UNDERCOVER coppers appear to have targeted politicians, including Jeremy Corbyn, because they were “associated with the left wing of the Labour party,” a hearing was told yesterday.

Lawyers acting on behalf of a group of current and former MPs warned that hearing evidence in secret would prevent witnesses disclosing activities “fundamentally incompatible with the proper functioning of democracy.”

Dan Squires QC, acting for Ken Livingstone, Diane Abbott, Dave Nellist, Joan Ruddock and Bernie Grant’s widow Sharon, hit back at the Metropolitan Police’s pleas for officers’ anonymity to be maintained.

Mr Squires said all 11 MPs known to have been targeted “are or had been members of the Labour Party and at various times associated with the left wing of the Labour Party.

“The inference is that these individuals were targeted … because of their politics. If that is correct, that has constitutional implications of the highest order.”

He said spying on MPs whose duties included holding the police to account was “inconsistent with the proper relationship between a functioning legislature and the police.”

The undercover policing inquiry was established under the chairmanship of senior judge Christopher Pitchford following a series of allegations about elite units, including the Met’s Special Demonstration Squad.

On Tuesday Met counsel Jonathan Hall QC suggested there should be“deference” to police accounts of operations.

But yesterday Mr Squires said that it was “fanciful” to say that the same officers who took part in unlawful activity should be trusted to give accurate accounts.

He said coppers’ accounts could not be challenged if they were heard in secret.

He was backed by Ben Emmerson QC, acting for whistleblower SDS officer Peter Francis, who pressed for the disclosure of officers’ assumed names.

Lord Justice Pitchford is set to publish a judgment on April 15 detailing the basis under which restriction orders for evidence hearings and submissions will be allocated.

The inquiry is also set to hold a preliminary hearing on the issue of whether the names of children whose identities were stolen by undercover officers will be disclosed either to the public or to their families.