The Met turned me into a domestic extremist – with tweets and trivia
|
Version 0 of 1. I would describe myself as many things, but domestic extremist is not one of them. In the eyes of the Metropolitan police, however, that is what I am; and that's why my name is on a file in their secret database of "domestic extremists". In June 2013, after having paid £10 and filled out a very long form, a copy of my police file arrived in the post. I don't know what I expected to find, but the three pages can only be described as pathetic. Quite honestly, I want my money back. The supposed point of this database, which is managed by the Met, is to gather intelligence from police forces, counter terrorism units, industry and open sources about domestic extremism threats, of which I am apparently one. Flicking through the file I was able to read copies of tweets I had made, a note that I was speaking at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square – even something saying I was the Green party mayoral candidate for London and was worried that I might be kettled on a protest. Most of the information came from public sources. How could it in any way be seen as useful intelligence? This was a complete waste of police time and resources. As an elected politician who has never been arrested, I was naturally surprised to find I even had a file on this database. But I am not alone. There is a Green party councillor in Kent who was spied on for two years for peacefully and legally protesting about live animal exports. His file even included details of organising a public meeting in support of equal marriage. There is also John Catt, an 89-year-old from Brighton who campaigns for peace and human rights. He found he had a file on this database which even included descriptions of his appearance ("clean shaven") and his habit of sketching demos. He has since launched legal action against the Met, winning a decision at the court of appeal to have information held on him deleted. A police appeal is due before the supreme court soon. At first I found it amusing that the information held on me was so pointless. However, my file and this database should be seen in the wider context of police surveillance against activists. At one end of the spectrum is the collection of publicly available trivia about an elected representative; at the other are the undercover police being sent to spy on a grieving family, and into the homes, lives and beds of women. The exceptionally broad definition of domestic extremist has provided cover for the police to intrude into the lives of innocent people; it means cyclists blocking a road to stage a die-in about road casualties could all be considered domestic extremists. The Met may have updated this definition – tightening it so that it focuses on serious criminality rather than "criminal acts of direct action" – but I am sceptical that it will curb the growing surveillance culture within the police that squanders time and resources that would be better used on improving relations with communities. When the police's work on domestic extremism involves spying on elected politicians and artistic pensioners, they have lost sight of what they are there to do. |