The bloke who disrupted the boat race

[Skidfingers McGonical 2,838]

Keep Your mouth shut or you are going on the naughty list

 

National police unit monitors 9,000 'domestic extremists'

Officers familiar with workings of unit indicate that many of campaigners listed on database have no criminal record

 

A national police unit that uses undercover officers to spy on political groups is currently monitoring almost 9,000 people it has deemed "domestic extremists".

 

The National Domestic Extremism Unit is using surveillance techniques to monitor campaigners who are listed on the secret database, details of which have been disclosed to the Guardian after a freedom of information request.

 

A total of 8,931 individuals "have their own record" on a database kept by the unit, for which the Metropolitan police is the lead force. It currently uses surveillance techniques, including undercover police, paid informants and intercepts, against political campaigners from across the spectrum.

 

Senior officers familiar with the workings of the unit have indicated to the Guardian that many of the campaigners listed on the database have no criminal record.

 

As as Scotland Yard was battling to contain the fallout over the activities of a former undercover police officer who was asked to dig for "dirt" that would undermine the Stephen Lawrence campaign, evidence emerged that the main witness to his murder was also targeted.

 

Sources indicated that the Met secretly bugged meetings with Duwayne Brooks and his solicitor. The surveillance operation was understood to have been authorised by a "senior officer" in around 1999 or 2000.

 

At least two meetings are believed to have been covertly recorded, one of them at the offices of Brooks's solicitor, Jane Deighton. She told the BBC, which first reported the story, that if true the operation was "scandalous".

 

Last night it emerged that Stephen Lawrence's mother Doreen is to meet with the home secretary on Thursday morning.

 

The Met commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, is resisting calls for an independent inquiry into the latest revelations. His force said it recognised the "huge seriousness" of the fresh claims about the surveillance of Brooks, who is now a Lib Dem councillor in South London, and would investigate them internally.

 

Former undercover officer Peter Francis had previously revealed he was involved in an ultimately failed operation to discredit Brooks, seeking information that was used to bring an unsuccessful prosecution for criminal damage in 1993, a few months after Lawrence died. Francis's full story is told in a book about several undercover operations, published this week.

 

Francis's unit, the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), was disbanded in 2008, but later replaced with the National Domestic Extremism Unit.

 

The extremism unit monitors the full range of activists: from far-right activists in the English Defence League through to animal rights protesters, anti-capitalists and anti-war demonstrators.

 

In recent years the unit is known to have focused its resources on spying on environmental campaigners, particularly those engaged in direct action and civil disobedience to protest against climate change.

 

A small number of activists have obtained excerpts from their file in the extremism unit's database. They include an 88-year-old campaigner, John Catt, who won a landmark lawsuit against the Met three months ago. Three court-of-appeal judges ruled the Met had unlawfully retained details of the pensioner's presence at more than 55 protests. Details were logged about slogans on his banner and whether he was clean-shaven.

 

Another activist, Guy Taylor, 46, who campaigns against capitalism, discovered that he was spied on while attending Glastonbury festival – which is known to have been frequented by a number of police spies in recent decades. Taylor has one conviction for spray-painting a slogan in 1991.

 

He and Catt are among the thousands of activists who have been categorised as domestic extremists on the unit's files. The Met previously used the term "subversives" to describe citizens with radical political views whom it was spying on.

 

On Tuesday, Francis said in a Guardian webchat that those targeted by Special Branch in the past included the former home secretary, Jack Straw, once a student union activist.

 

"I read Mr Straw's rather large file," he said. "It will be a pink file with his individual 'RF' (Registry File) number. The same for [MPs] Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn – and Imran Khan, the lawyer for the Stephen Lawrence family. The human rights solicitor firm Bindmans also had its own dedicated file."

 

Francis also said a low point of his deployment as an anti-racist campaigner in the 1990s came when he undermined the campaign of a family who wanted justice over the death of a boxing instructor who was struck on the head by a police baton.

 

He said he had infiltrated the family-led campaign for justice over the death ofBrian Douglas, a 33-year-old who died after he was hit on the head with a police baton in 1995 when he was stopped for driving erratically.

 

"The lowest point I reached morally was when I was standing outside Kennington police station for the Brian Douglas justice campaign in May 1995. It was a candlelit vigil and his relatives were all there," he said.

