Latest editorial
Children must be protected from being used as state informants, peers warn
An aerial view of central London showing the the House of Lords and the Victoria Tower at the Palace of Westminster
Lamiat Sabin
Parliamentary reporter
TIGHT curbs must be put on a Bill to prevent vulnerable children and young people from being used as undercover agents by the state, peers urged today.
In its Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill, the Home Office under Home Secretary Priti Patel is proposing that “criminal conduct authorisation” be granted to under-18s so that they can be used as a “covert human intelligence source.”
Some children and young adults are already being recruited back into criminal activity by the state as undercover operatives and informants, for example, youngsters who get caught by police for being involved in county-lines gangs.
Similar stories
Campaigners have been battling for an investigation into police failings in Keighley on child abuse for almost 25 years – but what is it about this West Yorkshire town that’s led to it becoming such a hub for grooming gangs? ANN CZERNIK investigates
