Joe Boyd - Fracking law for sale

The Green Wash authors continue to take a look at the blog of long-time anti-fracking campaigner Joe Boyd.

Part 3b - The tangled web of intrigue and deceit spreads

Joe Boyd talks fracking on RT

By 2014 evidence confirming close connections between government agencies and large energy companies had begun to emerge.

The hard-won information revealed considerable time and money was being invested by both government and industry in attempts to demonise and criminalise those in opposition to unconventional drilling. Anti-frackers, alongside other protest groups, had been labelled as Domestic Extreme Terrorists and, with that label, came legitimised high level surveillance techniques and infiltration.

Peel back the hierarchy of authority and you will find, sitting at the head of responsibility for monitoring protests and protesters, collating and disseminating information and organising infiltrators and agitators, the Counter Terrorism and Policing National Operations Centre.

The Counter Terrorism and Policing National Operations Centre (CTP-NOC) started life as the National Coordinator for Domestic Extremism. Undergoing several name changes, including from the National Domestic Extremism and Disorder Intelligence Unit, it was controlled, until April 2016, by the Association of Chief Police Officers' Terrorism and Allied Matters Committee. However, following the exposing of police spy Mark Kennedy responsibility was transferred to the Metropolitan Police Service's Counter Terrorism Command.

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) provides overarching control of the CTP-NOC through its coordinated operational responses across English police forces. It's list of 'key functions' includes the "command of counter terrorism operations and delivery of counter terrorist policing through the national network as set out in the Counter Terrorism Collaboration Agreement".

Knowledge of statutes underpinning the use of police surveillance and interception powers came into the wider public domain when, in 2013, Edward Snowden leaked, amongst other things, that UK Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ, had been secretly collecting internet communications on an industrial scale. Bulk surveillance programmes revealed included "Tempora", "the storage of all the internet traffic GCHQ could harvest", "Karma" Police", "the cataloguing of the web habits of any internet user who could be found", and "Black Hole", "a digital library of more than one trillion internet events".

Government policy endorsing this mass surveillance was enshrined into law when The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) was passed by Parliament. RIPA however, does not just limit the use of covert surveillance to the police but includes local government and public bodies and law enforcement agencies including the Serious Fraud Office, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

Surveillance methods approved of in the Act include the use of bugs, video cameras, the interception and mass surveillance of private communications in transit (phone calls and emails), and undercover agents (‘covert human intelligence sources’).

Jim Killock, of Open Rights Group, said, the "UK now has a surveillance law that is more suited to a dictatorship than a democracy. The state has unprecedented powers to monitor and analyse UK citizens’ communications regardless of whether we are suspected of any criminal activity”.

In what was supposed to be a massive overhaul of surveillance, The Investigatory Powers Act 2016, or 'Snoopers Charter' as it came to be known, replaced RIPA when Theresa May finally managed to get her bill, on the second time of introduction, through Parliament.

In September 2016 the European Court of Human Rights ruled UK agencies had violated rights with their untargeted collection of data as no correct safeguards for the collected information were in place. However, the court also crucially stated that bulk interception was a legitimate process as no evidence had been presented that the system had been abused.

It was also revealed that GCHQ were obtaining data, and content, from social media sites including Facebook, from internet-related services, products and search-engine providers such as Google, from technology companies such as Apple and through the widespread use of bulk computer hacking warrants.

In July 2019, following yet another unsuccessful court battle over the 2016 Act, Martin Chamberlain QC, representing the civil rights group Liberty, argued there were, “inherent dangers” in bulk hacking powers, saying the intelligence services could take “remote control of a device, for example, to turn mobile phones with cameras into recording devices … or to log keystrokes to capture passwords”.

On 15 November 2012, 15 days after his election as Police and Crime Commissioner, in one of his first moves, Grunshaw appointed Ibrahim Master as his official deputy. Receiving a salary of £30,000 per annum Master, the businessman who lived in a £1 million house, had previously been very active in the Labour Party constituency of Blackburn. Alongside deputising for Grunshaw Master was tasked with leading a strategy development and performance improvement plan focusing on business crime. In his recommendation of Master Grunshaw stated "...Ibrahim is the obvious choice for my deputy; he has a vast knowledge of Lancashire, has business expertise and he is passionate about issues of crime and policing".

Master, in his Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire personal statement, wrote "I have had over thirteen years’ experience as one of the appointed members of the Lancashire Police Authority (LPA) and have experience of sitting on all the different committees of the LPA over the years". Adding, near the end of his self-proclaimed list of achievements demonstrating his suitability for the role, that he was "a local businessman and entrepreneur who has been in business for over 25 years now and have extensive experience in retailing as well as property management".

