Douglas Edwards (alias)

This article is part of the Undercover Research Portal at Powerbase - investigating corporate and police spying on activists

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Part of a series on undercover police officers
'HN326'
Alias:	Douglas "Doug" Edwards
Deployment:	1968-1971
Unit:	Special Demonstration Squad
Targets:	Anarchist groups, Independent Labour Party, Tricontinental and Dambusters Mobilising Committee

Douglas "Doug" Edwards is the cover name of a former Special Demonstration Squad undercover officer who infiltrated anarchist groups (including West Ham Anarchists). He later spied on the Independent Labour Party (ILP). Through the ILP he monitored campaigning groups Tricontinental and Dambusters Mobilising Committee (DMC) from late 1968 to May 1971. His cover personality created for his deployment was commonly known as 'Doug’ and gave a date of birth as 8 August 1945. His real name is restricted by the Undercover Policing Inquiry and he is also known by the cipher HN326 for the Undercover Policing Inquiry and Operation Herne (for the N cipher system see N officers).

HN326 gave live evidence to the Undercover Policing Inquiry on 13 November 2020. The majority of the following derives from his written and oral testimony as well as Special Branch Intelligence reports released by the Inquiry in November 2020.

Police Career before SDS

Doug Edwards joined the Metropolitan Police in 1964, after completing his initial training he was posted to a North London police station. Unhappy in this policing role, he successfully applied to join Special Branch and began working there in 1968 as a ‘PC CID’, having passed the relevant course.

Doug states:

Initially, upon joining Special Branch, I was posted to C Squad which dealt with left-wing enquiries (sic) [redacted]. Day-to-day, I would carry out these enquiries (sic). Sometimes there would be a little bit of subterfuge involved. We would do what was called a 'knock-knock' and pretend to be someone else to find out about the individual who was the subject of an enquiry.

‘C Squad’ dealt with Communists and Subversives, public order issues and what was later labelled ‘ Domestic Extremism’. It is thought that the SDS was within ‘C’ Squad in Edwards’ era – although later moved into ‘S’ (Specialist/Technical Support) Squad.

Evidence released by the Inquiry regarding the Vietnam Solidarity Committee contains a telegram from HN326 reporting on a Marylebone magistrates court hearing on 3 July 1968. It describes three people being sentenced to fines for a demonstration in Powis Square in Notting Hill on 25 May 1968. (This event also relates to other undercover officers Helen Crampton and Don de Freitas ). As this trial pre-dates the formation of the SDS, this was not undercover work. Rather, the officer would have attended the court in plain clothes as part of standard Special Branch activity gathering intelligence on behalf of ‘C ‘ Squad.

Special Demonstration Squad

After a short time in Special Branch (SB), Doug was recruited by Detective Inspector Saunders into the SDS in late 1968, which had only begun in July of 1968. Although he joined in 1968, Doug was deployed after the Grosvenor Square October 1968 demonstration and therefore does not belong to the very first cohort of SDS officers. At the time, Edwards was still on two years’ SB probation.

Attitude and Opinions

To date, no one from Edwards' target groups has provided information on his infiltration, and it is unclear how much effort the Inquiry made to locate contemporary witnesses, this means that any comments on Edward's attitude and personality entirely rely on his testimony of 13 November 2020, 50 years after his deployment. Whilst there are several Special Branch reports published on his infiltration, the reports were according to Edwards, typed and completed by other police personnel. This issue is explored in more detail below.

In reply to written questions submitted by the Inquiry, Doug says he did not know why the SDS had been set up but commented that: 'What was going on at these demonstrations was quite nasty and frightening at times’.

On being a Special Branch officer:

[...] you needed to identify people and try and understand what their political beliefs were. And it was [...] reported back so that there were records of these people to be called upon if need be.

Doug outlined why people's political beliefs were being recorded:

Well, it was just part and parcel of being an SB officer, to try and get this information, to try and understand what groups that they were allocated to; because there's all sorts of rivalries in different groups and some were Trotskyite (sic) people that were bent on causing violence, and anarchist groups that were causing violence at demonstrations.

Training

Doug states that before joining the SDS the only policing that he carried out that could be described as undercover was when he had been assigned to monitor a fellow officer drinking after hours. Like other former SDS officers whose statements have been released as of November 2020, Doug said he ‘did not receive any training, formal or informal, for the role of an undercover police officer before I was deployed’. Nor did he receive any formal ethical guidance on whether it was permissible to enter to any sexual relationships with members of the groups he was monitoring – commenting that: […] in those days, we lived by what I perceive to be higher moral standards than today. This sort of activity simply would not be done. Doug stated he also received no guidance on what to do if brought before a court whether as a defendant or as a witness or if he would obtain access to legally privileged information.

