Senior officers who ran the #spycops unit that infiltrated Black justice campaigns were 'horribly & incredibly' racist, whistleblower @realspycop has told the public inquiry. (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Met Police whistleblower Peter Francis began his long-awaited evidence at the #spycops inquiry today, having first exposed the existence and practices of the Special Demonstration Squad more than a decade ago. (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

#Spycops inquiry on ITV News. Questioning of police whistleblower Peter Francis about spying on #union members defending labour movement events & #blacklisting of activists is likely to take place on Tues & Wed this week. (@DaveBlacklist)

You can listen back to today's #spycops space (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

Set a reminder for my upcoming #spycops Space! (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

#SpyCopsInquiry hears from whistleblower - Two Met Police officers running #spycops unit were ‘incredibly racist’. Undercover unit monitored Stephen Lawrence’s family, as well as thousands of mainly leftwing political activists. (@helensteel12)

The Guardian’s take on the oral evidence by #spycops whistleblower, Peter Francis. (@DaveBlacklist)

From #spycops inquiry during the day to @RosedOr awards in the evening where our doc based on our book #DeepDeception is nominated in news & current affairs category. (@AlisonSpycops)

"Francis said special branch... was “100% racist” towards the Lawrence family, viewing them “as unable to think for themselves or come up with and run their campaign themselves, so it was considered they must be being led by someone else”." #spycops (@Donna__McLean)

Good to see @robevansgdn already reporting on today’s #spycops hearing: (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

... at: https://ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/UCPI0000036012-WEB.pdf…#spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

He admits to gathering more info about various ‘politicos’ but basically says he didn’t find anything that could be used to smear the Lawrences themselves. You can now read the whole thing (all 158 pages) ...

... (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Live reaction at the end of the 1st day of the Undercover Policing Inquiry questioning whistleblower #spycops officer Peter Francis @realspycop. He's talked about having a list of people who visited Stephen Lawrence's family in the days after the murder ...

The #spycops inquiry returns to your screens at 10:10 tomorrow morning, with more evidence from Peter Francis (‘HN43’), via: (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Mitting has a question about this ‘list’ too. Francis says he can’t be sure who wrote the list that he was asked to check out, but assumed that it was someone who’d been through the Special Branch register before he saw it. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Before we end for the day, David Barr warns him that tomorrow’s hearing will start with some questions about Alan Fisher, the ‘3 Area’ Liaison Officer. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

He says he would read through the deployed #spycops notebooks to check in case any of these people were ever mentioned. He was doing all this searching through records at the time. He says many of them came up ‘No Trace’. (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Reaction at the end of the first day of #spycops officer Peter Francis being questioned with @zoeyou (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

We come to the end of the hearing for today. John Mitting asks Peter Francis about the list. Appears to me to just to be stating the obvious about it. Unless I've missed something #spycops (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

The transcript of Peter Francis interview with Mark Ellison KC is shown. In it he says that the #spycops leaked intelligence to the press. He got mixed up between the different campaigns. (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

Barr reminds him of how Gardner was killed... Francis: Where? Barr: “In her home” Francis comments that this was in Tottenham. Barr points out it was Crouch End. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Francis says that when Joy Gardner was concerned, SB was concerned about the risk of public disorder. He can’t remember HN86 making any racist comments specifically about this case. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

He pays credit to “Trevor’s knowledge of the Black campaigns”, and says Jenner was nothing like as good as a replacement. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Peter Francis says there was extreme concern within the #spycops about the death of Joy Gardener, purely for public order reasons. Francis says it badly affected Trevor Morris, who was put under a lot of pressure to file reports (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

Francis says his targeting was changed and it was decided that he would target an individual campaigner. He says he had “something to focus on”. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

... (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

'Officer A' witness statement from 2003 written by Peter Francis is shown. It is pointed out there is an overlap between Trevor Morris and Mark Jenner, Barr claims there is no break in reports about black justice campaigns, Francis points out difference between the 2 #spycops ...

He doesn’t know about Doreen Lawrence not joining one of the marches. He says this was before he was deployed. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Why did you need ‘a lead’? Barr asks. Francis explains that there wasn’t anyone he knew on the list of names he was given. He says the police did have intelligence “but it wasn’t clear”. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Peter Francis was targeted to get alongside a particular individual who had been identified. #spycops (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

Peter Francis says that the #spycops did not know who many of the people on the list of visitors to the Lawrence family home were. So it was deemed that an undercover officer was needed to find out. (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

He says they firmed up his targeting in the July/August. Barr asks more about this... Francis says there was “another little strand” and offers to write down something about another posting. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Peter Francis says there was so much momentum in the Stephen Lawrence campaign, it was felt in the #spycops that something was going to burst. (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

... underway... (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Originally the #spycops aimed for Francis to be deployed to spy on anarchists. However shortly before he went undercover his target was changed. He says that at this time Class War was quite moribund – they weren’t up to much – and the Stephen Lawrence campaign was ...

He talks about how groups like the Nation of Islam and Panther UK were “scarey” to the #spycops, who had “no coverage” of them. He talks again about “a very deep-seated racist feeling that they [the family] were totally led” by political groups. (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Peter Francis says there was a third reason for the change in his posting, but he can't say it, so writes a note and passes it to Barr. We can only assume what it is about #spycops (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

Two senior officers who supervised an undercover Scotland Yard unit spying on political campaigns were “horribly and incredibly” racist, a whistleblower has told #spycops public inquiry. (@robevansgdn)

He says he “finds it a stretch” that FLOs would note down everyone’s names on their own initiative; he believes they were asked to do this, probably by Special Branch. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Francis confirms that he would have had to go to the ‘SIO’ first, before talking to anyone else about something like this. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

Some of the documents were redacted before he saw them, but Francis believes the intell would have been given to a C Squad desk officer, then shared higher up the chain to someone like DC Brian McDowell. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

In the interview he referred to the possibility of “rumours and conjecture” being used to smear the family. He says now “it was never deployed”. He says the information he provided was “gratefully received” by HN86. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

The police were convinced that some hard-left group had to behind the Lawrence campaign, pulling the strings. #spycops (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

The family liaison officer who was in the Lawrence family home took all the information about whoever passed through, this information was passed on to the #spycops. (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

The examples you’ve given (about allegations of drug-dealing etc) – were these the instructions you were given, or did you make these up? Francis seems to suggest that these were his ideas. (@copscampaign.bsky.social)

... (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

Peter Francis says neither he nor any other #spycops officer found anything discrediting about the Lawrence family. The incorrect information he did get about Doreen Lawrence being out partying the night Stephen was murdered was grateful received by HN86. ...

Special Branch would pass on any intelligence that could discredit any campaign the #spycops were infiltrating to the media. (@tombfowler.bsky.social)

Francis says HN86 was “very shrewd”. He thensays his #spycops boss knew that he would do his “best and utmost” to gain the intelligence the police wanted. After this the Inquiry takes its afternoon break. (@copscampaign.bsky.social)