A Labour government would pass new measures to guarantee that the so-called “spy cops” scandal, which saw undercover officers deceive women activists into long-term sexual relationships, can never happen again, BuzzFeed News can reveal.



The plans, which will be announced by shadow home secretary Diane Abbott in her speech to the Labour party conference on Tuesday, include requiring all undercover police operations to obtain a warrant from a judge. Undercover officers would also face a time-limit on their investigations if Labour comes to power.

Abbott is expected to say today: “We know that in this country you generally need a warrant to enter someone’s home or intercept their telephone calls. So we will insist on time-limited, judicial warrants for any undercover policing.”

The new policy is a response to longstanding calls for new protections following revelations that undercover officers had formed intimate relationships with at least 20 women since the 1970s without disclosing their true identity. In some cases, the officers fathered children with the women.

Many of the women are still searching for answers and are suing the police. Last week, legal papers revealed that the managers of Mark Kennedy, an undercover officer who deceived environmental activist Kate Wilson into a long-term sexual relationship, knew about the relationship and allowed it to continue. Senior officers had previously claimed that the police spies were banned from having relationships in any circumstances.

This summer, the cosmetics company Lush launched a high-profile campaign to raise awareness of "the ongoing undercover policing scandal, where officers have infiltrated the lives, homes and beds of activists".

