10:00

This was a unit within the Metropolitan Police

10:02

Force, and these ten

10:04

officers within the SDS were

10:06

accountable to no one. Over

10:10

the years, the London Metropolitan Police

10:12

had already infiltrated suffragette groups, pacifists

10:14

and, worst of all, trade unionists.

10:18

But the SDS were set up to monitor

10:20

what they called subversives.

10:24

And the official definition of that word

10:26

has changed a lot over

10:28

time. Yeah, it's basically just a group that,

10:30

like, there's no end goal, there's

10:32

no ultimate, like, once we get this,

10:34

we're done, we move on. And

10:37

also who they target is just up

10:40

for debate. In

10:43

1968, when the SDS was founded,

10:45

subversives meant anyone who would, quote,

10:48

contemplate the overthrow of the government

10:50

by unlawful means. How

10:52

does one overthrow a government lawfully? I

10:55

don't know, but yeah, I guess it's,

10:57

what's the word? Oh my god, what's the word? Sedition.

11:00

Anyone who's going to be seditious, so

11:02

throwing over, undermining the government by

11:05

unlawful means. Which, yes, you know, good.

11:07

Do that. But that's not what they

11:09

stick to. The

11:12

definition of subversive changed and changed and

11:14

became vaguer and vaguer until, it might

11:16

as well have said, anyone with a beard.

11:20

They were set out to insert

11:22

undercover officers into subversive groups for

11:24

years. They would

11:26

grow their hair and bone up on radical politics

11:29

and activism, earning the nickname,

11:31

the Hairies. These

11:34

officers would adopt totally new identities,

11:36

often taken from dead children, the

11:38

classic. Lists of death

11:40

certificates would be scoured by the SDS

11:42

to find a suitable match for each

11:44

member and as Saruti said all of those years ago,

11:47

sick, but a victimless crime. I'm

11:50

not here to defend the Hairies, but

11:53

in the grand scheme of things, not the worst thing they do.

11:57

The Hairies were given official passports and driving licenses

11:59

with their fake names. on and they

12:01

were given fake flexible jobs that involved

12:03

travel and irregular hours like delivery driving

12:05

or labouring. And why was

12:07

that? Because the officers in the SDS wanted to

12:09

be able to spend at least some of their

12:12

weeks with their actual families at

12:14

home. Yep, so just need like

12:16

some sort of job that explains

12:19

why you're away for large chunks

12:21

of time. So

12:24

officers would be interrogated in character by

12:26

senior officers to test their backstories and

12:28

force them to think on their feet.

12:31

And when they were deemed to be finally ready they

12:34

were sent off. To groups

12:36

of socialists, marxists, skinheads, anarchists,

12:38

anyone who might want to shake things up. Deployments

12:42

initially lasted four

12:44

years. And the

12:46

hairy SDS men would usually rock up to

12:48

one of these groups, introduce themselves and offer

12:51

to help. They'd

12:53

identify impressionable people within the group and

12:55

manipulate their trust into getting them into

12:57

the gang. They would

13:00

then form long-term friendships and

13:02

yes, sometimes even relationships with

13:04

members. And all

13:07

the while they'd feedback information on

13:09

plans, movements and key figures to

13:11

the met. The

13:13

BBC podcast The Spy Cops

13:15

Undercover tells

13:18

the story of Mark Strong, one

13:20

of the central characters in our story today. And

13:23

in the BBC show they also talked to

13:25

an ex-undercover officer who gave his thoughts on

13:27

the ethics and tactics of the job. One

13:30

interesting thing he talks about is

13:33

intoxicants. He'd

13:35

always been terrified of booze or drugs because

13:37

when you're less in control of your faculties

13:40

you're more likely to slip up. And

13:42

unfortunately for the SDS, us

13:45

subversives fucking love drugs.

13:48

And I'm sure I've seen loads

13:50

of interviews with undercover police where they're

13:52

like, there will quite often be a

13:54

situation where you are expected to take

13:56

drugs in front of other

13:58

people. Absolutely. Absolutely. that

38:00

his job was pretty specialized involving his

38:02

climbing skills and so he was paid pretty

38:04

well. What are you a cave diver?

