Victims of police surveillance have accused the government of trying to limit a long-running public inquiry into the misconduct of undercover officers. The inquiry, led by retired judge Sir John Mitting, is examining how police spied on tens of thousands of political activists over more than four decades. This includes serious abuses such as officers deceiving women into sexual relationships and fathering children. The inquiry, which began in 2015, has already lasted over ten years and is expected to continue for another two. It has so far cost £144 million. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has raised concerns about the inquiry’s duration and cost, and has launched a public consultation to decide whether it should continue in a different format. The consultation, which closes this Sunday, has drawn criticism from those who were spied on, who say the government is trying to limit or end the inquiry’s later stages. This, they argue, could prevent the full extent of police misconduct from being revealed. Over 2,000 people have objected to what they see as an attempt to cover up past wrongs. The inquiry is one of the longest-running in British history. The previous record was held by an inquiry into a sectarian murder in Northern Ireland, which took 22 years to complete. The current inquiry is looking into the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), a Metropolitan Police unit that infiltrated political groups from 1968 to 2008. The inquiry has heard evidence of serious misconduct, including officers forming long-term relationships with women without revealing their identities, spying on grieving families, and lying in court. It will also examine a second undercover unit, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit, which operated between 1999 and 2011. One of the SDS’s undercover officers, Mark Kennedy, infiltrated environmental and left-wing groups for six years. He deceived many women into intimate relationships, and his actions led to environmental campaigners having their criminal convictions overturned because key evidence was withheld from their trials. The inquiry will also look into the case of another undercover officer who used a fake identity to infiltrate serious crime and had a 19-year relationship with a woman, during which they had a child together. Victims of the surveillance have criticized the consultation as a "phoney" process, saying it only offers limited options: a narrower inquiry, one without legal powers to force witnesses to testify, or a request for the police to disclose documents to victims without an official inquiry. Kate Wilson, one of those deceived by Kennedy, said limiting the inquiry’s powers would lead to a cover-up and prevent the full extent of police misconduct from being known. A Home Office spokesperson said the government is committed to justice but emphasized the need to consider the inquiry’s future in light of its long duration and cost.