The Protest Busting Formula

Part 1 - Counter-Subversion & Undercover Cops

When we first read Joe Boyd's blog, Fracking Law For Sale, what struck us was how could a "well orchestrated state master-plan to demonise anti-fracking activists" and Barton Moss camp have been engineered, did it really happen, and if so how?

During endless hours of research and more than several 'conversations' with activists and individuals involved in campaigns all over the United Kingdom it has become apparent just how carefully, how cleverly, how insidiously, the honeycomb of power surrounds a movement it sees as dangerous to the status quo then closes it down.

We, the Green Wash authors, have read about, and discussed, too many protest actions that informed our conclusions to include them all, however, there have been some significant milestones that we believe led to the enabling of the green-washing of Preston New Road and the Ineos injunction.

As our investigation unfolded a trail led us to identify what we have come to call the 'Protest Busting Formula'. A festivalisation of protest with a middle-class eco-elitism that not only took control of, but ultimately totally eclipsed activists and movements. In redirecting focus away from effective and positive, purpose-orientated, non-violent direct action, campaigners are unwittingly steered towards a narrow set of state sanctioned objectives linked to economic interests. In a gradual takeover a localised, single issue protest becomes absorbed into a much larger, more generalised campaign and suddenly finds itself powerless as support haemorrhages to the larger, well-financed movement.

In his blog Joe listed six overarching key points he felt had been used to try and discredit, and ultimately break, the anti-fracking movement: hierarchy, key group members, law enforcement, strategic security agencies, industry and corporate spy interference and the mainstream media.

What we have shown in previous posts, and will continue to expose in more depth, is that the state and industry have managed, either through blind luck, design, or a combination of both, to accomplish their goals. What we also know is that however much the state and industry think they have activists under control by using the same continually refined overarching tactics, small groups and individuals have pushed back and are still successfully campaigning and fighting, albeit under very difficult conditions.

In order to understand the steps that led to the Ineos injunction and the green washing of Preston New Road we had to forensically work our way backwards until we found, what we felt to be, the start of the Protesting Busting Formula.

G8 Summit Gleneagles 2005

July 2005 saw thousands of people gather in Edinburgh in an attempt to pressurise the Group of Eight (G8) leaders to take action on climate change, trade debt and Africa. Months of hard work had gone into organising the protests with the largest day of protest, 'Make Poverty History', seeing 225,000 people march through the city, far exceeding both police and press predictions.

Organised over a period of two years by Dissent! (an alliance made up of representatives and individuals from a range of protest groups), three 'convergence centres' were opened. One in a derelict warehouse in Glasgow (paid for in cash with no questions asked), a squatted campsite in Edinburgh's Pilrig Park, and a rural site near Gleneagles, the Stirling 'Hori-Zone Eco-Village'. The centres became temporary camp sites for thousands of activists from all over the world. It was at the village radical anarchist groups including the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army and Black Bloc, anti-globalisation groups, environmental action groups and anti-capitalists contributed to make the site an "epicentre of brilliant tactical coordination".

Prior to G8 the idea of mobilising scattered and divided anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian activists into a well-organised, united machine of protest lasting long after the summit would have been looked upon as delusional, but that is exactly what happened. However, hindsight has revealed that what unfolded, both before and after the summit, was to prove to be a double-edged sword, with one of the blades heavily weighted on the side of the state.

Dissent! formed from meetings held at a UK gathering of Earth First! collectives and the 2003 London Anarchist Bookfair. The original plan was to coordinate all strands of activism from ecology to insurrection in such a way that individual and group autonomy, so vital to effective local action, was maintained. As opposed to being an 'umbrella' group, Dissent! aspired to become an "anti-authoritarian UK-wide network" with a minimal number of agreements, "no central office, no spokespeople, no membership and no paid staff". By adopting the traits of the People's Global Action the intent was to create an inclusive network with an ethos of action over bureaucracy; a "call to direct action and civil disobedience" with an organisational philosophy based on "decentralisation and autonomy" lying at the heart of it. In the early stages of the network forming many wanted to focus, not on protest based on critical mass, but on decentralised actions.

