Croydon Libertarians

Croydon Libertarians was an anarchist group based in the south London borough of Croydon in the early 1970s. According to former member, Julian Turner, who got involved in 1970, the organisation folded around 1974. He explained this occurred as the group's more active members got more involved with squatting.

The group was spied on by HN298 ‘Michael Scott’. HN298 'Michael Scott' ‘Michael Scott’ is the assumed name of a former SDS undercover officer who infiltrated the Putney branch of the Young Liberals, Croydon anarchist group Commitment, the Little Ilford branch of the Workers Revolutionary Party and the central London branch of the Anti-Internment League between 1972 and 1976. In 1972, he did not reveal his true identity to the court when convicted alongside three anti-apartheid activists, leading to their convictions being overturned in 2023. The reliability of his testimony about the Young Liberals was challenged in the Inquiry by core participant Peter Hain.  One of Scott’s reports concerned an anti-car direct action that the group organised. The group was also listed as one of the main targets for the SDS in its 1972 Annual Report. SDS Annual Report 1972, inc letter to Home Office seeking authorisation to continue, 27 Jul 1972, Metropolitan Police Special Branch, MPS_0728970.View Document

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Scott, who spied on this group and others in this area of London, claimed there was an overlap in membership between Croydon Libertarians, the Young Liberals and the Commitment group. Former Croydon Libertarian Kevin Eady has denied this, saying the group had an anarchist outlook that set it apart from the other two groups.