How not to assemble a cover story

by | Jan 10, 2011


The BBC’s story today about an undercover policeman who infiltrated environmental groups for nearly a decade, before switching sides and offering to give evidence for the defence in their prosecution case, is a gem. I particularly enjoyed this aspect:

He lived a double life: as Mark Kennedy of the Metropolitan Police and as Mark Stone, green activist, based in Nottingham.

He would disappear for extended periods, saying he had to visit his “brother” in the United States.

So, er, he helped to organise protests against coal-fired power stations, but none of his fellow activists thought there was anything untoward in his commuting from Britain to the US?

Author

  • Alex Evans

    Alex Evans is founder of Larger Us, which explores how we can use psychology to reduce political tribalism and polarisation, a senior fellow at New York University, and author of The Myth Gap: What Happens When Evidence and Arguments Aren’t Enough? (Penguin, 2017). He is a former Campaign Director of the 50 million member global citizen’s movement Avaaz, special adviser to two UK Cabinet Ministers, climate expert in the UN Secretary-General’s office, and was Research Director for the Business Commission on Sustainable Development. Alex lives with his wife and two children in Yorkshire.


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