By Emily Shackleton and Aaron Payne
Diane Abbott has spoken out about the revelations of Scotland Yard surveillance of her and other left-wing MPs.
The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said she was “truly shocked” to find out that she was one of the political figures who Scotland Yard gathered intelligence on during the 1990s.
“Scotland Yard should never have monitored sitting Members of Parliament,” she told the Hackney Post.
“It fundamentally interferes with our role within our democracy and breaches the confidentiality to which members of the public are entitled to expect of their MPs.”
BBC News reported yesterday that former special branch officer, Peter Francis, saw ten files which he and others updated regularly.
Between 1990-2001, he claims that he has seen records pertaining to the Hackney North and Stoke Newington Labour MP as well as the late Tony Benn, Harriet Harman, and Jack Straw who became home secretary in 1997.
Gathering information about MPs was part of his job with the Metropolitan Police’s now defunct Special Demonstration Squad where he says he had to infiltrate left-wing groups that were considered a potential threat to security.
The information collected included MPs’ openly-stated political views as well as behind the scenes intelligence about what was going on in the groups.
“When I was deployed undercover in the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), any MP that I came across, such as on demonstrations, I would report back on them,” he told the BBC.
“I felt that it was OK to report back on MPs,” he said. “I used to give myself a pat on the back, thinking ‘I have done a good job’. These MPs were spied on and they should know.”
Scotland Yard would not comment on the claims at the time, but a spokesmen said that Operation Herne, an internal police investigation, would continue to look into what happened in the SDS.
Ms Abbott called for the revelations to be fully investigated. “I strongly endorse calls for a full public enquiry and shall certainly be demanding to see my file.”
Image credit: Alex Hilton
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