Those first few gatherings were difficult and along the way many of the original proponents driven by the ideal of autonomous action either moved on or left. However, eventually out of the chaos a loose structure began to grow as activists organically came together, with Earth First! collectives and the London WOMBLES (White Overalls Movement Building Libertarian Effective Struggles) also committing their support. Local groups eventually began to mobilise. As they became larger a format of breaking down into smaller working units feeding back to the network, via their local main group, became the new and previously unwanted regime. Autonomy began to be lost as Dissent! became what it had never started out to be, an umbrella organisation that knew exactly what was happening, where it was occurring, who the key activists were, and, with this information came power.

As the possibility of shutting down G8 became a realistic proposition issues started to arise. Where problems occurred, such as with funding ("after all, no-one ever wants to sign their name to the paradoxical bank account of an anti-capitalist network"), individuals stepped up to volunteer to solve them. There is no doubt that some of the original ideals of the network, such as the focus on local initiatives remained, however a clearly defined decision-making structure with an informal leadership began to emerge. Based on their depth of network knowledge and circle of friends these 'accidental' leaders began to secretly set ideas in motion that would dictate meeting agendas via the "Process Group" and confirm decisions via the "Plenary Group". The centralised production of information, propaganda, press statements and a bank account cemented the feelings of many that the network had become an organisation.

In an attempt to prevent anyone aspiring to become a leader (taking over the issuing of press releases, conducting interviews and acting as a spokesperson on behalf of the network) a statement was released which read "anyone who claims to be speaking on behalf of the Dissent! network is lying,". All media statements, prior to publication, had to be passed at a plenary meeting of Dissent! for approval. However, individuals, Dissent! working groups and local collectives could make as many statements and produce as much media as they wanted, as long as it was made clear they were not speaking on behalf of the network. As a method of preventing the creation of leaders the policy initially produced excellent results, however, as a ‘spiral of silence’ evolved it became evident the missive was so misunderstood that no one was communicating, on any level, to the media. This led to the labelling of Dissent! as a "sinister" network and cemented anarchists and activists' views that the corporate media were only interested in vilifying protesters.

A few months prior to the summit, in an endeavour to overcome the mainstream media's obsession with Dissent!, an independent media group, CounterSpin Collective, was formed. Press releases in the form of letters were sent to newspaper editors to combat the lies and negative press from the mainstream media who had, by now, labelled those involved in the network as "dangerous anarchists". Individuals who were willing to be interviewed were supported with members of the group acting as media/protester go-betweens by providing a central, dedicated phone number for contact.

In the June of 2015 two activists eventually managed to get an article published in The Guardian. The article criticised the Make Poverty History and Live8 campaigns calling them "embedded protest" and highlighted their role in allowing Blair, who proudly wore his Make Poverty History wristband, to hijack, domesticate and diffuse the struggle for global justice. The 'spinning' of the protest's underlying core issues, global poverty and the ecological crisis, had the effect of diluting and eventually undermining the messages. The empty promises and platitudes offered by government leaders, celebrities of Live8 (Bob Geldhof and Midge Ure) and the very nice, very middle-class, well-intentioned spokespeople of the Make Poverty History campaign (the 'acceptable' face of protest), became the focus of the world's mainstream media.

With the growing success of Dissent! also came "unprecedented amounts of funding" and, for many of those genuine anti-capitalists originally involved in the forming of the network, it began to cause a dilemma. The total budget for the week of protest ran into tens of thousands of pounds and was the major cause, along with the 'festivalisation' of the protests, of many ideologically driven activists becoming disillusioned, marginalised and, eventually, driven out.

In 2018 it was revealed that, alongside those sent in by overseas police forces, eighteen British undercover officers, all of whom have yet to be named, had been deployed to infiltrate protest groups attending the summit. Six from the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), six from the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) and six from the 'wider undercover cadre'. What is known is that those officers, acknowledged by the police as working as covert human intelligence sources, played instrumental roles in the groups and networks they had infiltrated.

Jason Bishop and Dave Evans were deployed to G8 and Simon Wellings to Dissent! by the SDS with the NPOIU deploying Mark Kennedy and Lynn Watson to Dissent! and G8 and Marco Jacobs to Dissent!.

Jason Bishop, deployed between 1998 and 2006, attended Earth First! collective meetings, anti-militarisation protests, including the arms fair DSEI (Defence and Security Equipment International), and stayed at Hori-Zone' Eco- Village for the G8 protests.