 

"By me passing on all the campaign information – everything that the family was planning and organising through Youth Against Racism in Europe – I felt I was virtually reducing their chances of ever receiving any form of justice to zero. To this day, I personally feel that family has never had the justice they deserved."

 

Francis said he had "no faith" in the two existing inquires that the home secretary, Theresa May, has said will look into his allegations. One is an inquiry by a barrister into previously-known allegations of corruption in the investigation in the Lawrence murder, while the second, Operation Herne, is an internal Met police review being led by the chief constable of Derbyshire police.

 

"Only a judicial-led or public inquiry – not just into the Stephen Lawrence allegations, but into the wider controversy – has any chance of ever establishing the truth," he said.

[Redder Lurtz 2,741]

I'll say it again Lurtz, slower.

 

Gee thanks.

 

And I'll repeat this again, slower:

 

He commited a criminal offence and disrupted a world renowned sporting event with an audience of millions. He's since been moaning about his predicament and his treatment to anyone who'll listen, shown zero remorse and the authorities are within their rights to deem him capable of doing something similar.

[Skidfingers McGonical 2,838]

Gee thanks.

 

And I'll repeat this again, slower:

 

He commited a criminal offence and disrupted a world renowned sporting event with an audience of millions. He's since been moaning about his predicament and his treatment to anyone who'll listen, shown zero remorse and the authorities are within their rights to deem him capable of doing something similar.

 

If you are protesting about something then you are not going to show remorse are you?

 

Otherwise it is a pointless task even standing up for something you believe to be wrong then when getting bollocked saying "Oh yeah shouldn't have done it, I shall conform" abslute bollocks that mate.

 

A race between to Toff Middle to Upper class universities was what was stopped, not something serious like a heart operation or a cancer reseaarch centre being destryed. A bloody boat race.

 

Did anyone get hurt? No, did anyone die? No. Could he have done it differently? Maybe, but only to get his point across better.

 

It's a pathetic ruling that they are looking to deport him.

 

Orwell could not have written it any better.

[Rico1304 6,596]

If you are protesting about something then you are not going to show remorse are you?

 

Otherwise it is a pointless task even standing up for something you believe to be wrong then when getting bollocked saying "Oh yeah shouldn't have done it, I shall conform" abslute bollocks that mate.

 

A race between to Toff Middle to Upper class universities was what was stopped, not something serious like a heart operation or a cancer reseaarch centre being destryed. A bloody boat race.

 

Did anyone get hurt? No, did anyone die? No. Could he have done it differently? Maybe, but only to get his point across better.

 

It's a pathetic ruling that they are looking to deport him.

 

Orwell could not have written it any better.

 

But what was he protesting about??? You keep saying he's a protestor but one without a cause...so he's just angry then? Generally a bit fed up?

 

What did he expect, people watching the race to suddenly think, wow, now that Aussie cunt has stopped the boat race ill stop being a racist/sexist/imperialist/islamaphobe/anti-semetic?

[Skidfingers McGonical 2,838]

But what was he protesting about??? You keep saying he's a protestor but one without a cause...so he's just angry then? Generally a bit fed up?

 

What did he expect, people watching the race to suddenly think, wow, now that Aussie cunt has stopped the boat race ill stop being a racist/sexist/imperialist/islamaphobe/anti-semetic?

 

It doesn't matter what he was protesting about. He has served his time and this is a clear case of class ruling. It stinks and that is the issue here.

 

People didn't know he was an Aussie as it happened, they didn't know what his 'cause' was so no they were not going to change their opinion were they.

 

His problem was that he didn't have a clear message that would raise awareness which is what protesting was all about.

 

The 60's would have loved having you and Lurtzy about.

[Redder Lurtz 2,741]

Skids he hasn't protested about anything. He's had over a year to concoct a a story on what he was protesting about and he still can't come up with anything coherent. He's an attention seeker and he can fuck the fuck off.

 

 

And this whole "toffs" thing is quite irritating. As if some people who are academically smart enough to attend Oxbridge universities they're somehow some sort of "toff" scum. They're not all in the fucking Bullingdon Club.

 

This is a few years old but relevant:

 

 

And while they may not all originate from inner city areas, the trialists include students from Bradford, Birmingham, Macclesfield, Sheffield and Swindon who have to qualify academically before they start rowing.

