that in executing such covert operations, more consideration must be given to determine if they are necessary.
