by Bethany Rielly

A LAWYER representing spycops has urged the inquiry examining the long-running scandal to be wary of the “real dangers of judging 20th-century matters” by today’s standards. 

The Undercover Policing Inquiry, which opened on Monday, is scrutinising the tactics of two secret units which, together, infiltrated over 1,000 political groups stretching back to 1968. 

Yesterday’s session focused on the Metropolitan Police’s Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), which operated between 1968 and 2008, during which time officers stole the identities of dead children and duped activists into sexual relationships. 

In an opening statement to the inquiry, Oliver Sanders QC, representing a dozen undercover officers, repeatedly suggested that the actions and aims of SDS members should not be judged by modern standards. 

“Of course, we accept that … a great deal can be learnt from history,” he said.

“Nevertheless, we say it is important to be mindful of the fact that times have changed, that society is very different in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and even the ’90s than it is now and there are real dangers … of falling prey to hindsight bias and of judging 20th-century matters by 21st-century standards.”

The lawyer also said that policing in the past was “very different,” with officers in the 1960s still trained in catching runaway horses rather than dealing with public disorder.

On Monday, the inquiry heard how the SDS was formed in 1968 in response to the anti-Vietnam War movement in Britain to gather advance intelligence on peace demonstrations.

However, campaigners argue that the practices of the undercover unit worsened over the decades, with the policy of stealing dead children’s identities continuing into the 1990s. 

The inquiry also heard yesterday from representatives of the Metropolitan Police, the National Police Chiefs Council, National Crime Agency and the Home Office.

On the sexual relationship instigated by spycops, Met lawyer Peter Skeleton told the inquiry: “They should not have happened and they caused and have continued to cause immense hurt and suffering.” 

Nonetheless, he maintained that there was “no evidence” that SDS officers attempted to spy on the justice campaign of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence’s family. 

Both the Met and NPCC insisted that regulations designed to constrain spycops, including the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) 2000, have improved undercover policing. 

However, cases of misconduct by undercover police were documented long after such legislation was introduced, most notably by Mark Kennedy, an officer who deceived two women into sexual relationships between 2003 and 2010. 

Monday’s session produced a number of revelations, including the disclosure of 44 further groups that were infiltrated by spycops. 

They included tenants’ associations and, most shockingly, the School Action Union. 

The latter’s members were largely secondary school pupils who campaigned in the 1970s for the abolition of corporal punishment in education.

The police’s previous failure to admit that these groups were targeted has denied their members any involvement in the inquiry.