The long running SpyCops inquiry has resumed again in London. Dave Morris one of the McLibel Two gave evidence on Tuesday. During the proceedings it transpired that John Dines the undercover officer who formed a relationship with Helen Steel under false pretences, had also given details of the McLibel defence case to McDonalds via his SpyCops superior officers.
The barrister in the case was Keir Starmer who gave advice and guidance pro bono to the McLibel Two over many years as the case went from the Old Bailey to the European Court.
In his biography of Starmer, Tom Baldwin recounts that at the time Starmer issued a statement saying the outcome of the case (in essence a score draw) was a ‘milestone for free speech’. After becoming an MP and subsequently leader of the Opposition, Starmer offered a qualified defence of the work of SpyCops (subsequently having been the DPP) provided that there were democratic safeguards.
Starmer is of course now the PM and may be charged eventually with deciding what to with the outcome of the SpyCops inquiry. One wonders how he feels about the revelation that he himself was being spied on
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