Development of Cover Identity

Before his deployment, Edwards states that he: ‘[…] was not given any guidance or instruction about the creation of a false identity [...] I was just told to get an identity and to get a job.’ Like many of the officers from the early days of the SDS, Douglas ‘legend’ or back story was not well developed, commenting that he ‘just played it by ear’ and relied on his cover employment as a lorry driver. This is an early example of SDS use of fake (or 'duff' in SDS parlance) jobs which required working away from home to give the officer excuses as for being far away from his undercover address. HN326 also said this job meant that he also could not easily be reached by telephone. Like many of the undercovers of the time, Doug changed his appearance by growing his hair and beard to fit into the activist milieu better. It was this tactic that gained the SDS’ nickname ‘The Hairies’. The only identity document that Edwards had in his cover name, was his rent book for his cover address in the E15 postcode area of east London.

As an SDS Officer

Edwards served for two and a half years as a Special Demonstration Squad officer, with two years in the field and six months in the back office. He started in November 1968, leaving the SDS in May 1971. Although Doug states his initial tasking was to infiltrate anarchist groups, the earliest report released by the Inquiry in relation to his undercover work concerns a meeting of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign. He was one of five undercovers who attended a large public meeting on the back of the anti-Vietnam War demonstration of October 1968. Among the other undercovers was SDS founder and commanding officer Conrad Dixon. Commenting on the numbers of officers present at this meeting, Edwards said ' The presence of so many officers was probably Conrad Dixon's way of showing how active the SDS was.

SDS Secrecy

In his personal statement, Doug writes:

Discretion and secrecy was the order of the day – ‘stum und krum'. Say nothing about anything, this was communicated to me right from the very start. Even other members of my unit were not aware of my undercover name and which groups I infiltrated. It was very much ‘keep quiet about the whole thing’. To be honest, I can't recall a conversation about secrecy at the end of my deployment. It was just the nature of the job that you didn't talk about it.

He added: 'At the time of my deployment, I was living with my parents. I told them I was on the Drugs squad [...]’

See: Conrad Dixon and Special Branch Files for further information on the Anti-Vietnam war protests and the founding of the SDS.

The authorship and process of creating Special Branch Intelligence Reports

The Inquiry has released a number of reports submitted in the name of HN326 (see table below). In his oral statement. However, the former officer has thrown doubt on the authorship and provenance of the intelligence contained in them. In his written statement he sketched out the report writing process that suggested little can be unambiguously attributed to him personally. A detailed account of the process of the creation of the reports which contrasts with his recollection of the content of them:

After attending a meeting or a demonstration, I wrote out by hand or typed out what I had learnt on a bit of paper in the SOS flat. This bit of paper would then be taken over to the Yard via a secure bag: either someone from the Yard would come to the SDS flat with the secure bag in order to pick up the information, or we would meet someone at a location away from the Yard in order to hand the information over. Sometimes it was [Detective Inspector] Phil Saunders who would go between the Yard and the SDS flat to collect our intelligence, but it was also often an officer of a lesser rank. Reports were then collated and typed up in full in the office, either by the officers in the office — Bill Furner, Roy Creamer and Dave Smith — or by the typing pool. They typed the reports with the appropriate formatting and alignment on a better typewriter than we had access to in the SDS flat. When drafting the reports, those in the office would collate all of the information provided about a particular meeting, demonstration, or issue. They would look at the information I provided on the bits of paper alongside other information[..]

Edwards also suggested that some reports were attributed to him and other undercover officers to justify their deployments:

When there were quieter periods for SDS officers, I assume that intelligence reports were put in their name to justify their continued deployment. It is an assumption I have made since being shown the reports […] because there are certain reports which bear my name but I do not recall having any involvement with these groups.

Edwards says that he has: ‘no independent recollection of any of the meetings or events referred to within these reports save where I have expressly stated otherwise'.. However, with most of the reports, he did agree he was likely to be the ‘reliable source’ of at least some of the information in the report. Though he did not type them up himself, he submitted handwritten notes which were used alongside other material. He also points out that he only signed one of the reports discussed below..

Often in the evidence hearing itself, when asked if recalled particular details of a report, or the attitude of fellow officers he exclaimed that he could not be expected to remember them after such a long period: ‘Cor, blimey! I can't remember that. Goodness me’. In contrast, Douglas was able to specifically deny he attended two meetings of the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Committee.