Dave Evans, deployed between 1998 and 2005 to infiltrate animal-rights and the Socialist Workers Party, stayed at the Hori-Zone' Eco-Village for the G8 protests.

Lynne 'Watson' (alias), deployed between 2002 and 2008, infiltrated the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army, was involved with Dissent! and present during the G8 protests.

Mark, Marco Jacob (alias) was deployed between 2004-2009 infiltrating the Cardiff Anarchist Network and attending Dissent! meetings.

Mark Stone (alias) (Kennedy), deployed between 2003-2010, infiltrated environmental groups, attended Earth First! collective gatherings and was at the G8 protests.

Simon Wellings (alias) deployed by the SDS between 2001-2007 became a member of Dissent!.

Rob Harrison (alias), deployed by the SDS between 2004-2007. Harrison attended the Make Borders History tour of Glasgow to highlight the racist asylum and immigration politics of the G8 countries and other states.

When covert human intelligence sources are exposed, the focus is naturally one of concern for the individuals who have been the target of the operation and the 'criminality' of those officers involved in the deception. What is overlooked however, is how these operations fit into the state's attempt to manage dissent and minimise protest. Covert intelligence is not about rogue officers "operating wildly and freely", nor is it an "unaccountable business far removed from the corridors of political power". The "link between Number 10 and Britain’s intelligence agencies, as intimate as it is secret, lies at the heart of the British establishment". And, if surveillance and propaganda are the means by which the state reinforces "hierarchical social relations" in the face of resistance, one of the methods of maintaining the status quo of that structure is the deployment of undercover operatives to disrupt, and ultimately silence, the dissenters.

Counter-subversion to suppress protest under Blair was not only legitimised but also re-branded as ‘domestic extremism’ policing, with the use of 'deep swimmers' (clandestine operatives who are embedded within protest groups for long periods of time) and 'shallow paddlers' (operatives who dip in and out of protest). 'Informers', usually untrained but already involved as activists, are recruited by the police to pass on information about forthcoming actions and key individuals. As protesters became through necessity more creative undercover operatives began to act as 'agents provocateurs'. Purposefully organised and incited radical action led to tougher government crack-downs, with new and more tyrannical legislation used to quash all state identified threats to their idealised "dominant political and social morality".

Undercover officers infiltrating a group rise to the top with comparative ease as they take over boring administrative jobs requiring long hours of work. Membership data gives them access to personal details and secret agendas, so important to the security services. Handlers, or superior officers, are contacted at least once a day with all 'call-ins' recorded on a grid and kept in a file in the back office. Phones with tracking devices and wires fitted to operatives are used so events and meetings can be recorded as they happen. As a standard, twice weekly meetings take place either in a safe house or at a police station for a 'de-brief'; tasks for the week ahead are also discussed.

Despite being assigned to different 'targets' Jason Bishop and Dave Evans were, highly unusually for surveillance operatives, flatmates. The two travelled to G8 together and, for the duration of the protest, camped at the Stirling eco-village. The number of vehicle owning protesters was minimal and drivers soon became exhausted. As a result Bishop and Evans were quickly recruited to take some of the WOMBLES from the train station to the Stirling village. However, just outside Glasgow the mini-bus was blocked and surrounded by five riot vans, around twelve officers on motorbikes, three vans with police dogs and a police helicopter hovering overhead. Eleven people were arrested on suspicion of ‘conspiracy to cause a breach of the peace’ and subsequently held overnight for prosecution by the High Court of Justiciary, Scotland's supreme court where cases are heard by a single judge and a jury of fifteen people.

The day following the arrests saw a massive police operation deployed to the court with "dozens of officers inside and outside the building". All those arrested were advised by their solicitors they would, in all probability, be remanded in custody. However, unexpectedly the eleven were released with all charges dropped; no explanation for the decision was ever provided. It can only be deduced this occurred because of the two undercover officers arrested along with the activists. This pattern of arrest with either a not guilty verdict or a release with no further action has become familiar in environmental movements, but only for the same select few who continually receive preferential treatment by the justice system.

Marco Jacobs was deployed to gather information about activists and, prior to the Gleneagles G8 summit took minutes of meetings, including for Dissent!, which he then reported back to his handler. This is a tried and tested method of acquiring large amounts of the information necessary to profile groups and individuals. Those in attendance at the same meetings as Jacobs have reported he used a number of phrases to deflect questions and would "adopt the persona of a Northern comedian". Jacobs also had a tendency to try and disrupt meetings with members of the Cardiff Anarchist Network stating he "changed the culture of the organisation, encouraging a lot of drinking, gossip and back-stabbing”.

