Book Launch: Disclosure - Unravelling the Spycops Files
Schedule
Wed, 26 Nov, 2025 at 07:30 pm
UTC+00:00Location
Cafe Etch - Middlesbrough | Middlesbrough, EN
‘GRIPPING . . . DISTURBING . . . INVIGORATING’ OLIVIA LAING, GUARDIAN
‘ASTOUNDING . . . DEVASTATING . . . COMPELLING’ STUART JEFFRIES, OBSERVER
‘It was exciting when it started, then comfortable and domestic, and over time we grew apart. If it had been real, our relationship wouldn’t have made a chapter in a memoir. But Mark was a fictional character, contrived by the British state to violate me and undermine the values I held dearest. And the entire time, EN31 was sitting around the corner, writing it all down, watching our lives unfold.’
In 2003, British police infiltrated a group of idealistic young environmental activists, forming sexual relationships and spying without warrant on hundreds of innocent civilians.
Kate Wilson fought back. She took the Met to court, at times battling alone without funding or legal representation, enduring bullying, psychological intrusion and further state surveillance. It took her nearly twenty years to uncover the eerie truth about Britain’ s secret political police.
In her own words, and those of the officers who documented her every move, this is Kate’s story.
Reviews
When I say "everybody should read this book", I don't mean everybody who is interested in human rights, in police ethics, in feminism, in the future of the planet, in freedom of speech and the right to protest, in security, in women's security, in policy and monitoring, in budget decisions, in what the law is for, in sexual politics, or any other kind of politics. I mean everybody
Louisa Young, author of YOU LEFT EARLY
This book infuriated me, to find we have a deep state, so indifferent to women. Kate's account is important history and a brilliant read
Vera Baird, former Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales
Unforgettable, devastating, essential. I couldn't put it down. Proves the systemic nature of the British state's abuse of women beyond any doubt
Asa Winstanley, Electronic Intifada
A gripping account of an activist who discovered her former boyfriend was a police spy - and how she turned the tables
Olivia Laing, Guardian
Reads like a thriller, painting a shocking picture of gross police overreach
Rebecca Vincent, City A.M.
This is not just about a few sleazy guys tricking a few idealists into bed . . . This is a secret police unit using enormous amounts of public money to create fake people, with fake passports, bank accounts and driving licenses, and using them to deceive women not just into sex, but into long-term romantic relationships. They moved into their homes, became involved with their families, proposed marriage, and had children with them, before disappearing forever
Laurie Penny, New Statesman
In an increasingly authoritarian political climate we need to be equipped and aware as much as possible. Kate Wilson's chapter-and-verse account of her activism, betrayal, surveillance, and legal struggles are gripping and enlightening reading. Rendered with both passion and clarity, her odyssey tells us how repression works in practice
John Zerzan, author of A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF CIVILISATION
This story of the betrayal of a brave eco-activist is a searing page-turner. The criminalisation of Kate Wilson and her fellow campaigners was truly shameful. Disclosure firmly places the British police on the wrong side of history
Peter Hain, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Disclosure gives us some of the deepest insights yet into the inner workings of Britain's secret political police. It is a gripping, very personal but highly measured, account of shocking police oppression and corruption, deployed against people trying to make the world a better place. The book demonstrates how campaigners have bravely and meticulously exposed the undercover units which since 1968 have targeted over 1,000 mainly progressive and left wing campaign groups. Movements for much needed change continue to be supported by millions of members of the public, and cannot be suppressed. They are not only essential if humanity is to progress, but are in fact on the right side of history - unlike those who have now been forced to apologise for the spying
Dave Morris, the McLibel Two
It is rare that an exceptionally gifted writer should find herself at the epicentre of such a huge story. Kate Wilson has an incredible eye for the telling detail. She draws characters so vividly that they walk off the page. The result is a highly intelligent memoir that reads like a psychological thriller
Rob Newman
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
Astounding . . . A devastating picture of official incompetence wedded to misogynistic sexual license. [Wilson] meticulously describes a police operation costing millions of pounds (Kennedy alone was claiming about £200,000 annually in expenses, for everything from curries to condoms), which invaded the privacy and bodies of women who purportedly threatened this country's stability, and aimed to curb their legitimate right to protest against warmongers, fat-cat capitalists and the destroyers of our climate. At least 27 women in their 20s and 30s were targeted. Many of them, Wilson relates, were so traumatised by their experiences they became unable to forge intimate relationships . . . Wilson pieces together the truth from often heavily redacted police files as well as her own memories and those of friends. This makes for a compelling piece of literature . . . both formally inventive and bracing to read
Stuart Jeffries, Observer
An essential book about repression and resistance, bold, lucid and deeply inspiring
Olivia Laing, author of THE GARDEN AGAINST TIME
This book exposes one of the most shocking abuses of state power in modern British history. The Spycops scandal saw activists targeted, rights violated and lives destroyed. Kate Wilson's courage in pursuing justice and her meticulous unraveling of the truth is both inspiring and troubling. This is a must-read for anyone who cares about our fundamental rights and accountability for state institutions that often operate in the shadows
Jeremy Corbyn
Where is it happening?
Cafe Etch - Middlesbrough, 5 Gilkes Street,Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
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