Police chiefs to publish report into undercover policing of protest groups on Thursday

This week, police chiefs are going to have another go at publishing a major inquiry into undercover policing of protest groups and the Mark Kennedy affair.

The report by the official police inspectorate is due to be published on Thursday. It was going to be published last October, but police chiefs dramatically cancelled the planned publication at the last moment. That cancellation came hours after the Guardian and Newsnight revealed documents alleging that police chiefs had authorised undercover police officers to give false evidence in court.

Following those revelations, the bigwigs at the Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) decided that perhaps it was best to have another look at the issue.

Activists who have been spied on by the undercover officers have shunned the inquiry which they believe can only produce a whitewash.

The review, held behind closed doors, has been led at various times by the Metropolitan Police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe, who previously worked at the HMIC, and Dennis O'Connor, the current head of the HMIC.

They have been reviewing the accountability and legality of undercover work carried out by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit.

They started the review last January after revelations about the activities of Kennedy, the police spy who spent seven years infiltrating environmental groups.

A censored report into the conduct of Kennedy himself is due to be published at the same time.