Rosy’s Story

Rosy (not her real name) is a left-wing campaigner and young mother who is involved in anti-fascist organising and in a radical, do-it-yourself meeting space on Merseyside.

Police came to her home in January 2019, early in the morning, saying they wanted “a chat”. She refused to let them in and asked them to put in writing why they wanted to talk to her.

She then received a note, from an unnamed North West Counter-Terrorism Unit officer, saying “an allegation has been made against you, suggesting you are involved in the radicalisation of young and/or vulnerable persons for the purposes of recruiting them into extreme left-wing political groups, including extreme animal rights organisations”.

Rosy assumes this relates to her befriending a new young activist who had become involved in the social centre, although she is unsure and the letter does not explain further.

Instead, the letter claims “the police are a neutral, objective organisation and realise that you ought to be given the opportunity to refute these claims” and says officers want to talk to her “in order to give your side of this narrative”.

Rosy felt there was a strong implication she had been involved in “grooming” simply for making friends with another campaigner. Subsequently, she had a “safeguarding” visit at home by officers from her local authority’s social service department, who asked questions about the children’s education and about whether she is an activist.

She has made a formal request asking why this visit took place and is awaiting a reply.