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THE Home Secretary will discuss extending a major inquiry into police spying with the Scottish Government , we can reveal.

The Pitchford Inquiry launched into miscarriages of justice linked to the work of undercover police officers was only intended to cover England and Wales.

But Home Secretary Theresa May has now agreed to discuss the extension of the public inquiry with Justice Secretary Michael Matheson. It follows rising concerns

emerging around the work of English-based undercover officers while investigating

campaigners and activists in Scotland.

(Image: Getty)

Matheson wrote to the Home Secretary before Christmas asking for the terms of the inquiry to be extended and she replied last week.

Yesterday, the Scottish Government said: “We have received a response from the UK Government in which the Home Secretary has offered to discuss the matter further with Mr Matheson. The Justice Secretary intends to take her up on her offer.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Pitchford Inquiry’s terms of reference specify it should specifically consider undercover police operations conducted by English and Wales police forces.

“The inquiry has an independent status under the Inquiries Act 2005 and it is for them to consider evidence against the terms of reference.”

The possible widening of the inquiry into wrongdoing by undercover officers infiltrating activist groups comes as new evidence of covert surveillance on Scots south of the Border emerges.

Today, we reveal fresh details on the level of data recorded by undercover officers working in Special Branch during the 80s. Documents confirm officers were spying on Scots both in England and Scotland.

The Special Branch Files Project has collated the batch of documentation, originally released under the Freedom of Information Act prior to a major clampdown.

It reveals Scots campaigners were caught up in police surveillance of rallies, meetings and demonstrations in London.

The documents show surveillance of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the anti-Apartheid Movement, Vietnam protesters and unions involved in the Wapping industrial dispute.

Special Branch infiltrated meetings and recorded how many people attended demos, where they came from, what was said – and even the colour of buses transporting campaigners.

Scots identified on the previously secret files include the late Jimmy Knapp, former leader of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), and Brian Filling, then chairman of the Scottish Anti-Apartheid Movement.

One report said protesters from Glasgow who were in London during the Wapping dispute in 1986 were intent on setting the controversial print plant on fire and

fighting with officers from the notorious Special Patrol Group. Bob Gillespie, from

Glasgow , whose son Bobby is lead singer with Primal Scream, was secretary of a union called West of Scotland SOGAT in 1986 and spoke at Wapping.

He said: “No SOGAT members would have contemplated that. It’s nonsense. I spoke at mass protests outside Wapping – those police claims are not accurate.”

In October 1983, police compiled a 47-page report on a demonstration organised by CND in London. They noted every single CND group from Scotland in attendance including Blairgowrie CND and Aberdeen University CND.

Police also reported all the slogans on placards such as “welfare not warfare” and “ban the bomb”.

Isobel Lindsay, vice chair of Scottish CND, said: “I have been an activist since 1960. I attended a couple of the London demos in the early 80s and spoke at one.We always assumed that Special Branch would infiltrate and keep files on activists and activities.

“We were always non-violent and could only be a threat to the government if we gained public support.”

Another file ​reveals​ that in 1993 police monitored people​ at an anti-apartheid rally​ in London​ and reported that people representing the London Timex Support Group were selling badges and memorabilia.

Workers at a Timex factory in Dundee were involved in an industrial dispute at that time.

A Special Branch report on May 2, 1986, describes a May Day march in solidarity with printers at Wapping with Rupert Murdoch’s News International.

The report lists the speakers including MP John Prescott and the NUR’s Knapp and summarises what was said.

The Undercover Research Group (URC) also wrote to Nicola Sturgeon and Theresa May to ask for the terms of reference to be changed or for Scotland to have its own inquiry.

Pete Salmon, of URC, said: “If the Pitchford Inquiry is to get to the heart of the scandals and abuses that surround undercover policing against political campaigners and other protesters, it must be able to see the full picture of the activities of the officers involved.

“So when the terms of reference for the inquiry were released in July 2015, it was met with incredulity among those affected that it was restricted to the activities of English and Welsh officers’ activities only in England and Wales.

“Those familiar with the evidence were fully aware that there was considerable activity in Scotland, with six of the 12 exposed officers having been there.

“This goes back many years, from simple holidays by people deceived into relationships they would never have consented to, to a slew of undercovers converging on the counter-summit protests for the 2005 G8 Summit at Gleneagles.”

There have been calls by MSPs for the new Police Scotland chief constable to make a

statement on his knowledge of a disgraced undercover spying unit south of the Border, who were part of Special Branch.​

MSPs spoke out after Phil Gormley refused to shed light on whether he had any responsibility for the Special Demonstration Squad when he was at the Metropolitan Police.

The SDS, who existed between 1968 and 2008, embedded officers in protest groups across the UK and were part of Special Branch.

The Scottish Trades Union Congress said: “We are resolutely opposed to state intervention and unnecessary surveillance in the everyday lives of citizens, whether they are union officials, members or involved in other campaign groups.”