ANIMAL LIBERATION

ANIMAL LIBERATION/GREEN POLITICS

The 1980s saw a massive upsurge in animal rights activism, most notably the mass storming of various torture facilities to liberate animals. The secret state did not stand idly by, and in 1984 Scotland Yard's Animal Rights National Index was created, to act as information-gathering and strategy centre. In response the direct action wing of animal activists regrouped, becoming far more security conscious. The Green Party's good showing in the 1989 European Elections (14.5%) will certainly have moved Green activists up the secret state agenda. Coinciding as this did with the Berlin Wall falling (1989) and the old Soviet Union collapsing (1991), thus undermining their cosy little (Cold War) job-creation sceme, MI5 spooks began a pitch to move into this area of repression. Thus, animal rights activists in particular came under attack from sections of the media and assets were tasked to infiltrate in greater numbers than hitherto.

David Henshaw's 1989 book on the ALF 'Animal Warfare' falsely claimed that an obscure fascist who shared a name with a prominent animal activist was in fact the same person. A Lie Too Far (p.35-37) established that Henshaw's source was MI5 front-publication Searchlight, as part of a broader investigation into two Searchlight/state infiltrators into the green milieu--Tim Hepple and Ray Hill. Our follow up publication At War With the Truth (p.9-12) revealed in greater detail Agent Hepple's game-plan for entrapping the Green Anarchist collective in illegal activity, specifically purchasing arms and setting up autonomous cells using hi-tech equipment. Embarrassingly for his controllers, much of the evidence in A Lie Too Far and At War With the Truth was contained in letters indisputably handwritten by Hepple. These were in part obtained because at our suggestion Green Anarchist told Hepple they preferred written rather than phone communication for security reasons....At War With the Truth drew parallels between Hepple's suggestions and the state-sponsored pseudo-gang strategy pioneered by Brigadier Frank Kitson.

As a result of information gained and contacts made while researching the above two publications, the developing secret state campaign against the animal rights/Green movement was explored in Turning Up the Heat:MI5 After the Cold War. The final chapter (p.87-95) uncovered yet another (fascist) agent provocateur, this time in the anti-roads and animal rights movement. Also covered was the attempt to entrap ALF spokesperson Robin Webb by planting a shot-gun in the boot of his car. By this time the templates on offer for smearing activists were fully developed--depicting them as fascist and/or terrorist, or at the very least linked to the same. It is important to remember these moves were not so much signs of secret state strength as weakness. As Turning Up the Heat put it "MI5 [was] in severe identity crisis, seeking to expand its empire in order to survive" (p.94).

1995 saw an upsurge of animal rights activism especially against the export of live animals from Shoreham, which drew support from broad swathes of the 'respectable' and as such made demonising AR activists much harder. This led to profound internal debate within the secret state about the best way to derail this movement. Some of these complex internal discussion and associated tactical shifts bubbled over into the mass media, especially broadsheet newspapers. Our 1996 intervention The State the Media & Animal Rights summarised the flavour of these times, and highlighted the ongoing contributions of individual named journalists. To underline once and for all we want to empower radical activists, not demoralise them, 1996 also saw publication of the short but sharp Enemy Within aimed at anti-roads protesters specifically but still relevant today. It outlined the basic steps activists need to take to ensure campaign security is not compromised.

In 1997 Notes From the Borderland was launched, and much time was spent providing assistance to defendants in the GANDALF (Green Anarchist & ALF) conspiracy case, which culminated in the November 1997 jailing of three defendants. The immediate post-sentence Press Release was printed in NFB issue 1 (p.34-35), and a summary of the trial's implications Gagged--Background to the GANDALF case appeared inThe Law magazine in 1998. In 1999 NFB pamphlet no. 1 At War With the Universe (especially pages 14-28) recounted some deep background to that case, including the treacherous behaviour of Ken MacDonald QC (now DPP). We also printed extensive extracts from the 'unused' evidence in that trial, including Agent Hepple's supposed Special Branch file, the first time to our knowledge facsimile extracts of such a document have been published. Other state texts also reproduced in At War With the Universe prove beyond a shadow of doubt extensive secret state involvement in both this case and targetting AR activists/ Greens generally. With such an abundance of material it was even possible to reconstruct the skeletal structure of the MI5/SB game-plan for ensnaring the activists they eventually charged.

There was a fascinating overlap between the GANDALF conspiracy case and the media posturing entered into by ex-MI5 officer David Shayler, who peddled disinformation to some counsel involved. Our initial and still unaswered critique of Shayler in NFB issue 2 included a rebuttal (with evidence) of his party-line that MI5s interest in Greens and AR activists was only hypothetical (p.11-12). As part of our comprehensive analysis of Peter Taylor's land-mark but fatally flawed documentary trilogy on Special Branch 'True Spies' NFB issue 5 carefully scrutinised Taylor's revisionist accounts of both the 1996 Newbury by-pass struggle and his vicious smearing of and sneering at animal rights activists (p.42-44). Clearly, Taylor and friends still resent the 1999 closure of Hillgrove Cat Torturing Centre--good!

NFB interest in this area continues with our recent piece in NFB issue 6 (p.3-10) outlining the Secret State/Media war against Animal Rights activists. Building on accumulated knowledge and expertise, this piece paints a vivid and detailed picture both of ongoing secret state regroupment in this front of struggle and specific allied media operations against activists. Three onslaughts concentrated on are the current campaigns against animal torture labs at Oxford & Cambridge University, the rebranding of a 2004 international AR conference into a 'terrorist training camp' and the October 2004 Yoxall grave desecration, pinned on AR activists without evidence. The piece ends by accentuating the positive, outlining constructive strategic and security suggestions for AR activists.

Even aside from the ongoing and long-standing activism of some NFB collective personnel in this area, we all find the AR struggle refreshing because activists show great ingenuity in overcoming obstacles put their way, and often have a sense of the state that puts the drab Last Century Left to shame. We definitely believe lessons learnt in this sector are applicable elsewhere. Also, in this sphere the velvet glove of the security state and its media hirelings is cast aside with more regularity than elsewhere, often revealing both a brutal mailed fist and up-to-date repression techniques. La Lotta Continua!

NFB ANIMAL RIGHTS INFORMATION PACK

consisting of: A Lie Too Far, At War With the Truth, Turning Up the Heat (MI5 After the Cold War), At War With the Universe, Gagged--background to the GANDALF case, The State the Media & Animal Rights, the Enemy Within and issues 2 5 & 6 of Notes From the Borderland now available, either by post (see Subscriptions page for details) or via Pay-Pal using a credit card. You do not need to be already signed up to use this. Don't worry if transaction amounts appear in US $ (a technical glitch), as on receipt all your payments are converted to Sterling (at our expense!).

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