For twenty years the Consulting Association ran an illegal blacklist of the UK construction industry, targeting union organisers and "left-wing troublemakers". British construction companies paid subscriptions to have prospective employees vetted against the list; thousands were refused employment as a result. The entire operation was seized by the UK Information Commissioner in 2009, and subsequent examination of the data showed that some of it could only have come from the police and security services. When this was revealed, the UK police angrily dismissed complaints, saying that it was nothing to do with them. naturally, they lied:
Police officers across the country supplied information on workers to a blacklist operation run by Britain's biggest construction companies, the police watchdog has told lawyers representing victims.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission has informed those affected that a Scotland Yard inquiry into police collusion has identified that it is "likely that all special branches were involved in providing information" that kept certain individuals out of work.
Who'd have thunk it? A far-right organisation victimises left-wingers, and the police are in it up to their necks. And then they wonder why people don't believe them about anything...
The good news is that some of those victimised will probably receive compensation. But the real question is whether those responsible for this gross invasion of privacy and those who unlawfully colluded with them will ever be fully held accountable.