Anarchist Groups

As stated, HN326 was tasked to infiltrate anarchist groups in the east end of London, with the only direction he was given was to ‘hang around’ Piccadilly Circus to be recruited into a group; this was where they thought these anarchist groups tended to congregate’. No context was given by Edwards to this instruction. Edwards also mentions that among other back office staff in the SDS, supposed police expert on anarchist groups, Roy Creamer (later of the Bomb Squad- and involved in ‘The Angry Brigade’ investigations) then a Sergeant with the SDS, gave him some advice.

Having failed to make any inroads with the anarchists around Piccadilly Circus, Edwards moved his attention elsewhere:

I then decided to go to the East End of London in order to be nearer the action, so to speak. I hung around in the local pubs because I thought it was likely that people involved in these anarchist groups would go there to have a drink. I infiltrated a few groups at this stage; by 'infiltrate' in this instance I mean attending a few meetings to get up to date with what the groups were doing, rather than penetrating the groups or becoming a card-carrying member. The groups whose meetings I attended included the West Ham Anarchists and Freedom Press. There may have been other groups but due to the passage of time, I cannot recall their names. Some of these groups were quite nasty pieces of work insofar as they would cause criminal damage and go wild at demonstrations. For example, I remember at a demonstration outside the South African Embassy in Trafalgar Square cries of ‘Anarchista!’ and demonstrators throwing objects at the Embassy.

On this demonstration, Edwards commented:

[…] It got a bit tasty. They started smashing windows and it was violent and – there we are. The mounted police came in then, to try and stop things.

The Inquiry released three intelligence reports based on Edwards' spying which predominantly relates to West Ham Anarchists. This group, based in the east end of London appeared to have been active between 1966 and 1969. In 1966, they disrupted a husting during the general election which was captured on film.

Freedom Newspaper 26 November 1966

Screenshot (from The Hecklers) of West Ham Anarchists disrupting a 1966 Election Hustings

Beyond this – and what Edwards reported, little is known about their activities, although they did publish a newspaper named ‘Black Mass’ in 1969. The fact that the group's apparent demise happened at the same time as Doug’s infiltration is not known to be connected.

The first report is dated 22 January 1969 and discussed some leafleting that West Ham Anarchists were going to carry out around a local by-election, and the making of another leaflet attacking the fascist National Front(NF). It stated that the leaflet was to be printed at Freedom Press, home of the longest-running British anarchist newspaper.

East London Libertarians and the Family Squatting Campaign

The intelligence report on the WHA meeting of 20 January 1969 also mentioned that a member of East London Libertarians was present and discussed plans for a proposed squatting action on 9 February 1969. The East London Libertarians were a group that operated in the same area as the West Ham Anarchists, with a particular focus on squatting. There was an overlap in activities between the two groups. For instance, some members of West Ham Anarchists took part in the Family Squatting Campaign.

The Family Squatting Campaign was formed in 1968 but also had its antecedents in the first half of the 20th Century. Among its organisers was Ron Bailey. The same SB intelligence report on a WHA meeting of 20 January 1969 (and filed on 22 January 1969) also mentioned that a member of East London Libertarians, another anarchist group that operated in the same area was also present and discussed plans for a proposed squatting action on the 9 February 1969. While Ron recalls going to some WHA's meetings (as a member of East London Libertarians) he is unable to recall whether he was at this specific meeting.

HN326 writes in his statement that he did not attend any meetings of the East London Libertarians, stating that this was because they engaged in criminalised activity (such as ‘sit-ins’) which he was not permitted to participate in. Edwards emphasized in his witness testimony that they were not in allowed to take part in any criminal activity, no matter how minor. However, elsewhere he expressed the view that he was not given any guidance on such matters. It also seems opposed to the goals of the SDS - to monitor criminal activity by political activists if they were not even allowed to attend meetings of groups who allegedly broke the law. On this point, Edwards’ testimony also appears especially contradictory given his recollections of WHA committing minor criminal offences.

Screenshot from the BBC documentary [The Squatters] (1969). This footage was taken on 9 February 1969 of the Squatting action in Redbridge, London

The person who is placed was at the WHA meeting from East London Libertarians mentioned a plan taking place on the 9 February 1969 to ‘establish some homeless families [...] in empty council houses’. This was a successful action by the Family Squatting Campaign, in which although they arranged to meet at Manor Park Underground station in the London Borough of Newham they occupied four houses in the adjacent borough of Redbridge. Some members of West Ham Anarchists took a squat, a former post office building on Cleveland Road. Again, in the hearings, Edwards comments that this kind of activity is something he would not get involved with due to its criminality.

It is unclear if the intelligence on the 9 February action was passed on to uniformed police. It certainly did not impact on the group as it was successful. However, it may be that the police were wrong-footed in that the meeting place was given as Manor Park station in the neighbouring borough of Newham.