 

John Collard: the Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race is more popular than ever before | Sport | guardian.co.uk

 

 

 

So no one cares about the Boat Race, an outdated relic that interests only rowing anoraks and small sections of the media? Ironically, the very reasons that Barney Ronay gave to contend the Boat Race no longer justifies a live broadcast on terrestrial television belong firmly in the past themselves.

 

The Boat Race has moved on in so many respects from its portrayal as an elitist, irrelevant tradition. Seven of the GB rowers who returned from Beijing with Olympic medals this year are former Boat Race competitors and will testify to the benefits the race and its preparations gave them.

 

Yes foreign students do row in the race, but half of those who contested the event last year were home-grown talent and 21 British students are looking for places in next year's boats in trials taking place over the next week. Let's not forget that these are the rowers who could well be seeking medals for the GB team at London 2012.

 

And while they may not all originate from inner city areas, the trialists include students from Bradford, Birmingham, Macclesfield, Sheffield and Swindon who have to qualify academically before they start rowing.

 

Although they are amateurs, they invariably produce a world-class performance on the day on a unique tideway course that is three times the length of a conventional rowing event.

 

Unlike many celebrated sportsmen today, they don't receive payment or anything for finishing second — not even a medal to recognise the effort involved. Yet they train twice a day, six days a week for seven months.

 

As such, the Boat Race is about pure sport — a winner taking all. Only a handful of people have the skill, mindset and opportunity to race a formula one car, but it doesn't mean that television viewers or spectators do not view a race as sport.

 

And it is clear from the viewing figures and level of media interest, that the British public, as well as millions around the world, appreciate the special sporting nature of the event and its place in the annual calendar.

 

Who cares about it? Well, apart from ITV's 7.6 million peak viewers, more than 100 media people and those taking part, it's also worth mentioning the 250,000 spectators the police estimate to line the towpath in one of London's largest annual public events.

 

In a wider context, 112 countries requested film of the race to screen either live or as highlights for the benefit of a further estimated 200m people around the world.

 

In between Olympic years the Boat Race crews are invited to compete in regattas around the world because of the interest they generate in countries like China, Russia, Spain and the United States.

 

Post-race research shows that more younger people and C1 & C2 demographic profilers watched the race on TV or the website — which received more than one million hits — than ever before.

 

The number of articles published on last year's event in national and regional press was more than double those of the year before, providing a media value for the sponsor Xchanging in excess of £1.2m in the UK alone.

 

And as any bookmaker will confirm after the weigh-in, it draws interest and allegiances for Oxford or Cambridge from vast numbers of the public who don't relate to whether they went to the universities or have any connections with them or the sport.

 

The Boat Race is also a great British tradition that deserves respect. Next year will be the 180th anniversary of the first Race — that's 43 years before the first FA Cup final and more than half a century before English and Australian cricket teams disputed the Ashes.

 

So whether some people like it or not, it's part of our national sporting fabric and heritage. Its values and purpose are timeless and eternally relevant. Its drawing power is proven and consistent. In short, it is something for Britons to be proud of and to demand to watch live on whatever channel.

[Skidfingers McGonical 2,838]

Skids he hasn't protested about anything. He's had over a year to concoct a a story on what he was protesting about and he still can't come up with anything coherent. He's an attention seeker and he can fuck the fuck off.

 

But he has served his time. He is no more a threat to society than Simon is.

[TK421 7,496]

Regardless of the validity of what he was/was not protesting about, deportation is a disproportionate punishment.

[Rico1304 6,596]

It doesn't matter what he was protesting about. He has served his time and this is a clear case of class ruling. It stinks and that is the issue here.

 

People didn't know he was an Aussie as it happened, they didn't know what his 'cause' was so no they were not going to change their opinion were they.

 

His problem was that he didn't have a clear message that would raise awareness which is what protesting was all about.

 

The 60's would have loved having you and Lurtzy about.

 

Of course it matters, otherwise he isn't a protester! Christ, how clear does it have to be? Just because he gives himself a title doesn't make it true.

 

For what it's worth I don't think he expected to stop the race, I think he just wanted to be on the telly. Once it was stopped it all got a bit serious and he had to pretend to be a protester to try and justify what he'd done.

 

They didn't know his cause immediately, but surely the purpose of an act like this is to use the publicity to raise support or awareness. "I ruined your event to raise the profile of female genital mutilation/AIDS awareness in Africa/Catholics bumming kids/ or generally because I'm a bit fed up with stuff...."

[RedinSweden 908]

Regardless of the validity of what he was/was not protesting about, deportation is a disproportionate punishment.