38:06

I mean he's a fucking cop. Who

38:10

probably gets paid hazard pay and has got a £7,000 watch on

38:12

his wrist. I

38:14

wonder whether you get like pocket money

38:17

for like... Oh I bet, I bet,

38:19

I bet. Buying tree hugger's drinks. Look

38:21

at the money they're pissing away in

38:23

general. So yeah, within

38:26

a few months Flash started

38:28

dating a woman. Within the sumac

38:30

centre called Kate. They met

38:32

each other at a public meeting in Nottingham and hit it off.

38:35

Mark told Kate that he'd lived in the same

38:37

neighbourhood as her in London and that their families

38:39

supported the same football team. Like

38:42

her he was into country music and

38:44

loved the trailer lifestyle. Classic mirroring. And

38:46

Kate thought that she had found someone

38:48

really special. They moved in

38:50

together and started travelling across the country to campaign

38:53

meetings and protests. But

38:55

surprise, surprise, Mark's mythical climbing

38:57

job required him to shoot

39:00

off to London where there are famously lots of

39:02

mountains and he went there all the time.

39:05

So he was actually only around Kate for a few days

39:07

at any one time. And since he

39:09

and Kate were in an open relationship, he

39:11

would regularly bring girls back to the house

39:13

and sleep with them when she was away.

39:16

Which by the way has got absolutely

39:18

nothing to do with anything. And

39:20

remember he's got a fucking wife and kids in

39:22

the suburbs. And what's even more

39:24

creepy is that we did read that this bed

39:27

that he had because he's obviously also Mr DIY

39:29

was made out of like old bits of scaffolding.

39:31

Oh for God's sake. And I'm just like I

39:33

can't even visualise what that means. Like how do

39:35

you build a bed out of scaffolding? But apparently

39:38

that's where he brought all these girls back to

39:40

have sex with him. I mean

39:42

I would be lying if I said I

39:44

hadn't had sex on a bed

39:46

made of like pallets. Oh yeah sure. Bricks.

39:49

Yeah. This was a four poster bed made

39:51

out of scaffolding. Revan too.

39:53

No even I have not done that. He

39:57

stayed with Kate for two years and when they split he started sleeping. with

40:00

their housemate, classic move, Elinor.

40:02

It's Elinor Fairtrader. Oh. I

40:06

know. It's all full circle. And

40:08

then after he was done with her, he spent a

40:10

year in a relationship with an American woman called Sarah.

40:13

Then he had an eight month relationship with a woman

40:15

called Naomi. They went traveling together, and

40:18

he even went with her to her brother's wedding. God,

40:20

you'd just be so embarrassed from you. I

40:23

don't think I'd ever go over it. And

40:25

maybe they didn't. Mark told all of these women

40:27

that he loved them, and needless to say, he

40:30

had regular sex with all of them. What

40:32

exactly he was gaining intelligence

40:34

wise from having all of these

40:36

various relationships with these women is

40:39

beyond anybody. All

40:42

the while, he was recording conversations,

40:44

stealing away to scribble down notes, and feeding everything

40:46

back to his contact at the Met. Finally,

40:49

he got into a relationship with another activist

40:52

called Lisa. And this

40:54

one was his longest yet. Mark

40:56

and Lisa were together for six years.

40:59

Six years, six years.

41:01

I like, I literally feel so unwell.

41:04

That is so much time. That's

41:08

fucking hell. I

41:12

mean, I know kids that are six. They can

41:14

like count and read books. That's

41:17

so much. So yeah,

41:20

everybody just let that sink in. And

41:22

before we carry on, I think it's high

41:24

time that we look at the ethics

41:26

and rules around officers sleeping with people

41:29

while undercover. Well, the

41:31

modern guidelines of the police

41:33

state that quote, it is

41:35

never acceptable for a UCO,

41:37

so undercover officer, to

41:40

have an intimate sexual relationship with

41:42

those they are deployed to infiltrate

41:44

and target or encounter during their

41:46

deployment. Having an intimate sexual

41:48

relationship must not be used as a

41:50

tactic by a UCO, which

41:52

sounds good. But A, there's

41:55

no specific sanction against

41:57

doing it. It doesn't

41:59

quite.