As with other Special Branch reports published by the Undercover Policing Inquiry, this one also contains descriptions of those attending the meetings. This is mainly related to physical appearances, but one attendee is described as a ‘drug addict’, (likely a pejorative description for someone using marijuana - see below).

West Ham Anarchists

The second report concerning West Ham Anarchists is dated 26 April 1969. A gap of almost four months between the first and second report, suggests that several unpublished reports, based on Edwards’ intelligence are missing; or for whatever reason have not been published by the Inquiry.

This report, which also contains personal information, describes the alleged decline of the group, in the frequency of meetings and the number of people attending - ‘no more than 12’. Whether this represented a marked decline in membership of the group is not known. However, to put this in context the anarchist movement from this period (and to the present day) are often small - and local groups this size are commonplace.

The report also dismissively described the group members as students and school leavers who all are around ‘20 years of age’ - and ‘long haired’. It says that they participated in other activities such as anti-Vietnam war marches and ‘minor acts of malicious damage’ against the local Conservative and Labour Party offices. The report then critiques the members supposed lack of knowledge about anarchist political theory.

The report also mentions one particular member as being connected with other groups, including the umbrella London Federation of Anarchists and the Ilford Branch of the International Socialism Group, as well as the aforementioned Freedom Press and East London Libertarians. Another member is described as being involved in a 'breakaway group’ that committed criminal damage after a demonstration outside Rhodesia House on 12 January 1969. A West Ham Anarchist's mother is noted as having moved away from anarchism towards Christianity.

It is also mentioned that WHA met in two pubs, The Railway Tavern, and The Golden Horse both within the London postcode area of E15. Further comments include the accusation that members spend their weekends ‘taking the drug cannabis’

The third and final published based on Edwards intelligence on WHA's is dated 29 April 1969. It concerns the personal details of two members of the WHA, recording that one of their fathers is employed as a motor mechanic and while the WHA is a clerk at ‘Stratford Goods Yard, E15’. On the reason for recording the information about the subjects’ father, Edwards did not elaborate beyond saying that it was probably intelligence from the back office of the SDS that was inserted into the report.

Switch of Targets: From anarchist groups to the Independent Labour Party

According to Edwards: ‘[…] it became apparent to me and my supervisors that these [anarchist] groups were a waste of time. Accordingly, it was decided that I would join the Independent Labour Party (ILP)’. He added that the decision to withdraw from the anarchist groups was approved by Conrad Dixon, the commanding officer of the SDS at the time. Further context to this decision is given in the SDS 1969 Annual report which said of anarchists and anarchist groups:

The distasteful nature of the way of life of such people, which officers must assume, adds to the difficulties of penetration. Small groups can be and have been penetrated with some success by the S.O.S. but their tendency to act in isolation makes the value of full time coverage questionable.

Despite this 'distaste' for their lifestyles and the decentralised organising structure of anarchist groups, the choice of the Edwards' initial target appears to be closer the SDS' raison d'être - as targeting of the WHA could be justified in the realm of public order issues. The same could not be said of surveilling the Independent Labour Party, at least according to Edwards:

The ILP was a rump of the old Labour Party, comprising Kier Hardie and the rest. They were held in disdain by the main Labour Party. They were quite left-wing but very pleasant, sociable people wrapped up in the world of intellectual Marxism. They were people who would like to have been politicians. The ILP did not do very much, to be honest. They would support different demonstrations depending on the issue.

However, Edwards defended the selection of what became his main target between 1969 until 1971:

[It was] to have a 'handle to swing' into other groups. By this, I mean that I could use my membership of the ILP as a means of going to almost any other meeting.

Edwards gave his view of the ILP:

'A handle to swing'

The Independent Labour Party, was a small, left-wing political party. Established in 1893 its heyday predated the Second World War. In the early 1960s, it was involved in opposition to the nuclear arms race and promoted ideas such as workers' control. It also campaigned for decolonisation. At the time of Edwards infiltration, its national membership totalled 742 and the London Division (which Edwards monitored) included branches in west London, Woolwich, Bexleyheath, and Tower Hamlets.

The SDS did not have any real interest in the ILP: it was merely a vehicle for obtaining information. Through my membership of the ILP, I targeted Tri-Continental (sic), the Dambusters Mobilising Committee (‘DMC’) and linked anti-apartheid groups which were causing a lot of problems at the time.

Edwards said: 'they [the ILP] did support demonstrations that were seen to have the potential to undermine parliamentary democracy'. However, in the live evidence hearings, Edwards states that he probably used the ‘wrong words’ in this context, though without further elaborating what he meant. In his statement, he also stated that the ILP did not participate in criminal activity, or public disorder.

