MPS commander apologises over G20 policing

A Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) commander has apologised to the Home Affairs Select Committee for giving inaccurate information regarding the use of covert officers at the G20 summit in 2009.

Giving evidence to MPs a month after the G20 protests, Commander Bob Broadhurst had said that plain clothes officers were not used in the protest as it would have been unsafe to do so.

He said at the time: “The only officers we deploy for intelligence purposes at public order are forward intelligence team officers who are wearing full police uniforms with a yellow jacket with blue shoulders. There were no plain clothes officers deployed at all.”

However, this week he was called to give evidence again after revelations that the recently-exposed undercover officer Mark Kennedy took part in the G20 protests.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz had written to MPS Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson expressing concerns about Mr Broadhurst’s evidence.

Mr Broadhurst told the committee on Tuesday (January 25) that he had not asked for covert officers to be used and was unaware at the time that any were actually in operation.

“I was first told about this on Thursday [January 20]. I apologise for giving inaccurate information. It was true at the time to the best of my knowledge.”

When asked by Mr Vaz whether he ought to have known, Mr Broadhurst said that normally he would be told.

“That didn’t happen on this occasion. Maybe I didn’t ask the right questions”, he said.

At the original committee meeting, Sir Paul also gave evidence and told members the MPS did not use “agent provocateurs”, a claim he is still standing by.

The MPS released a statement last week saying: “Having made thorough checks on the back of recent media reporting, we have now established that covert officers were deployed during the G20 protests.

“Therefore, the information that was given by Mr Broadhurst to the Home Affairs Select Committee saying that ‘we had no plain-clothes officers deployed within the crowd’ was not accurate.”

Acting Commissioner for the MPS, Tim Godwin, also appeared as a witness this week. He said that the MPS realised the information was wrong almost immediately after giving evidence in May 2009, but that Mr Broadhurst only found out at the same time as the committee chairman.

The committee also discussed whether the MPS would be under too much pressure once it took on the role of overseeing the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) a move expected to be fully sanctioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) by Monday.

Mr Godwin said that it was always busy and challenging but that the MPS can cope.

He added: “However, I can’t always say that somebody won’t make a mistake.”