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.