It can be noted that the other groups that Doug targeted: Tricontinental, Dambusters and anti-apartheid groups for the most part did not fit into either a subversion or public disorder risk categories.

In opposition to Edwards assessment of the ILP, in 1969 they were presented as one of the 'main' threats to public order in the SDS annual report of that year.

Activities within the ILP

Doug describes his activities when infiltrating the ILP in oral testimony as: ‘Making posters and things, I think. Yeah, there was you had to sort of go willing to stay a member, sort of thing, to be -- you had to go to the branch meetings […]’ He claimed he generally only interacted with members of the ILP at meetings and drinks afterward. However, it is clear that he became quite integrated into the group, and he himself says he was invited to the wedding of two ILP members. While he did not go to the registry office ceremony itself, he did attend the reception.He also became the treasurer of the Tower Hamlets ILP branch, a position indicating a degree of trust, and which would have also given access to bank and membership details.

Reporting on the ILP

The first report on the Independent Labour Party (ILP) is dated 16 June 1969. In its opening paragraphs, it states: ‘The I.L.P. are on the whole content to work within the framework of conventional politics.’ However, it also states: ‘there is a trend within the party towards Revolutionary' socialism and this has brought some of its members to notice in a public order context’. This is at odds with Edwards's retrospective view that the ILP themselves were not of interest to the SDS. This report seems to function as an introduction to the ILP and outlines its structure and size, and political tensions within the group. These tensions are described as being between revolutionary and non-revolutionary wings. This might seem to serve as an implicit justification for monitoring the group. However, Edwards himself brings this reasoning into doubt. When asked how militant the Tower Hamlets branch that he infiltrated was, he answers: '[...] I don't think they were that [militant] there were some pleasant enough blokes there. They'd turn out for the usual demonstrations, that's all'. The second report based on Edward's intelligence is dated 14 June 1969. It records a meeting of the Tower Hamlets branch of the ILP, a planned demonstration against a fascist rally at Laurie Hall in Romford, Essex on 29 June 1969, and a leaflet regarding a local rent struggle. It is also noted that whereas there was an SB file on the ILP, there was not one on the Tower Hamlets branch.

The third report dated 22 August 1969 contains the details of a member of the ILP and is dated 22 August 1969. This member, whose name is redacted, is said to have taken part in two demonstrations organised by the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign (ICRSC) outside the Ulster Office in Berkeley Street, in Central London, on 20 July and 17 August 1969 (see also ICRSC section below).

National Front Debate

The fourth, fifth and sixth reports, dated 26 September 1969, 3 October 1969 and 16 October 1969 respectively, mainly concern the organising committee of the ILP and plans for a controversial debate with the fascist National Front.

The last of these three reports concerned a meeting held on 14 October 1969 which was only attended by 3 people. In the evidence hearing of the Inquiry, the Counsel for the Inquiry (CTI) raised the issue of Doug Edward's involvement in decision making at ILP meetings, including ones with very low attendance. Edwards stated that he definitely did not influence the 'direction of travel' of the group but did not explain how he avoided expressing support (or opposition) for proposals within such a small group. Edwards also played down the significance of his role as Tower Hamlets branch treasurer in this regard, seemingly not understanding how having an official role in a group he is infiltrating might be controversial, instead emphasising the very small amounts of money involved.

The planned debate between the ILP and the NF led to one of the few incidents that Edwards could remember during his deployment in detail, albeit confusedly.

Debating with fascists had generally been seen as unacceptable – and a ‘no platform’ policy across the left was inspired by popular anti-fascist actions across the UK both before and after the Second World War. The proposed ILP-NF debate attracted similar criticism.

Edwards recalls:

The only thing I remember, they tried to organise a - a meeting with - have a debate with the right-wing fascists. And that got a bit out of order. The fascists (sic) got to hear of this debate taking place and there was a mob of - I don't know what they called themselves in those days, the 20s -- I can't remember what it was called. But we were all sitting outside the pub having a pint before the meeting when there was a big swarm of people came in and started punching everybody and sorting it all out.

However, despite saying it was initially fascists who caused the violence, Edwards corrected himself by saying it was in fact members of the International Socialists (now SWP) who attacked members of the ILP as they were angry that they had agreed to debate with the NF. He added that fellow SDS officers Phil Saunders and Riby Wilson were in a car outside the pub – and subsequently told him if Doug had been attacked they would have helped out. Edwards was not sure if this would have been the case.

Other SDS reports in HN326's name on the ILP include administrative details such as the fact that the HQ in Bethnal Green, in east London is too expensive. In 1970, a meeting of the ILP is said to be a ‘showdown’ between moderates and militants within the party was planned for October in Leeds.

