Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) was spied on by undercover officers HN135 ‘Mike Ferguson’HN135 Michael 'Mike' FergusonMichael (Mike) Ferguson started as an undercover officer in March 1969 with HN336 ‘Dick Epps’. He infiltrated the Maoist Britain Vietnam Solidarity Front, the Islington branch of the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign and the Stop The Seventy Tour. His deployment ended in July 1970. Ferguson would return in the late 1970s to lead the SDS for a couple of years. He retired in 1985 and died in 1999 at the age of 60.
, 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.
, HN336 'Dick Epps' HN336 'Dick Epps'‘Dick Epps’ is the cover name used by the former SDS undercover officer deployed into the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign, Stop the Seventy Tour and the International Marxist Group from late 1968 to mid-1970. For the Undercover Policing Inquiry and Operation Herne, Epps is referred to by the cypher HN336. In 2002, Epps appeared on the True Spies television documentary, using the pseudonym ‘Dan’. Full page: HN336 'Dick Epps'
, HN339 'Stewart Goodman' HN339 'Stewart Goodman'‘Stewart Goodman’ is the cover name used by a former undercover officer with the Special Demonstration Squad. He was deployed into the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Dambusters Mobilising Committee and the International Socialists between 1970 and 1971. Goodman is referred to as HN339 in the Undercover Policing Inquiry.Full page: HN339 'Stewart Goodman' and HN346 ‘Jill Mosdell’ HN346 Jill MosdellHN346 Jill Mosdell was an SDS undercover who spied on anti-apartheid campaigns - the north-west London Stop the Seventy Tour, south-west London Action Committee Against Racialism and the Anti-Apartheid Movement - from at least April 1970. She later infiltrated Maoist groups in north London. She was withdrawn in February 1973 after fellow undercover HN45 ‘Dave Robertson’, who was spying on similar groups, was recognised as a police officer. Mosdell is dead and her cover name is unknown. Full page: HN346 Jill Mosdelland reported on by HN338HN338 HN338 was an undercover officer in the SDS between at least April 1970 and December 1973. He initially spied on Agitprop and then the International Marxist Group, plus several related organisations, notably the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign and Anti-Internment League. He is dead, his cover name has been lost and his real name is restricted.Full page: HN338 between 1969 and 1970.
STST was launched in September 1969, with the initial aim of stopping the 1970 South African cricket tour in the UK through non-violent direct action. It quickly turned its attention to the Springboks rugby tour beginning in 1969.
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Peter Hain, Don't Play With Apartheid (1971)
While South African sports fixtures had been targeted for acts of sabotage on previous occasions, such as by rushing the pitch at a match at Gosforth in north-east England in January 1968, the formation of STST opened the door to mass participation in direct action against the apartheid regime.
Targeting international sport, where racial segregation was visible to the world, was a crucial element in organising against South African apartheid internationally, helping to develop networks of resistance beyond the activist core.
STST had a central coordinating committee and networks of contacts around the country. Over 400 local groups were formed, and over 50,000 people participated in actions to disrupt matches.
Actions were planned and executed autonomously, without direct input from the coordinating committee. These included locking on to goalposts, glueing the locks in rugby players' hotel rooms, and spraying weed killer on cricket pitches.
Significant demonstrations throughout the tour included over 3,000 protestors in November 1969 at Twickenham, a 7,000-strong protest in Manchester soon after, and the movement's largest action in Dublin in January 1970.
January also saw coordinated attacks on 14 of the 17 cricket grounds set to host matches for the cricket tour, which was eventually cancelled.
STST had close ties to the Young Liberals and the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM).Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM)The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) was formed in 1959 and continued to campaign until the fall of the South African Apartheid regime in 1995, when it was disbanded and succeeded by a group called Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA). It was spied upon from the inception of the Special Demonstration Squad by HN298 'Michael Scott', HN336 ‘Dick Epps', HN339 'Stewart Goodman', and HN346 Jill Mosdell, and three other undercover officers.Full page: Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) AAM was a more conventional lobbying organisation, focusing on petitions, garnering support from prominent figures in sports, politics, and religion, and sometimes organising demonstrations.