Lynn Watson became an invaluable asset to groups with her willingness to put her name to official paperwork, undertaking time-consuming administrative tasks and, as an initial point of contact, became involved in the planning and coordinating of events and actions. She was very keen to maximise her practical skills, including driving and first aid. Watson was fundamentally involved with Dissent! and organised meetings, including the first gathering in Brighton and subsequently in Manchester during 2004. She was also an integral part of UK Action Medics, an activist service group. Watson attended the majority, if not all of their meetings, and was trusted enough to be given prior information on forthcoming actions. Whilst at G8 she based herself at the Stirling camp and, through her involvement with UK Action Medics, persuaded members that the main action would be in Edinburgh as opposed to Gleneagles where the leaders of the G8 countries were actually meeting.

Clown Council at the Make Poverty History demonstration, Edinburgh

"Looking back it's so hard to accept how conned we had been by her [Lynn Watson]. Of course we all knew our protests were infiltrated, it has been going on since before Greenham [Common], but it is always the one you least expect, the one you trust. In hindsight I can now see it was due to her influence that a trauma councillor was taken to the Edinburgh camp rather than to Stirling where her support was needed most. I suppose this seems a relatively small thing but some of us protesting at G8 had taken a real beating by the police and had been really traumatised by what we had witnessed. It just shows how much influence over the arrangements of the protest she really did have that we were all sent to the wrong camp" (interview with an anonymous activist by The Green Wash authors).

In 2004 Mark Stone (Kennedy), along with Watson, Wellings and Jacobs, also became intrinsically involved with Dissent!. He attended a variety of meetings in preparation for the summit, including the Festival of Dissent held in Lanarkshire between 4th and 10th of April 2005.

Kennedy's main role during the protest was as transport coordinator. As an integral part of the logistics team he was supplied with a vast amount of knowledge of what was going to happen, where it was going to happen and when. He also travelled a number of times between Glasgow and Edinburgh, moving equipment and infrastructure destined for the Stirling eco-village. Kennedy was fully aware of a number of planned key actions, including a demonstration carried out by the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army, which he helped facilitate by transporting people to the site of the action.

In order to maintain their programme of media outreach, CounterSpin Collective rented office space. Jason Kirkpatrick, a spokesperson for the collective, noted that following the first of several visits by Kennedy to the office, technical problems became an issue for them. This interference hindered CounterSpin's ability to carry out their planned media strategy to combat the all-encompassing power of the mainstream media.

Just prior to the summit and following CounterSpin's office rental, the police used a room in the same building for a drug awareness day. With units drafted in from all across the country to support the Scottish police operation, Kirkpatrick strongly suspected subversive monitoring of the office, and the subsequent sabotaging of equipment was just one small part of the operation to suppress the protests.

From the start of his premiership Tony Blair led a paranoid style of government with a built-in need to maintain power over people, freeing corporations, including the financial industry, from any duty of care owed to communities and sustaining his authority by passing ever more severe laws. He used the police as a government-sanctioned private militia, fighting public protest on behalf of corporations and big industries to prevent society from challenging both himself and the state. He was aided in this endeavour by, amongst other sources, intelligence gathered by Kennedy.

"In March 2018, the Undercover Policing Inquiry published the Special Demonstration Squad Tradecraft Manual, written in 1995, and updated in 1996. It was authored by Andy Coles, while he was still undercover in London animal rights groups as Andy Davey between 1991 – 1995."

Activists and campaigns have become the casualties of an out of control bureaucratic state intent on maintaining dominance by criminalising lawful protest. How much has been lost to the honeycomb of state oppression, oppressors who live by the motto "by any means necessary", we will never know. But without doubt the major factor in maintaining the state's power over its people, with campaigns failing and much needed reforms and power shifts not occurring, is a result of key activists who are secretly agents of the state. Peter Francis, a former undercover officer who worked for the Special Demonstration Squad stated “Once the SDS gets into an organisation, it is effectively finished […] If the SDS had been in existence at the time of the suffragettes, their campaigns would never have got off the ground”.

Part 2a - Domestic Extremism, mission creep & the criminalisation of protest.