A conference, ‘The Convention of the New Left’ is also attended by Doug Edwards on 11 April 1970, along with another unnamed member (s) of the ILP and another group, ‘The New Socialists’. A later report, gives personal details on a member of the ILP of whom it is said he could be described as a ‘militant’ and they were also involved with Southern Africa Solidarity Committee, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, British Council for Peace in Vietnam and the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign.

End of deployment

My involvement in the ILP came to an end when I realised I had had enough of being an undercover officer on the SDS. I simply stopped attending meetings and demonstrations and disappeared from the ILP - commenting that: ‘They wouldn't have missed me'.

Other groups reported on

Action Committee Against NATO and Tricontinental

Contemporarily with attending ILP meetings, Edwards also went to some other group’s discussions. This included the Action Committee Against NATO (ACAN). Little is known about this group, and it seems likely was an ad hoc organising committee rather than a long-term campaign group.

The Special Branch report says that a group called Tricontinental paid the deposit for a meeting at Conway Hall on 10 December 1969. This decision was relayed to several other groups who may have had representatives on the committee. The London-based Tricontinental Committee is described in another Special Branch report as '[...] a small Cuba/Moscow oriented group'

When questioned at the evidence hearing about his attendance at these meetings, Edwards could only reply in generalities to why they were monitored - or why Special Branch was interested in them - saying that they it was due to NATO's importance in the UK's security policy - and that some of the people attending such demonstrations were likely to be troublemakers.

Dambusters Organising Committee

The Dambusters Organising Committee (DMC) was a ‘[…] coalition of groups that included the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the Haslemere Group and the Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guiné. Its focus was preventing the construction of the huge Cabora Bassa dam project in Mozambique. This was a collaboration between South Africa, Rhodesia and Portugal - the project was intended to supply electricity to apartheid South Africa. They were also spied upon by SDS undercover Stewart Goodman from autumn 1971

In the evidence hearings, Edwards suggests that a group like Dambusters might have been of interest to Special Branch - due to its connection to 'all the trouble with the movement against apartheid'. Edwards then cites anti-apartheid actions - such as the rugby match at Twickenham between England and South Africa, which was disrupted by the 'Stop the Seventy Campaign' (see main profile: Mike Ferguson). However, there is no suggestion in any of the reports on the Dambusters Mobilising Campaign group that they might be a public disorder problem themselves. The first of these intelligence reports is dated 11 February 1970 and describes the group's plans – and reports back from previous events.. Subsequent reports filed in Douglas Edwards' name said that as part of their campaign a member of DMC had purchased 100 shares in Barclays bank in early 1971.

Vietnam Solidarity Campaign

Douglas also reported on three meetings of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) in the autumn of 1970, two years after the large October 1968 demonstration. In his written statement, Doug said, like the rest of the meetings he could remember nothing of them. Doug reports that on 22 September 1970 a meeting of the VSC took place and planning for a weekend of action in October, including a march in London’s West End. This would include the blocking of roads and ‘disorder’ as well as a plan to attack President Richard Nixon’s car. there is a further report from a meeting on 29 September which states the intention of some attending this meeting to cause ‘damage and disruption’ during the demonstration. The final report states that the VSC is withdrawing support for an action on 31 October 1970, much to the apparent chagrin of some present.

Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign

The ICRSC was closely connected to the International Socialists (later the SWP) and counted the well-known Civil Rights campaigner and MP (1969-1974), Bernadette Devlin, as a member. The group was extensively monitored and infiltrated and reported on by several other SDS officers: Sean Lynch, Andy Bailey and Mike Ferguson. It should also be noted that the political situation in the north of Ireland was used to justify the continuance of the SDS in the opening hearing by legal representatives of the various police bodies.

Edwards’ name is put to three Special Branch reports which mention the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Committee (ICRSC). As well as the two reports (discussed in detail below), Edwards sent a Metropolitan Police telegram as a member of 'CI Dixon's Squad' to the Commander of Special Branch dated 12 August 1969 at 10.10 pm. The telegram reads:

Whilst attending. to another Matter at The Dolphin P.H., Bidborough Street., W.C.1., I overheard a meeting of the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign at which a decision was made by about 15 to 20 young person’s immediately to the Ulster Office, Berkeley Street, W.1. with the intention of causing mischief. The group were in a militant mood and may cause malicious damage.

File:MPSTelgramHN326toCmdrSB.png

MPS Telegram from HN326 ('Doug Edwards') to Cmdr of Special Branch dated 12 August 1969

Edwards, at the hearing in November 2020 did not fully explain his presence at the venue - though vaguely intimated that he may have been working in tandem with another officer (who may have been Sean Lynch who both infiltrated the ICRSC - and was a close friend of Edwards). Edwards said that he was '[...] waiting for a signal from him [an undercover officer] to tell him that this thing [act of malicious damage] was going to go ahead [...]'.

