A Leeds MP has questioned the logic of an undercover police operation in which an officer dressed as a clown tried to occupy his office during a stunt.
A public inquiry is currently underway into the behaviours and actions of undercover police operations across the UK. Critics have said that "millions of pounds" of public money has been“misspent” on “farcical“ operations.
Among the incidents criticised during the inquiry was a 2004 event, when an officer known as EN34, whose undercover name was 'Lynn Watson', travelled to Leeds.
A clip shown to the inquiry showed the officer dressed in a clown costume and make-up, waving a feather duster, as part of the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army (Circa) – a street performance campaign group.
It has now transpired that the undercover officer tried to block Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn from entering his constituency office.
Mr Benn told LeedsLive: "She was part of a group of protestors who tried to occupy my constituency office in 2004.
"When I discovered her identity some years later I wrote first to the Home Secretary and then to the Metropolitan Police to ask why police resources were being used on trying to obstruct the work of a Member of Parliament. I never received an explanation.
"I am pleased to see that this kind of behaviour is now being investigated by the inquiry."
The Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) was set up in 2015 by then-home secretary Theresa May after a series of disclosures about undercover tactics.
It is looking at two units – the Metropolitan Police SDS which existed between 1968 and 2008, and the undercover section of the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), which existed between 1999 and 2010.
