IS THERE A CONSPIRACY GOING ON IN WARWICKSHIRE?

 QUESTIONS REMAIN UN-ANSWERED WITH WARWICKSHIRE POLICE AND PHILIP STANLEY SECCOMBE - A MEMBER OF THE COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE

I have extrapolated sections from a recent post from Protect the Wild and their full post can be found on their site.

In August 2023 thus statement was issued

“We (Police) met with the hunt last week to discuss a protocol they had proposed. The force was satisfied this protocol, if adhered to, would meet the goals of the CPN and that there was therefore no requirement for the CPN.”

But this so-called protocol has never been made public, despite demands by Western and his constituents. And now the MP is demanding more answers.

Lack of transparency

In his letter to Home Secretary James Cleverly, sent on 18 January 2024, Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington, stated that he was writing on behalf of "concerned constituents" regarding the "handling of potential criminality by the Warwickshire Hunt."

Western argued that the private protocol between the police and the hunt has caused "public outrage and suspicion", particularly because the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, Philip Seccombe, is a member of the Countryside Alliance, an organisation set up specifically to overturn the Hunting Act 2004 and restore hunting.

Anti-hunt campaigners are suspicious that Seccombe had something to do with the overturning of the CPN. In fact, Western has previously written to Seccombe himself, demanding answers about why the protocol isn't in the public domain.

Impartiality under question

For half a year, Western, hunt saboteurs and wildlife campaigners have all demanded that the protocol is made public knowledge. PCC Seccombe (whose wife Isobel is the Conservative leader of Warwickshire County Council) has said that his membership of the Countryside Alliance "is not a conflict of interest in the policing of the Warwickshire Hunt" and stated that the protocol can remain secret under Section 32 of the Freedom of Information Act, relating to court records.

However, questions about his impartiality were raised yet again when he was forced to apologise for leaving a 'laughing emoji' on a West Midlands Hunt Sabs Facebook post at the end of last year.What are they hiding?

So what are Warwickshire Police and Philip Seccombe hiding? Does this so-called protocol even exist? Or is the Warwickshire Hunt allowed to continue with business as usual?

It certainly seems that way on the ground. But if the protocol does exist, how are we to trust it when the police have admitted that the hunt itself came up with it?

MY COMMENT: This issue seems distinctly odd and lacks any form of transparency. Can those in ‘civil authority’ be trusted? There are connections involving politics, the police authority and Seccombe’s position as Warwickshire Police Crime Commissioner. If that was not enough Seccombe is a member of the Countryside Alliance. This was formed from three groups in 1997. The British Field Sports Society, Countryside Business Group and The Countryside Movement. Their aims are to help promote and defend the British Countryside and rural life both in the media and in Parliament.

They also oppose the Hunting Act. They want to continue hunting.