 

Exactly this. Lurtz, you seem to be getting stuck on details and ignoring this important point. You do not deport someone for something like this. Deportation is a serious thing and should not be used frivolously.

[A Red 2,909]

Deportation is a serious thing and should not be used frivolously.

 

If I went to Sweden and got caught shagging a Moose, I would prefer to be deported than locked in jail

[RedinSweden 908]

If I went to Sweden and got caught shagging a Moose, I would prefer to be deported than locked in jail

 

Firstly, there are no moose in Sweden, only elks. Secondly, bestiality is not illegal unless harm to the animal is caused, and I doubt your winky would cause much damage in the minge of an elk.

[Redder Lurtz 2,741]

Exactly this. Lurtz, you seem to be getting stuck on details and ignoring this important point. You do not deport someone for something like this. Deportation is a serious thing and should not be used frivolously.

 

How do you define 'frivolous' though? Does the fact that, in 2010, there were 500 Australian Nationals deported from the UK, make it less frivolous to deport this disruptive nomark?

 

Edit: The figure was 710 in 2009

[Bjornebye 24,924]

So redderz, oxford or cambridge?

[Paulie Dangerously 6,615]

Firstly, there are no moose in Sweden, only elks. Secondly, bestiality is not illegal unless harm to the animal is caused, and I doubt your winky would cause much damage in the minge of an elk.

 

RedinElkFanny

Redtium ElkFucker

[A Red 2,909]

Firstly, there are no moose in Sweden, only elks. Secondly, bestiality is not illegal unless harm to the animal is caused, and I doubt your winky would cause much damage in the minge of an elk.

 

Damn!

 

Ok, if I turned up at Valborgsmässoafton hanging out the back of a real life Elk and caused the event to be abandoned, is there a chance I could be deported?

[the chimp 1,483]

Regardless of the validity of what he was/was not protesting about, deportation is a disproportionate punishment.

 

Martin you'd understand this much more than me, but has he violated the terms of any visa he's been given, and is that why he's being deported? I think even with permanent residency over here, they can kick you out or refuse to renew a visa. With citizenship I think that's a different matter entirely, but again I'm just guessing.

[Whelan 0]

Can we not just agree that although deportation is clearly a bit disproportionate - he isn't protesting at anything, and is in fact just a pretentious attention seeking gobshite! Trenton72.

[TK421 7,496]

Martin you'd understand this much more than me, but has he violated the terms of any visa he's been given, and is that why he's being deported? I think even with permanent residency over here, they can kick you out or refuse to renew a visa. With citizenship I think that's a different matter entirely, but again I'm just guessing.

 

I have no idea mate, i just think its disproportionate. Anubis is probably the man to ask.

[RedinSweden 908]

Damn!

 

Ok, if I turned up at Valborgsmässoafton hanging out the back of a real life Elk and caused the event to be abandoned, is there a chance I could be deported?

 

I think you would have to do something more serious. I can tell you are desperate to fuck an elk, but I think you will have to gravely one of the Royals. Any one of Agnetha, Björn, Benny or Anni-Frid will do.

[RedinSweden 908]

How do you define 'frivolous' though? Does the fact that, in 2010, there were 500 Australian Nationals deported from the UK, make it less frivolous to deport this disruptive nomark?

 

Edit: The figure was 710 in 2009

 

How many of those were here legally though?

[A Red 2,909]

I think you would have to do something more serious. I can tell you are desperate to fuck an elk, .

 

Dont you lot take Elk & Safety seriously?

[RedinSweden 908]

Dont you lot take Elk & Safety seriously?

 

Us lot?

[stringvest 12,763]

Depressingly you are right. I live in a country where the current govt have re-written the constitution to include homophobia, sacked the judiciary to make way for their own cronies, redefined the voting process to ensure they will win the next few elections, defined government-recognised religion as 12 churches only ( none of which include Muslims), have legislated against free press and have a prime minister who regularly consorts with journos who are blatantly anti-Semitic.

 

There are many protests but I know I cannot attend them as although I have a right to be here, fighting this govt as a foreigner is just not worthwhile

 

you live in Wales?

[stringvest 12,763]

Firstly, there are no moose in Sweden, only elks. Secondly, bestiality is not illegal unless harm to the animal is caused, and I doubt your winky would cause much damage in the minge of an elk.

 

thank you doctor.