{"id":24791,"date":"2026-02-18T22:00:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T22:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/?post_type=events&p=24791"},"modified":"2026-03-26T13:00:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T13:00:56","slug":"the-spies-who-ruined-our-lives","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/the-spies-who-ruined-our-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spies Who Ruined Our Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

In collaboration with the Bristol Radical History Group, we take a deep-dive into the SpyCops scandal.<\/p>\n

For over 40 years, British undercover agents spied on people in the UK and many other countries. The police unit infiltrated more than 1,000 activist groups (and victims including the family of Stephen Lawrence). To carry out their spying, the police stole the identities of deceased children. Under false identities, they started relationships with women, had sexual relations and even children. As soon as they had achieved their goals, they disappeared without a trace.<\/p>\n

The truth about the department only slowly came to light after the exposure of police informer Mark Kennedy in 2010, who was mainly targeting climate groups. Since 2015, the events have been clarified in a judicial investigation. Important hearings are held in secret. However, several dozen real names of the police spies are now known. With the inquiry still proceeding and police powers seemingly increasing, this story is still very current.<\/p>\n

With the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) <\/b>having entered phase 3, we are now gaining information on those spy cops who operated outside of London in national campaigns concerned with pollution, climate change, migration and globalisation in the 1990s and 2000s.\u00a0Organisations such as No Borders<\/b>, Rising Tide<\/b> and anti-G8<\/b> groups, which were strong in Bristol and the south west, were infiltrated by spy cops, some of whom were exposed like Mark Kennedy<\/b>, leading to shock and revulsion about their activities. <\/i>Come and hear from those who were spied on and get the latest on the inquiry from members of the Undercover Research Group<\/a><\/b> at a special showing of the acclaimed <\/i>documentary\u00a0The Spies Who Ruined Our Lives<\/b><\/a> <\/i>along <\/i>with its director\u00a0Madoc Roberts<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Please note: doors open at 7pm and there will be stalls and conversation in the bar before the screening starts at 7:30pm. After the screening, there will be a Q&A with guests including Eleanor Fairbraida<\/a>, who was tricked into a relationship by Mark Kennedy, and Chris Brian of the Undercover Research Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More details and booking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In collaboration with the Bristol Radical History Group, we take a deep-dive into the SpyCops scandal. For over 40 years, British undercover agents spied on people in the UK and many other countries. The police unit infiltrated more than 1,000 activist groups (and victims including the family of Stephen Lawrence). To carry out their spying, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":24866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[198,433],"tags":[1436,1435,1404,2208,1405,2207],"class_list":["post-24791","events","type-events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activism","category-women","tag-mi5","tag-special-branch","tag-special-demonstration-squad","tag-spying","tag-ucpi","tag-undercover-police"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Spies Who Ruined Our Lives - Bristol Radical History Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brh.org.uk\/site\/events\/the-spies-who-ruined-our-lives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Spies Who Ruined Our Lives - Bristol Radical History Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In collaboration with the Bristol Radical History Group, we take a deep-dive into the SpyCops scandal. For over 40 years, British undercover agents spied on people in the UK and many other countries. The police unit infiltrated more than 1,000 activist groups (and victims including the family of Stephen Lawrence). 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