The official policing inspectorate showed repeated bias in favour of the police and against peaceful protesters as it compiled a report which backed a government clampdown, a whistleblower has alleged.
The complainant says a report on protest released in March this year was skewed in favour of the government view, with conclusions reached before evidence was gathered and assessed.
The Guardian has learned that the whistleblower, Alice O’Keeffe, has officially complained to her bosses at Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). She believes the civil service code was breached. HMICFRS said it was assessing her claims.
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Her formal written complaint contains allegations that HMICFRS told the home secretary in a private letter it backed the need to change protest laws five months before its report was published.
It is also alleged that some in the inquiry team, which was mainly made up of serving and former police officers, likened peaceful protesters to the IRA, which waged a terrorist campaign against the UK.
O’Keeffe worked on the report on protest as an associate editor. The home secretary, Priti Patel, asked for the inquiry as she pushed for stronger powers.
There is more.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/31/police-watchdog-accused-of-skewing-report-to-back-protests-clampdown