Rotten to the core

Last week we learned that British police spies had perjured themselves in court and passed on legally privileged material in order to secure the conviction of peaceful protestors. Today, we have the amazing sight of Britain's top police officer defending this practice as "there's no law against it":

Britain's most senior police officer has defended the practice of undercover officers using fake identities in court, claiming there is no specific law forbidding it.

[...]

Hogan-Howe appeared before the Metropolitan Police Authority on Thursday facing increasing pressure over allegations that two police spies used their false identities as political activists when they were prosecuted in court.

He told the authority: "There's no law that says it can't happen. The fact that someone has concealed their identity doesn't mean the crime didn't happen. In absolute terms, the criminal law does not make a crime of it. If you are dealing with more serious crimes, we have to seek all options."

So, Britain's police don't know the meaning of "perjury", and support it if it helps them bang people up. Their police force really is rotten to the core.