Met spies 'stole dead children's identities'

Labour MP Ian Lavery said the stealing of the identities of 80 dead children by undercover police came hard on the heels of other damning exposures.

He instanced special branch involvement in blacklisting of trade unionists and political activists, the Hillsborough disaster cover-up and national policing of the miners' strike in 1984-5.

Mr Lavery declared: "The police and the secret police have devastated the lives of thousands of people.

"They have infiltrated all manner of organisations. Much of this undercover work has been carried out against perfectly legitimate social and political campaign groups."

Demanding a broad-ranging inquiry, Mr Lavery welcomed a call from former director of public prosecutions Lord Macdonald for a public inquiry into the operation of undercover investigations.

Lord Macdonald said it was "really worrying" that senior officers had not entirely ruled out repeats of recently exposed cases of undercover officers entering sexual relationships with their targets.

The Guardian newspaper revealed today that undercover Met officers used the identities of dead children between 1968 and 1994.

Driving licences, passports and national insurance numbers were issued in their name unbeknown to bereaved parents.

Police trawled through birth and death records to find suitable matches, then created aliases based on the dead children.

Scotland Yard claimed that the practice was not "currently" authorised, and announced an investigation into "past arrangements" used by the Special Demonstration Squad.

Home affairs select committee chairman Keith Vaz MP described the use of dead children's identities as "absolutely shocking."

He has summoned a senior Met officer to appear before his committee tomorrow during a hearing on undercover policing.

Mr Vaz said the committee would also hear evidence from the women who were duped into relationships.

Women have told how the officers had long-term sexual relations with them and suddenly disappeared without trace causing emotional devastation.

Eleven women and one man are seeking court damages for emotional trauma.

However, the claimants are upset at the High Court's decision to allow key aspects of the case to be heard in secret by the tame Investigatory Powers Tribunal.