Thousands of surveillance reports compiled by undercover police officers who spied on political campaigners have been routinely sent to MI5, revealing a vast network of information gathering and collaboration between the two agencies.
The undercover operations, which took place in the late 1960s until at least the 1990s, involved long-term deployments of police spies infiltrating mainly left-wing protest groups, including campaigns against racism and nuclear weapons, the Socialist Workers party, justice campaigns, and trade unions.
These reports logged personal information about protesters, including their marriages, sexuality, holiday plans, and bank accounts, as well as details of their planned political action. The information also included photographs and even details about children, with some reports recording the political beliefs of individuals as young as 13.
It has emerged that most of these surveillance reports were sent to MI5 at a time when the Security Service was being heavily criticised by civil liberties groups for its snooping activities on left-wing and progressive campaigners. In fact, Stella Rimington, who led MI5 in the 1990s, described the agency's tactics as "over-enthusiastic".
MI5 maintained vast files on individuals, which were used to vet people applying for certain government posts, but this practice has also been accused of unfairly blocking many people deemed too left-wing from getting jobs. The agency was even asked by police spies to provide specific details about individual campaigners, including "shopping lists" of information such as home addresses.
The documents show that MI5 paid tribute to the work of undercover officers, describing it as "valuable and very significant", but also reveal a close relationship between the two agencies, with senior police officers and MI5 officials regularly meeting to discuss their shared targets. In some cases, MI5 warned about potential risks to its own spies.
The revelations come as part of the spycops inquiry, which is examining how police used undercover officers to spy on political groups between 1968 and at least 2010. The investigation has also uncovered a range of other controversies involving undercover policing, including deception and surveillance of grieving families.
The undercover operations, which took place in the late 1960s until at least the 1990s, involved long-term deployments of police spies infiltrating mainly left-wing protest groups, including campaigns against racism and nuclear weapons, the Socialist Workers party, justice campaigns, and trade unions.
These reports logged personal information about protesters, including their marriages, sexuality, holiday plans, and bank accounts, as well as details of their planned political action. The information also included photographs and even details about children, with some reports recording the political beliefs of individuals as young as 13.
It has emerged that most of these surveillance reports were sent to MI5 at a time when the Security Service was being heavily criticised by civil liberties groups for its snooping activities on left-wing and progressive campaigners. In fact, Stella Rimington, who led MI5 in the 1990s, described the agency's tactics as "over-enthusiastic".
MI5 maintained vast files on individuals, which were used to vet people applying for certain government posts, but this practice has also been accused of unfairly blocking many people deemed too left-wing from getting jobs. The agency was even asked by police spies to provide specific details about individual campaigners, including "shopping lists" of information such as home addresses.
The documents show that MI5 paid tribute to the work of undercover officers, describing it as "valuable and very significant", but also reveal a close relationship between the two agencies, with senior police officers and MI5 officials regularly meeting to discuss their shared targets. In some cases, MI5 warned about potential risks to its own spies.
The revelations come as part of the spycops inquiry, which is examining how police used undercover officers to spy on political groups between 1968 and at least 2010. The investigation has also uncovered a range of other controversies involving undercover policing, including deception and surveillance of grieving families.
Yeah, I'm surprised they didn't know about this already... I mean, come on, it's been out in the open since like the 90s! Anyway, what's crazy is that MI5 was just describing their tactics as "over-enthusiastic" back then. Like, hello? That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of their methods 
. And can you believe they paid tribute to these undercover officers? It's all about how they "valued" the work, but really it sounds like they were just using them for whatever they wanted to spy on 
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... undercover cops spying on protests and getting all that personal info 
... it's like, what were they thinking? 
They were basically snooping around people's private lives for years without any checks 
... and the worst part is those reports got sent to MI5, so now we know how far down the rabbit hole this went 
... the fact that senior police officers and MI5 officials met regularly to discuss targets just adds to the creepiness 
... gotta say, it's a big red flag when an agency is being asked to provide specific info about individuals, like shopping lists 
... this whole thing needs more light shone on it ASAP 
. Like, what's up with these old records being dug up? It's like they're saying "hey, we totally abused our power" 
. I get that security is important, but come on! You can't just spy on people without consequences 
. These documents show a pretty close relationship between the police and MI5... it's like they were in cahoots or something 
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. But at the same time, it's a sobering reminder that power can corrupt even those with the best intentions. It's all about balance, I guess – we need to be aware of where our freedom ends and where our responsibility begins.
. We gotta keep fighting for transparency and accountability in our institutions – it's the only way we'll ever get true justice 
and what's even more messed up is that it was all done under the guise of "vetting" people for gov posts 
this whole spycops thing is a whole can of worms 
I'm low-key shocked by these documents - the fact that undercover cops were basically spying on people's personal lives for decades is just wild. Like, who gives the police this kind of access to people's finances? It's crazy how far the security services will go to keep tabs on certain groups. And can we talk about how messed up it is that some of these reports included details about kids? 
and I'm not surprised civil liberties groups were all over MI5's head back in the day. these reports are like something out of a dystopian novel, where they're literally logging your kids' details 
, sucking up every single detail about these people's lives just to discredit them or keep tabs on their activism 
. it's insane that MI5 was basically working hand in hand with the police, sharing intel and even asking each other for specific details about targets 
. and now we're finding out that these files were used to vet people for jobs too? that's like, totally unacceptable 
. it's no wonder people felt the need to fight against corruption and oppression back then 
. It's also crazy to think that MI5 would say their tactics were "over-enthusiastic" when they're basically describing their own wrongdoing 
. And what's with the request for shopping lists of info? Like, who does that? 
It's like, we get it, you're trying to keep us safe from 'radical' ideas, but do you really need to snoop on people's holidays and bank accounts? 
The fact that these reports were sent to MI5 during a time when civil liberties groups were already scrutinizing their tactics just makes it all the more cringeworthy 
. It's like, we're always talking about how our freedoms are being threatened by terrorism and social media, but what about the threats from within? 
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. I'm glad that some of these reports are finally coming to light, and I hope the spycops inquiry uncovers even more truth about what really went on during this time period