Mervyn Barrett stands down from Lincolnshire PCC elections

Independent candidate Mervyn Barrett is standing down from the Lincolnshire Police Crime Commissioner elections.

His nomination was withdrawn on Wednesday morning.

His entire campaign team resigned earlier this week after The Telegraph alleged in a report that Mervyn Barrett’s campaign was funded by a US-based neo-conservative think tank, the Fund for the New American Century, which has a variety of corporate donors with an interest in public-sector privatisation.

Lincolnshire Police was the first force in the country to sign an outsourcing deal worth £200 million with private security G4S to take over many of its civilian roles.

The incoming PCC would control the policing budget and also decide on the future of the Lincoln Police Station: such as the plans to build a new custody suite in Nettleham, and a new police station in the city centre.

He said in a statement on Monday in response to the newspaper article: “I am not for sale, I never have been for sale and I never will be for sale.

“If anybody who donated to my campaign thought differently they are very sorely mistaken. It is disingenuous in the extreme to suggest that I am in some way anybody’s puppet.

“The policies contained within my manifesto were developed and agreed by me alone. They represent the results of my best thinking and my experience developed over three decades in the field of criminal justice.”

Mervyn Barrett also cancelled an appearance at a hustings event in Lincoln on Tuesday evening.

The Lincolnshire PCC elections so far have not been short of controversy, as two other candidates pulled out previously.

Labour had to replace their initial candidate, Phil Dilks, after he stepped down over an offence relating to a schoolboy prank in the 1960s, which resulted in a £5 fine.

Elliott Fountain from the English Democrats previously announced he will be running for the role, but he was not on the final nominations list.

The remaining four candidates for the Lincolnshire PCC role are Richard Davies (Conservative), Paul Gleeson (Labour), Alan Hardwick (Independent) and David Bowles (Campaign to Stop Politicians Running Policing).

The PCC elections take place on November 15.