As such, there were some tensions regarding STST's more militant tactics. Members of AAM were concerned that their organisation could be targeted with conspiracy charges or other legal action.
Peter HainOpening Statement of Ernest Rodker, Professor Jonathan Rosenhead and Lord Peter Hain (non state core participants) for Tranche 1, Phase 2, given in the UCPI, Tranche 1, Phase 2, 22 Apr 2021.View Documentwas the chair of STST, a prominent Young LiberalYoung Liberals (YL)The youth wing of the Liberal Party, this radical and active youth movement attracted about 25,000 members during its heyday in the late 1960s. Dubbed the ‘Red Guard’ by the media, former Young Liberals include Inquiry core participants Lord Peter Hain and Tony Bunyan., and was later involved in setting up the Action Committee Against Racialism.Action Committee Against Racialism (ACAR)The Action Committee Against Racialism was formed on 23 July 1970 as a replacement for the anti-apartheid campaign organisation Stop the Seventy Tour committee. The SDS listed it as a target in its 1970, 1971 and 1972 Annual Reports, though the Inquiry has released few Special Branch reports on the organisation.Hain, along with his fellow campaigners Jonathan RosenheadOpening Statement of Ernest Rodker, Professor Jonathan Rosenhead and Lord Peter Hain (non state core participants) for Tranche 1, Phase 2, given in the UCPI, Tranche 1, Phase 2, 22 Apr 2021.View Document and Christabel GurneyFirst Witness Statement of Christabel Gurney OBE (non state core participant), given in the UCPI, Tranche 1, Phase 2, 2 Mar 2021.View Document, is a core participant in the Undercover Policing Inquiry.Non-State Core ParticipantsFull page: Non-State Core Participants
After STST successfully stopped the 1970 cricket tour, the organisation was disbanded. It was succeeded by the Action Committee Against Racialism, Stop the Apartheid Rugby Tour and Stop All Racialist Tours (SART), which were active through the 1970s and also targeted by undercover officers.First Witness Statement of Lord Peter Hain (non state core participant), given in the UCPI, Tranche 1, Phase 2, 3 Mar 2020.View Document
In 1972, activists were arrested for attempting to block the British rugby team's coach from going to the airport to play matches in South Africa. They were convicted for obstructing a public highway and obstructing the police.Anti-Apartheid protesters’ historic convictions overturned by Crown Court., Criminal Cases Review Commission, 17 Jan 2023.
Report on a meeting of some of those arrested, inc HN298, at the demo in Richmond against the British Lions rugby tour of South Africa, Rugby Tour, held at redacted address on 11 June 1972
Report on meeting of people arrested blockading England rugby team's departure for their South Africa tour, inc HN298, held at the home of Jonathan Rosenhead on 25 May 1972
Report on arrests at a demo to delay departure of the England rugby team for their South African tour, held at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond on 12 May 1972
Form recording damage to the car of Jonathan Rosenhead caused by police at a protest against the England rugby team's South African tour, held at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond on 12 May 1972
Report on meeting of London Groups of Stop the Seventy Tour planning for South African cricket tour (later cancelled for fear of protests!), held at 54 Ravensbourne Park SE6 on 12 May 1970
Report noting that an appeal fund has been set up for ‘Non-racialist sports facilities’ by the South African Non-Racial Open Committee for Olympic Sport and Stop the Seventy Tour
5 reports on Stop The Seventy Tour; 1. a branch is to be set up at the 'North West Polytechnic' (North London Polytechnic?); 2. personal details of the secretary of the NW London Committee; 3. list of attendess NW London STST meeting of 28 April 1970; 4.
Report on party organised by the North West London STST Committee inc supposed plan to abduct South African ambassador, held at a redacted address on 25 April 1970
Report on a meeting of NW London Group of the Stop The Seventy Tour, main topic Lord's demo on 2 May, held at Friends Meeting House, Alexandra Grove N12 on 21 April 1970
Report on a meeting of Stop the Seventy Tour Ad Hoc Committee discussing tactics for the England v South Africa rugby match at Twickenham on 20 Dec 1969, held at 21 Gwendolen Avenue SW15 on 5 Sept 1969
