Law lecturer police critic was put on employment blacklist

A law lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University discovered that his name had been added to a secret dossier designed to prevent trade unionists getting jobs, the Sunday Herald has reported.

As well as being a union representative for the Educational Institute of Scotland, Dr Nick McKerrell, a lecturer in public law and human rights, has campaigned for civil liberties for m ore than 20 years and is also a critic of the unified Police Scotland force. He is a former Scottish Socialist Party candidate and was an activist against criminal justice legislation in the 1990s as well as the M77 extension.

The existence of the blacklist, which was devised for the construction industry by an organisation called the Consulting Association, became public following action by the Information Commissioner. Dr McKerrell has suggested that those responsible may have worked with the predecessor police forces and has called for the extension to Scotland of the Pitchford inquiry into undercover police tactics. The Consulting Association closed following the disclosures.