UBUG40

Reggae star Ali says MI5 spied on band for their political stance

- BY SHELLEY SPADONI Showbiz Editor

Reggae band UB40 were once under surveillance by MI5, claims the group's former frontman Ali Campbell.

The singer, 67, says the domestic intelligence agency included them on a list of music bands in the 1980s because of their radical left-wing politics.

He says: “There was a list at one point published of bands being ‘watched’ by MI5. We reckon we all had our phones tapped because you could hear the ‘click’.

“We were political, outspoken and, I suppose, that meant we ruffled feathers with the government.

“We've got a lot of crazy chapters in our past, but that was one of the craziest. We're still political - that's why our new tour's called Big Love.

“The world really needs it. Look at what's happening with that maniac Trump in America, and in Britain with the rise of Reform. It’s terrifying.”

Ali grew up in what was then Birmingham's red-light district, Balsall Heath, with his three brothers, raised by their mum Pat Weaver, and dad Ian.

His Scottish dad, who moved to the Midlands as a teenager, was the lead singer of the Ian Campbell Folk Group and was often away touring.