29/07/2021
Recent reports in the mainstream press have highlighted the fact that agents for Special Branch and the Security Services have maintained surveillance on protest groups of left, right and centre of the political spectrum for decades. Whether it was CND during its heyday, the Striking Miners in 1984, or Vegan Animal Rights activists in the Brightlingsea Demonstrations, it is now widely accepted that the state has spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers money spying on groups as diverse as Welsh language campaigns, Compassion in World Farming to UFO Groups. LGBTQ campaigners who were involved in the heyday of queer activism in the early nineties have joined others in pressing government to reveal just to what extent organisations like OutRage!, the Lesbian Avengers and ACT-UP were targetted and infiltrated by the secret services. In Bristol, a local anarchist activist has spoken with Neil Maggs at the underground newspaper The Bristol Cable to unpick the activities of the secret state during the nineties. A forty one minute fascinating podcast is the result, as Neil chats to the activist about revelations surrounding people he thought were comrades and allies. You can tune into this, plus many other podcasts from The Bristol Cable at their main website, which is www.thebristolcable.org.
