In the light of the revelations today that the Metropolitan Police have been spying on prominent Greens in London, including former Oxfordshire Green Councillor and MEP Caroline Lucas MP and Green mayoral candidate Sian Berry, two leading Oxford Greens Cllr Craig Simmons and Cllr Elise Benjamin have written to the Thames Valley Police Commissioner asking for 'full disclosure' of any records kept on them.
"Neither of us has a criminal record" says Cllr Craig Simmons, leader of the Oxford City Council Green Group, "but we have both been involved in numerous protests and campaigns - many of the same ones that has resulted in the monitoring of prominent Greens by the Metropolitan Police."
Says Councillor Elise Benjamin, a former Lord Mayor of Oxford, "I have most recently been involved in protests against the Council's Public Spaces Protection Orders and feature in comedian Mark Thomas' stage show about dissent and protest. So, I have certainly haven't been shy in making my anti-establishment views public."
Cllr Elise Benjamin: "Spying on elected Councillors is immoral and a waste of police resoures. I hope that TVP has been more careful in their targeting than the Met".
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