John Hutchins
John Hutchins was a spy sent by the United Kingdom Independence Party under the alias 'Edward Johnson' to obtain information and influence Stand Up to Ukip, an anti-Nigel Farage protest group during the 2015 general election campaign.
Activities
Protestors from the Thanet branch of Stand Up to Ukip have claimed to have been suspicious of a man claiming to be 'Edward Johnson', a builder from Essex, who tried to encourage activists to deface posters and heckle outside meetings. They then found photographs of 'Johnson' standing next to Nigel Farage and his close protection officers on a Ukip members' Facebook page. The group have published texts from 'Johnson' where he provided a list of Farage's public events and encouraged the group to abuse Farage, something the group believe would have discredited them. The campaigners have searched the internet for the mobile number used by 'Edward Johnson' and found it was listed on the website of John Hutchins, whose Twitter biography says he is a close protection officer and LinkedIn page says he worked for Secura Associates, the company used by Farage to provide his security.[1]
The party have admitted 'Johnson' was an informant they sent into the Thanet branch of the group during the election campaign. A spokesperson has said:
- in order to provide reasonable security it was of course necessary to have information from the inside. In order to do this it was important to gain the trust of the activists, an approach used by a great many security operations tasked with protecting the safety and well being of a targeted individual.'[2]
Secura Associates Ltd
Secura Associated Ltd is a small company in "private security activities", its only director James Woolfenden, born in 1980. The company was founded in 2011, registered in Harwich, Essex, while its trading address is in Rugeley, Staffordshire.[3]
In his March 2015 book The Purple Revolution, Farage mentioned hiring Woolfenden to protect himself. After having felt threatened when surrounded by angry Scottish nationalists in Edinburgh and 'various other incidents', he realised the need for proper security. He claims that the party pays for his protection because as UKIP leader he does not qualify for taxpayer-funded security.
Farage describes Woolfenden as 'a former British Army man who had been in Afghanistan with the military police, calling "James and his team...great blokes".[4]
Notes
- ↑ Two days after the article was published in the Guardian Hutchins' Twitter Account @johnhutchins4 was taken down
- ↑ Rowena Mason Ukip spy who infiltrated protest group 'tried to encourage abuse of Farage' Guardian, 16 May 2015, accessed 18 May 2015.
- ↑ Companies House, Secura Associated Ltd, Company and director check, 18 May 2015
- ↑ Nigel Farage, The Purple Revolution: The Year That Changed Everything, Biteback Publishing, March 2015
