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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Rob Evans

Met officers did not examine if spying was justified, inquiry finds

Protest signs outside the Royal Courts of Justice in 2019.
Protest signs outside the Royal Courts of Justice in 2019. Photograph: David Rowe/Alamy

None of the senior police officers in charge of long-term operations to infiltrate leftwing groups in the 1960s and 1970s examined whether the intrusive surveillance was justified, a public inquiry has found.

The inquiry – headed by a retired judge – added that there was a strong case for concluding that a covert Metropolitan police unit that sent long-term undercover officers to infiltrate political groups should have been disbanded decades before it was.

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