During the case, according to sources close to the pair, Starmer used ‘John Barker’ as his driver and bag carrier. But ‘Barker’ turned out to be police officer John Dines – a fact discovered only during the later ‘spycops’ scandal, long after Dines had deceived Helen Steele into a two-year relationship with his alter-ego Barker during the course of the case. Skwawbox contacted Keir Starmer directly to ask:Undercover police officer John Dines/Barker acted as your driver and carried your court papers during the McLibel trial. Any comment on such closeness to an undercover officer given your support for immunity for spycops? If you wish to republish this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.

Source: The Guardian April 18, 2023 00:09 UTC