‘Secret police’ debate

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33514, 20 April 1974, Page 15

‘Secret police’ debate

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON, April 17. An uneasy debate has broken out over whether Britain has its own form of secret police.

jcil for Civil Liberties that he I was terrified the I.R.A. or, the Special Branch would ; kill him. , j In a signed statement, he ;told the council the Special ‘ Branch had forced him to become an undercover agent land infiltrate the I.R.A. in ; 'Britain. "l The Government has, ’ordered a Scotland Vardi i inquiry into the case, while a ■| number of M.P.s are demand-i, Ung an investigation into ] 11 Special Branch activities. >1 There has been anxious I questioning about where | I police should draw the line ‘ Hon trying to combat' exitremist organisations. • Do the ends justify the 1 II means? Should Britain's ; police, widely believed to be tithe envy of many foreign I :, countries’, employ double ’ ■ I agents, provacateurs and I

allow house searches without warrant? The "Daily Mail” had no doubts about the answer. It. described the I.R.A. as “one ;of the most brutal guerrilla movements in history. ‘SIMPLE CHOICE’ “Some of these (police) methods may seem disreputable,” it added, "but it is a simple matter of choice. “You either use these methods or you lose the battle.”' "The Times," in a cautious editorial, warned against “a secret police force operating according to no rules or to rules of its own devising.” FORMED IN 1880 s The Special Branch was formed in the 1880 s to deal with Irish violence. Then known as the Special Irish Branch, it came into being, according to some accounts, when Irish nationalists tried to blow up Scotland Yard by planting a bomb in a lavatory.

The murder of a self-con-fessed police informer brought a nation proud of its iopen society to take a new look at some of its under-1 cover police work. “It has to be said—the I Special Branch is Britain’s! secret police,” commented the “Daily Mail.” “But there’s nothing to bej ashamed of in that.” An Irishman, Kenneth Lennon, 30, was found, shot in! the back of the head, in a; Surrey roadside ditch last! Saturday, three days after he, had told the National Coun-!

It has departments which watch extremist activities, take notes at public meetings, and seek to infiltrate 'potentially dangerous organisations. TRAINED MARKSMEN Members of the force are usually trained marksmen and skilled linguists. In London alone, the Special Branch deploys up to 300 officers, including interpreters and shorthand experts. Its duties include protecting top political figures and visiting Royalty—but not members of the British Royal Family. •