Cop watch: cops caught trying to bribe a Plane Stupid activist

For the past few months Plane Stupid has been aware of efforts by the police to recruit paid informers on our movement. One of our activists, Tilly Gifford, has been recording secret meetings between herself and the police, in which they made a number of outrageous claims about the group and offered to pay her make her student debts go away.

Tilly recorded the meetings to expose how police seek to disrupt the legitimate activities of climate change activists. She met the officers twice; they said they were a detective constable and his assistant. During the taped discussions, which you can listen to on the Guardian's website [1] [2] [3] the officers:

• Indicate that she could receive tens of thousands of pounds to pay off her student loans in return for information about individuals within Plane Stupid.
• Say they will not pay money direct into her bank account because that would leave an audit trail that would leave her compromised. They said the money would be tax-free, and added: "UK plc can afford more than 20 quid."
• Accept that she is a legitimate protester, but warn her that her activity could mean she will struggle to find employment in the future and result in a criminal record.
• Claim they have hundreds of informants feeding them information from protest organisations and "big groupings" from across the political spectrum.
• Explain that spying could assist her if she was arrested. "People would sell their soul to the devil," an officer said.
• Warn her that she could be jailed alongside "hard, evil" people if she received a custodial sentence.

Read the transcripts and listen to the recordings here:  [1] [2][3].