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Did a secret police infiltrator inside Fathers for Justice first propose the idea of kidnapping Tony Blair’s son? That's what some members of the organization now suspect. It started as a simple conversation between a group of protestors in a pub just before Christmas, but memories of that night are confused, some who were there say no one talked about kidnapping, others say a plan was mentioned but quickly dismissed. Whatever the truth, anti-terrorist police visited the men soon after, so does this mark the end of the Fathers for Justice Movements. Our home affairs correspondent Simon Israel reports.
. . .may listen and make a clear roar....
It appears this headline-grabbing allegation emerged from the post Santa protest staged by rival groups in the Fathers for Justice campaign just before Christmas. While threats and suggested antics were the talk of the town in this pub opposite the road across the Justice family division, several of those who took part say they remember it well, and it did not include any mention of kidnapping the Prime Minister's youngest child. Several, who were in the George were later to be visited and warned by anti-terrorist officers.
" that was actually , entirely unrelated, and the two things are entirely unrelated, that was a rare matter of a conversation overheard in a pub just before Christmas , about something entirely different (that) had nothing to do with kidnapping . . um . .Leo Blair, um, the guys were visited and they were given warnings that if they pull off anything within the Westminster area, there is a likelihood that they'd be shot. "
"Alright, nothing to do, so nothing in that conversation threw up the idea of kidnapping the Prime Minister's son then. "
"Nothing at all. "
"Were you there? "
"I. . I was there, yes. "
(. . daddy. . )
But still, the allegation that Leo Blair was to be the target for abduction landed on the desk of a senior officer of Scotland Yard, via a source who summoned the protest group suspect was a special branch infiltrator. Certainly Channel 4 News understands that that branch of the security services were none too happy about today's leak. Given the history of Fathers for Justice and the current heightened state of alert, any hint of a threat to the Prime Minister and his family has to be taken seriously. But just because police have launched an inquiry, / doesn’t necessarily add credibility to the original allegation.
Whether this is a fantasy land or not, the kidnap idea is a far cry from the highly publicized superhero's stunts at Buckingham Palace and that purple powder incident during Prime Minister's question time. Their real target however has always been the family courts and presiding judges, whose hearings and decisions on parental access to children where they claimed bias and never made public. Their campaign hasn't made a jot of difference.
"that the group is really being dead in the water, . . um. . , for a while. . um. . , that doesn't mean that it can't come back, I mean it, it could well do, you could see a stunt sunny day soon that / may not be quite as sensational as kidnapping the Prime Minister's son, but it could still be quite interesting. "
"We are mainstream movement. We've been the most high-profile campaign group, in this country, for the last three years, you know, we have a job to do, there is a question you know you are right to ask, the question, is you know, is longevity of the group established. Have we done, have we , you know, expand our use by day. "
Today's headlines may've well answered that question, and brought forward the inevitable extinction of a movement which marveled in comic street stunts, but achieved little else.
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