Kate Wilson

Campaigner Kate Wilson tells how she took on Britain’s secret police in court and won after discovering she and her fellow environmental campaigners had been spied on and that a former partner was an undercover policeman.

British police infiltrated a group of idealistic environmental campaigners in 2003, formed sexual relationships and spied on them without warrant. Wilson describes how it took her 20 years to uncover the full truth of what went on and how she had to battle on without legal funding and endure further surveillance, intrusion and state harassment. Wilson’s victory in the trial ‘Wilson v the Commissioner’ established that police operations against her were unlawful and unnecessary in a democratic society and violated basic human and political rights.

‘The British police thought it could use and discard Kate Wilson, but it messed with the wrong woman. Her courage, determination, clarity and insistence on justice are absolutely awe-inspiring’ Oliver Bullough, author of Butler to the World

This event is part of a series of festival events focused on public scandals. A public inquiry into undercover policing was set up in 2015 and is still ongoing. Here she talks to Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland, Butler to the World and Everybody Loves our Dollars.