Unite: Undercover Police Inquiry: Justice delayed is justice denied
Thursday, 10 May 2018 14:05
Unite, the UK’s largest union, described today’s (Thursday 10 May)
revelation that the inquiry into undercover policing will not
deliver its final report to the home secretary until 2023 as
‘denying justice’ to the victims. The delay to the inquiry
will mean that it will not be completed until eight years after it
was first established. It was originally due to complete its work
this year, but it has not yet even begun to take evidence. Even the
date of submitting the final...Request free trial
Unite, the UK’s largest union, described today’s (Thursday 10 May)
revelation that the inquiry into undercover policing will not
deliver its final report to the home secretary until 2023 as
‘denying justice’ to the victims.
The delay to the inquiry will mean that it will not be
completed until eight years after it was first established. It was
originally due to complete its work this year, but it has not yet
even begun to take evidence. Even the date of submitting the final
report in December 2023 has been described as
‘ambitious’.
While much of the focus of the inquiry has been on how
undercover police officers formed sexual relationships with women
who were unaware of their true identity, the inquiry is also
examining how undercover police officers infiltrated unions and
other organisations.
Unite has core participant status at the inquiry as a result
of construction union Ucatt (now part of Unite) having been
infiltrated by undercover officers.
The latest delay in the inquiry is also significant regarding
the campaign against blacklisting. In March this year the
Metropolitan Police was forced to finally admit that undercover
police officers supplied information on workers to the Consulting
Association, which blacklisted construction workers.
Despite this admission the Metropolitan Police has said that
it does not intend to take any further action until after the
Undercover Police Inquiry has completed its work and made its final
report.
Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail
said: “This latest delay is a clear case of
justice being denied. Victims of undercover policing have had their
lives wrecked and yet they are still being denied
answers.
“The government needs to explain why and how the
delays are occurring. If this is a question of resources then
additional funding must be found.
“The government needs to firmly rebut the growing
belief that it is deliberately kicking this inquiry into the long
grass because it is uncomfortable about what it will
find.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Unite has
previously warned that the Metropolitan Police’s admission on
blacklisting could lead to fresh legal
action
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