Edwards said he never attended any other meetings of the ICRSC, so could not see how he would be the intelligence source for the reports attributed to him on this group. Doug speculated that the ‘reliable source’ in the case of these reports might have been another ‘hairy’ - member of the SDS. At the time Sean Lynch, Mike Ferguson and Andy Bailey were infiltrating the ICRSC. Doug responded that he could not comment on why these particular reports were copied to MI5. He also inaccurately alleged that members of the group ‘were a front for the IRA’, - something that Edwards said he probably gleaned through another member of the SDS.

The second of the reports, dated 22 August 1969, contains the details of a member of the ILP. This member, whose name is redacted, is said to have taken part in two demonstrations organised by the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign (ICRSC) outside the Ulster Office in Berkeley Street, in Central London, on 20 July and 17 August 1969. the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Committee (ICRSC).

The third of these reports is of a redacted individual entering the UK. One report dated 7 October 1970 is exclusively concerned with an anonymised individual who is a supporter of the Islington Branch of the ICRSC. A further report dated 28 January 1971 contains a leaflet attacking the use of CS gas in Northern Ireland. Support for the two men's trial is also voiced in the leaflet, alongside mentions of two other groups: Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and Clann na h’Eireann.

In his written statement, Doug did recall attending a demonstration outside of the ‘the Northern Irish offices in Barclay Street and bumping into another Undercover officer, [Sean Lynch]] and going to the pub with him and a genuine member of the ILP, Bill Turner. No date is given for this event.

Single Mentions

Two reports signed by Douglas concern groups not otherwise mentioned in Douglas’ intelligence. The first regarded the founding of a new group; the ‘Socialist Alliance Against Racism (which included a ‘faction’ of the ILP). During the evidence hearings, the Counsel to the Inquiry asked why, if this was the first meeting of a campaign group, it would have been of interest to Special Branch. This seems to implicate that for the Inquiry, a group that had not started yet could not be designated either a ‘public order’ or ‘subversive threat’ to allow targeting by the SDS Edwards could only reply in the most general of terms saying that it was unfair to criticise the gathering of such information in hindsight - especially given the political context of the times.

The second report covered a meeting of a group called the British Albania Society that took place in Derbyshire in May 1970. Again, Douglas could not recall anything about this group or reporting on it. The meeting was led by Harpal Brar, who was the chair of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) until 2018. In the hearings, Douglas disavowed that he could have had any direct knowledge of this group, despite his name being on the report.

In his statement, Doug also mentions that he visited the offices of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) although this was only ‘as a result of my involvement in the ILP’.

Post-SDS career

In the last two or three years of Edward's police career, he was posted to the 'vetting office'. This section of the MPS conducted security vetting for applicants for jobs within the MPS, with Edwards stating it was a collaborative process with MI5.

In the Preliminary stages of the Undercover Policing Inquiry

According to Edward's risk assessment:

He was recruited by Special Branch management into the Special Operations Squad, whose function was to monitor protest groups who were a major concern of the Government. He had no formal induction or form of training (3.3).

At the time of his recruitment was informed by his senior management (Detective Chief Inspector & Detective Inspector) that the Unit he was seconded to was highly secret and was to be deployed as a result of the ongoing large-scale public disorder being a major concern of the Government at that time (late 1968) (3.4).

Not offered or provided with support during his deployment; it was ad hoc and uncoordinated (4.19).

According to his written statement, Edwards was also involved in HN16's deployment in an administrative role. In his risk assessment he points out that when he was asked to provide information about HN16, he had specifically requested officers from ‘an operation'’ [redacted, most probably Operation Herne] not to visit his home address. Despite his request, in his words 'unthinking officers unable to accept that he is retired' did visit him there, 'creating a great deal of distress to his wife'.

The MPS applied in August 2017 for a restriction order over his real name with open versions published. No application over his cover name was made and it was formally released in August 2017.

According to Mitting (Aug 2017):

He has been careful to preserve his anonymity and is worried about disclosure of his real name. He is concerned that it may be discovered by organisations such as undercoverresearch.net and fears media intrusion. He suffers from conditions that may be exacerbated by worry. His cover name will be published.

The application was heard at hearing of 21 November 2017, and Mitting ruled in its favour on 5 December 2017, saying: I am satisfied that publication of HN326's real name would interfere with his right to respect for his private life and that the interference is not necessary to permit the terms of reference of the Inquiry to be fulfilled.

The Restriction Order over his real was made on 8 December 2017. See also the NPSCP submissions of 5 October 2017.

