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Use of child spies in UK a deep intrusion into families: Expert

A new UK parliamentary report revealing the use of child spies in covert operations is “disturbing” and is a “deep intrusion” into family relationships, says a political commentator and former academic in London.

Hiring minors to conduct spying cannot be done without their manipulation and coercion, said Dr. Rodney Shakespeare.

“The use of children in order to trap adults is highly questionable,” Shakespeare told Press TV on Friday.

“It is particularly disturbing when the object of the manipulation is a [child],” he said. “It has sinister implications and at the very least, it’s a deep intrusion into family relationships and it will have the inevitable effect of destroying those relationships.”

British police and intelligence agencies are using children as spies in covert operations against terrorists, gangs and drug dealers, a new UK parliamentary report has revealed.

Some of the minors tasked with gathering intelligence are under 16, the report published last week by a House of Lords review committee said.

The report also warned about the UK government’s plan to give law enforcement bodies even more freedom over their use of children.

“We are concerned that enabling a young person to participate in covert activity associated with serious crime for an extended period of time may increase the risks to their mental and physical welfare,” said the committee, chaired by David Trefgarne, the second longest serving member in the UK Parliament’s upper house.

Home Office correspondence with the committee, published in the report, suggests children are not only used to furnish the police with information, but are also assigned to collect information on behalf of agencies.

The report does not specify how many people under 18 have been deployed as a covert human intelligence source (CHIS).

Rights Watch UK, a charity focused on national security measures, said Thursday it was "gravely concerned" by the proposals and the broader use of children as spies.


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