Charlie Alford

Spanish spycops target Catalan newspaper la Directa

Post author:The Canary
Post published:30 July 2026
Post last modified:31 July 2026

The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) has opened sanctioning proceedings against la Directa. This follows it publishing investigations into undercover police officers within social and pro-independence movements. This was announced on Wednesday at a press conference at the Barcelona Press Association by the outlet, together with Irídia – Centre for the Defence of Human Rights and the Ramon Barnils Group of Journalists. The action stems from a complaint filed by four of the police officers who, between 2020 and 2023, infiltrated social and political movements in Catalonia and the Valencian Country without judicial authorisation. The complaints were initially dismissed, but the…

Survivors of Spycops abuses fear Home Office ‘consultation’ is an attempt to shut down inquiry

Post author:The Canary
Post published:17 July 2026
Post last modified:17 July 2026

This is a statement from Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance regarding the Undercover Policing Inquiry Following elation at the progress of the Hillsborough law, victims of spycops were confronted on 16 July with a Home Office ‘consultation’ into the future of the Undercover Policing Inquiry. We are shocked and surprised by the announcement and deeply concerned that this is an attempt to shut this Inquiry down. We have been requesting a meeting with the Sponsor Department of the Home Office for more than a year and have been stonewalled. Now, we are presented with this multiple choice survey which clearly demonstrates that…

Police chiefs face questions over decades of political policing as Spycops Inquiry resumes

Post author:The Canary
Post published:15 June 2026
Post last modified:15 June 2026

On Monday 15 June, the Spycops inquiry resumes and campaigners will be looking for answers. Tranche 3 Phase 3 of the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) is beginning. And it’ll be a crucial stage in the investigation into the Metropolitan police’s Special Demonstration Squad (SDS). The Inquiry has heard evidence from former undercover officers and many of those whose groups, campaigns and personal lives they infiltrated. It’s now turning its attention to the senior officers and government departments who authorised, supervised and oversaw these operations. For many of those affected, this phase goes to the heart of the Inquiry. The key question…