Table of Special Branch Reports attributed to Edwards' Reporting

Date	Title of Report	Target Group	Notes
03/07/68	Special Branch file on Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (June 1968 – August 1968)	VSC	Reports on a Court Case in Bow Street Magistrates; 'C' Squad report, prior to Doug’s move to the SDS
22/01/69	Special Branch report regarding leaflets to be distributed by West Ham Anarchists in relation to a forthcoming by-election	West Ham Anarchists/East London Libertarians/Family Squatting Campaign	Reports of leaflets regarding by-election and Squatting Actions Signed off by CI Conrad Dixon
29/04/69	Special Branch report concerning poor attendance at the West Ham Anarchist Group	West Ham Anarchists	Signed off by CI Saunders
29/04/69	Special Branch report containing personal details of a member of the West Ham Anarchist Group	West Ham Anarchists	Signed off by CI Saunders
14/06/69	Special Branch report concerning a meeting of the Tower Hamlets branch of the Independent Labour Party discussing various subjects including fascism	Independent Labour Party	Signed off by CI Saunders
23/08/69	Special Branch report containing information regarding a member of the Independent Labour Party seeking to form a branch of the organisation in his local area	Independent Labour Party	Signed off by CI Saunders
12/09/69	Metropolitan Police Telegram concerning a meeting of the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign	Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign	Telegram from HN326 ('from CI Dixon's squad') to Cmdr Special Branch
26/09/69	Special Branch report concerning a meeting of the Organising Committee of the London Division of the Independent Labour Party	Independent Labour Party	Signed off by CI Saunders
03/10/69	Special Branch report concerning an upcoming public debate between the National Front and the Independent Labour Party	Independent Labour Party; National Front	Signed off by CI Saunders
16/10/69	Special Branch report concerning a meeting of the Organising Committee of the London Division of the Independent Labour Party discussing plans for education classes and a forthcoming debate	Independent Labour Party	Signed off by CI Saunders; CI TN0039
10/11/69	Special Branch report concerning a meeting of the Action Committee Against NATO discussing a forthcoming forum	Action Committee Against NATO; Tower Hamlets ILP, Portuguese Student Alliance, The Haslemere Group, The League for Democracy in Greece: The Committee Against Greek Dictatorship	Signed off by CI Saunders and CI TN0039
11/12/69	Special Branch report concerning the sale of offices by the Independent Labour Party	Independent Labour Party	Signed off by CI (?) R Wilson
11/02/70	Special Branch report submitting minutes of a meeting of the Dambusters Mobilising Committee	Dambusters Mobilising Committee; Haslemere Group	Signed off by CI Saunders
10/04/70	Special Branch report regarding the formation of the Socialist Alliance Against Racialism	Socialist Alliance Against Racialism; New Socialists;Marxist-Leninist Organisation of Britain; Indian Marxist-Leninist Association; Socialist Current	Signed off by CI Saunders
21/04/70	Special Branch report concerning a meeting of the Tower Hamlets branch of the Independent Labour Party	Independent Labour Party	Signed off by CI Saunders
27/05/70	Special Branch report regarding an upcoming meeting of the British Albania Society	British Albania Society	Signed off by CI Saunders
14/09/70	Special Branch report concerning supporters of the Islington Branch of the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign	Islington Branch of the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign	Member passing through Port of Dover
07/10/70	Special Branch report on a supporter of the Islington Branch of the ICRSC	Islington Branch of the ICRSC	Signed off by CI Saunders
28/01/71	Special Branch report regarding an Irish Solidarity Campaign leaflet opposing the use of CS gas in Northern Ireland	Irish Solidarity Campaign, Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, Clann na h'Eireann	Signed off by Ch. Supt Watts and CI HN294
11/02/71	Special Branch report submitting a photograph of an activist involved in the VSC and Independent Labour Party	Independent Labour Party; Palestine Solidarity Campaign; Southern African Solidarity Committee; VSC.	Signed off by CI Saunders
05/04/71	Special Branch report on a meeting of the Dambusters Mobilising Committee discussing subjects including the annual general meetings of several firms with financial interests in South Africa	Dambusters Mobilising Committee	Signed off by CI Saunders
25/09/71	Special Branch report on a committee meeting of the VSC	VSC, Black Power	Signed off by CI HN294
06/10/71	Special Branch report on a meeting of the VSC held to discuss an upcoming demonstration	Agitprop, Young Communist League	Signed off by CI HN294
09/10/71	Special Branch report on a meeting of the VSC where it was announced that the group would no longer take an organising role at an upcoming demonstration	VSC; Agitprop; Anti-Imperalist Movement	Signed off by CI HN294