Women’s Liberation Front (WLF)

The Women’s Liberation Front (WLF) was a Maoist organisation founded in 1969 by the Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist League members and closely affiliated to the Britain Vietnam Solidarity Front and other Maoist groups. The WLF campaigned on key feminist concerns, including equal pay, domestic work, childcare, and birth control, and its members were also involved in industrial actions. It changed its name to the Revolutionary Women’s Union in February 1972. The WLF and RWU were targeted by HN45 ‘Dave Robertson' HN45 'Dave Robertson' 'Dave Robertson' is the assumed name of an undercover in the Special Demonstration Squad, active between October 1970 and 6 February 1973. He infiltrated Maoist groups connected with activist Abhimanyu Manchanda, including the Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist League, British Vietnam Solidarity Front and early meetings of the Women's LIberation Front. Robertson was withdrawn after 6 February 1973 when he was recognised as a police officer by a friend of one of the people he was spying on. In the mid-1980s he returned to work for the SDS for three years in a variety of administrative roles. Full page: HN45 'Dave Robertson' , but predominantly by HN348 ‘Sandra Davies' HN348 'Sandra Davies' HN348 ‘Sandra Davies’ was a Special Demonstration Squad undercover officer who infiltrated the Women's Liberation Front, later known as the Revolutionary Women's Union, from February 1971 for two years. The Inquiry has released nearly 80 intelligence reports produced in her name, none of which justify her deployment, according to Inquiry Chair John Mitting. She was withdrawn as a precaution in February 1973 after a fellow SDS officer’s cover was blown. Her real name has been restricted. Full page: HN348 'Sandra Davies'  between 1969 and 1973.

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The WLF was a membership organisation that pressed for equal rights for women and a society free from all forms of discrimination. It held open meetings and film screenings, organised demonstrations, and engaged with the wider women’s liberation movement, both in the UK and further afield. 

It sent delegates to the Women’s National Coordinating Committee (WNCC) conferences, including in Skegness in 1971, when the WNCC was dissolved following internal conflict. HN348 'Sandra Davies', Report on the first Women’s National Liberation Conference held by the Women’s National Co-ordinating Committee (detailed, 8 pages), held at Derbyshire Miners Holiday Camp, Skegness, on 15-17 Oct 1971, 2 Nov 1971, Metropolitan Police Special Branch, UCPI0000027017.View Document  In London, it worked with a variety of groups, including the Black Unity and Freedom Party Black Unity and Freedom Party (BUFP) Founded in July 1970 and active into the 1990s, Black Unity and Freedom Party (BUFP) was a Maoist Black Power group that evolved from Britain’s first Black Power organisation, the Universal Coloured People’s Association. BUFP took a revolutionary and internationalist approach, working alongside majority-white political groups on campaigns that included Irish Republicanism and women’s liberation. SDS undercovers were able to report on some BUFP activities, having infiltrated linked groups. , North London Alliance In Defence of Workers Rights North London Alliance in Defence of Workers Rights (NLADWR) Formed by Maoist groups, the North London Alliance in Defence of Workers Rights (NLADWR) was a community-oriented, broad front organisation that campaigned against state racism and imperialism. From mid-1971 to the end of 1972 the Alliance held street meetings, rallies and demonstrations in north London with groups such as the Black Unity Freedom Party, Women’s Liberation Front, Hackney United Tenants Association Ad-Hoc Committee and Schools Action Union. NLADWR was spied on by HN45 'Dave Robertson'. Full page: North London Alliance in Defence of Workers Rights (NLADWR)  and the Claimants Union. Claimants Union (CU) The Claimants’ Union (CU) movement was a collection of benefit claimants’ unions, at its most active in the 1970s. Organised without hierarchy, they campaigned for basic income without means-testing or cohabitation rules and were explicitly anti-capitalist and anti-fascist in ethos. London CUs were spied on by HN299/HN342 'David Hughes' between 1970 and 1974 and were of interest to the broader surveillance state. Full page: Claimants Union (CU)  

Many of the meetings involved theoretical discussions. HN348 'Sandra Davies' HN348 'Sandra Davies' HN348 ‘Sandra Davies’ was a Special Demonstration Squad undercover officer who infiltrated the Women's Liberation Front, later known as the Revolutionary Women's Union, from February 1971 for two years. The Inquiry has released nearly 80 intelligence reports produced in her name, none of which justify her deployment, according to Inquiry Chair John Mitting. She was withdrawn as a precaution in February 1973 after a fellow SDS officer’s cover was blown. Her real name has been restricted. Full page: HN348 'Sandra Davies'  took on key roles within the WLF and RWU, participating in the vote to expel Diane Langford and becoming RWU treasurer in February 1972.

Sources

Diane Langford, First Witness Statement, 26 Apr 2021 First Witness Statement of Diane Langford (non state core participant), given in the UCPI, Tranche 1, Phase 2, 15 Feb 2021.View Document

Diane Langford, The Manchanda Connection (2015). Diane Langford, The Manchanda Connection, 2015.