The book itself is very easy to read, it reads like a first rate thriller.
I hope the trial outcome and the book itself gives Kate some sort of closure. She'll never get back those years or recover from the damage done to her, nor will the many other women in similar relationships, nor the hundreds of well meaning activists spied on.
#spycops
#katewilson
#sumaccentre
#ACAB
#ukpolitics

Well yes. Undercover cops having sexual relationships with female activists who were doing nothing wrong or illegal is indefensible.
These tactics went on for decades, and likely still do
How much did all this cost the taxpayer?
Destroying people's private lives and those of the cops' own families?
The only illegal activities uncovered seem to be those committed by cops themselves-for which they were given permission by higher authorities!
#spycops
#katewilson
#ACAB
#ukpolitics

There's a lot of interesting detail in the book.
One that stands out is that SOCA - Serious Organised Crime Authority reported that the NPOIU (the spycops unit) "lacked any form of operational impact or outcome assessment....."
And "lack of any real measure of success or otherwise of the operation makes proportionality in its widest sense difficult to justify to the public"
#spycops
#katewilson
#ukpolitics

This is an issue close to me but there were revelations that still surprised me. Notably the constant communication between the spycop and his handler, who was never far away. There's no way they really believed the UCO was in any danger. There were calls several times a day with the minutiae of people's daily lives being recorded.
Also the level of intrusive personal reporting, a family trip to IKEA and attending an activist's father's funeral.
#spycops
#katewilson
#ACAB
#ukpolitics