For nearly half a century, the British police embedded agents within progressive political and protest movements; officers deceived activists into intimate relationships, sometimes fathering children, before vanishing from their lives forever. As the Undercover Policing Inquiry continues to unearth new abuses, New Internationalist co-editor Bethany Rielly speaks to two spycops campaigners about their search for justice.In this episode we also hear evidence given to the ongoing Undercover Policing Inquiry by ex-undercover officer Andy Coles, who is accused of having an intimate relationship with an animal rights activist known as ‘Jessica’ when she was 19 years old. Coles publicly denied the claims in the Peterborough Telegraph after he was unmasked in 2017, dismissing them as ‘lurid’. Despite this, in 2020, the Metropolitan Police upheld a complaint by Jessica, after launching an internal investigation which found ‘credible evidence’ about the alleged relationship. It said Coles would have faced a disciplinary hearing on a charge of gross misconduct if he had not already retired from the Metropolitan Police in 2013. On 18 and 19 December 2024, the ex-officer again refuted the allegations in oral evidence to the inquiry. Other female activists have also accused Coles of making sexual advances on them, which he also denied.Read NI546: Spying on dissentHosts: Maxine Betteridge-Moes & Bethany RiellyCredits: Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design)Credit for audio clips of hearings: The Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI)Guests: Tom Fowler, JessicaThe cop who spied on grief (Bethany Rielly, New Internationalist)Why Spycops victims walked out from the police inquiry (Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance, New Internationalist)Spycops Info (Undercover policing podcast hosted by Tom Fowler)
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38:37
From Palestine to Western Sahara, the struggle is one. With Najla Mohamed-Lamin.
2025 marks 50 years since Morocco invaded Western Sahara, forcibly displacing the Sahrawi people into neighbouring Algeria. Women’s rights and climate activist Najla Mohamed-Lamin joins us from the Sahrawi refugee camps to talk about the multigenerational impact of 50 years of forced exile, and the common struggles of Indigenous peoples around the world.Read NI554: Treaty / NI545: Decolonize now / NI540: Take back the landHost: Maxine Betteridge-MoesCredits: Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Producer, Digital Editor), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design)Guest: Najla Mohammed-LamineFurther reading from this episode:With all eyes on Gaza, Morocco strengthens its hold on Western Sahara (Maxine Betteridge-Moes, New Internationalist)Love Locked Up (Maxine Betteridge-Moes, New Internationalist)Spotlight: Aziza Brahim (Graeme Green, New Internationalist)A new dawn? Western Sahara and the Arab Spring (Jeremy Corbyn & Stefan Simanowitz, New Internationalist)War and Peace in Western Sahara (New Internationalist Issue #297) Subscribe to read in our digital archive.How Sahrawis See the Western Sahara Conflict (Najla Mohamed-Lamin, The National Interest)Support the Almasar Library CentreNo billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media. Donate today: a.nin.tl/2BSubscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print or digital subscription.
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35:00
Truth and Treaty in Australia, with Aboriginal Senator Lidia Thorpe
Following the defeat of a 2023 referendum on an Indigenous advisory body to Australia's parliament, our latest issue scrutinizes the ongoing denial of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty. In this episode, guest editor Zoe Holman talks about how she commissioned this Big Story and interviews Senator and Indigenous activist Lidia Thorpe about today's rallying call for Treaty.Help Rewire the World. Fund journalism that sparks change. Donate today at https://a.nin.tl/2BRead NI554: Indigenous Sovereignty in AustraliaHosts: Maxine Betteridge-Moes, Zoe HolmanCredits: Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Producer, Digital Editor), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design)Guest: Zoe Holman, Senator Lidia ThorpeFurther Reading from this Episode:This is not your land (Zoe Holman, New Internationalist)Truth-telling in the Stolen Country (Zoe Holman, New Internationalist)Rise from this grave (Tony Birch, Overland)The last path forward to Treaty (Daniel James, 7am podcast)Subscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print and/or digital subscription. Sign up to Currents, our subscribers' exclusive newsletter for dispatches from the frontlines of global progressive movements. Recent editions include stories on Rojava's civilian resistance and legal cases against weapons exports to Israel. 30 days FREE then £3/month. Learn more.
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30:20
Why we must back the Kurds, and Syria's political future post-Assad, with Matt Broomfield and Leila Al-Shami
In the years since Syria’s civil war began in 2011, the country has been slowly drifting away from the mainstream media spotlight. But on 8 December, everything changed.Turkish-backed opposition forces declared Syria liberated from the 24-year rule of President Bashar al-Assad, capturing the capital Damascus in what seemed like the blink of an eye.So what does the future hold for religious and ethnic minorities in Syria? Will the Kurds realize their dream of self-governance under the defacto HTS authority? What remains of the country's political opposition and labour movements, and how can the international community support a fair and equal redistribution of power for Syrians?Matt Broomfield and Leila Al-Shami provide some answers.Guests: Leila Al-Shami and Matt BroomfieldHost: Maxine Betteridge-MoesCredits: Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Producer), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-editors), Paula Lacey (Editorial assistant), Samuel Raffnell-Williams (Theme music), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design)Further reading:The war isn't over (Matt Broomfield, in our forthcoming March/April 2025 issue - subscribe here)Where to now for Syria’s women? (Zaina Erhaim in New Internationalist)Riad al-Turk’s Lifelong Struggle for a Free and Democratic Syria (Leila Al-Shami in New Internationalist)Read NI 526 The Kurds: Betrayed again (New Internationalist, 2020)Start your 30 day FREE trial of Currents to receive bi-weekly dispatches from the frontlines of progressive movements.No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media.Subscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print or digital subscription.
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35:05
Why the West picks guns over diplomacy, with Vijay Prashad
The West may be losing control over the world’s resources but it still dominates weapons systems and information. Vijay Prashad explains why some world leaders are effectively arms dealers and how this influences diplomacy.Read NI553: The Arms TradeHost: Maxine Betteridge-MoesCredits: Maxine Betteridge-Moes (Producer, Digital Editor), Amy Hall, Bethany Rielly, Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson (Co-Editors), Paula Lacey (Editorial Assistant), Samuel Rafanell-Williams (Sound Design), Nazik Hamza (Audio Editor), Mari Fouz (Logo Design), Thomas Barlow, Impress (Media Consultant)Guest: Vijay PrashadFurther Reading from this Episode:How to dismantle the deadly arms trade (Amy Hall, New Internationalist)Guns or Diplomacy? An interview with Vijay Prashad (Amy Hall, New Internationalist)Genocide in Gaza: Western Moral Collapse in the Age of Hyper-Imperialism (Palestine Deep Dive interview with Vijay Prashad)No billionaires. No media moguls. No corporate ads. Just truly independent, co-operative media.Subscribe today and use the code THEWORLDUNSPUN for 20% off your first year of a print or digital subscription.Sign up to Currents for dispatches from the frontlines of global progressive movements. 30 days FREE then £3/month. Learn more
South Africa