Clive Grunshaw with Ibrahim Master

In May 2013 during an interview with the Lancashire Telegraph, Master confirmed his policing priority was to provide "a visible lead on business crime". Master was also keen to support businesses to "have a strong voice and to tell the police and crime commissioner how crime affects them and their livelihoods".

By early January 2013, just less than two months after being elected, Clive Grunshaw was beginning to cause controversy with claims of "cronyism" and "jobs for the boys". Having already appointed one of his former LPA buddies, Master, he was now about to appoint three more.

Clive Grunshaw

Saima Afzal, left

Amanda Webster, centre

Bruce Jassi, right

Bruce Jassi, former Lancashire Police Authority (LPA) chairman, Jassi's LPA deputy chair, Amanda Webster, and Blackburn's ex-independent LPA member Saima Afzal were all selected by Grunshaw for the 'interim' two-day-a-week posts of assistant commissioners at a salary of £20,000 per person, per annum.

Between 2004 and 2008 Jassi was the Strategic Director for Salford City Council. His responsibilities in the Environment Directorate included holding lead corporate roles with both the Local Strategic Partnership and the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership.

Amongst his "Green Flag" achievements Jassi lists a "Corporate Security Project". This involved the procurement of £2m to improve CCTV control facilities, civic contingencies' facilities and the introduction of multi-agency partnership working within the project.

From October 2008 until November 2012 Jassi was a member, and then chair, of the Lancashire Police Authority.

Saima Afzal started her working life as a Community Development Officer for the Ethnic Development Agency. Prior to accepting the role of Assistant Crime Commissioner, Afzal worked as an Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Advisor and Researcher at Grimsby Institute of Further Education.

Deputy District Judge, Deputy Under Sheriff of Lancashire ("a position which has the practical enforcement of High Court judgments at its core"), independent member of the Lancashire Police Authority and solicitor, Amanda Webster, known as the 'Protest Buster', also took her place round the PCC table.

During 2013 Webster paid several visits to Barton Moss, Salford, anti-fracking camp. A refusal to disclose who she was led to a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) being submitted to the Police Crime and Commissioner's Office. Clarification as to under what capacity Webster was making the visits, the purpose of the visits, why Webster would not disclose any information about herself and the full disclosure of any correspondence, or written records, held by the PCC about both Barton Moss camp and the on-going protests was requested.

On 27 January 2014, in a partially successful response to the FOI, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner confirmed Amanda Webster did "not visit the Barton Moss Community Protection Camp in her capacity as the Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner". Confirmed as unofficial, the PCC reported it had no written or audio records of the time Webster had spent at Barton Moss; the request for full disclosure of all records of the camp and protests held by the PCC was ignored.

By 2017 protests outside Cuadrilla Resources Limited's, Preston New Road, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) site had escalated, with truck surfs, lock-ons and traffic disruption to the well site occurring on a near daily basis.

A Strategic Scrutiny Meeting, held in County Hall, Preston on 24 August 2017, had in attendance Clive Grunshaw, Police & Crime Commissioner, Andy Rhodes, Chief Constable, Lancashire Constabulary, Terry Woods, Assistant Chief Constable, Lancashire Constabulary, Ian Dawson, Superintendent, Lancashire Constabulary, Angela Harrison, Director, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Jane Pearson, Project Support Officer, Office of Police and Crime Commissioner.

Notes from the meeting, Section 2, Performance, sub-heading, "Update re Fracking Operation" confirmed "the Commissioner received separate briefings from the Gold Command and was being kept updated of any developments".

At the same meeting a performance report was presented by Ryan Bretherton, Satisfaction & Analysis Manager, Lancashire Police. Section 4, 'Protecting Local Policing', subheading C, expanded further on the fracking update section of the agenda:

(i) The Police and Crime Commissioner has received regular briefings from the Gold Commander Ch. Supt. Noble and is being kept appraised of developments. He is aware of the delivery of the rig and increased activity and thus staffing at the site. As a result of increased protester activity the site is now being policed on a 24 hour basis and mutual aid is being provided by North Wales, Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Merseyside.

The increase in activity is likely to continue into August and plans are currently being developed ongoing with Cuadrilla in order to facilitate this safely.

(ii) Construction Phases Timeline

• August onwards - flaring and potential drilling.

• January – February 2018 construction of pipeline to the National Grid.

(iii) Resourcing - There is a public order operation in place that is being tailored on a daily basis according to the information and intelligence received.

Maureen Mills

In early 2015, following the release of plans for seismic testing in the area, Halsall Against Fracking (HAF) held their first public meeting in the Halsall Memorial Hall. Maureen Mills, founder and chair of the group, set out plans to hold regular meetings and link-up with other local groups being formed in the area. Mills also made it quite clear HAF would operate under the umbrella of Frack Free Lancashire. Mills, by this time, had already started her involvement with FFL, with her name and address currently appearing on the FFL website as contact, should anyone need to pay for merchandise by cheque, presumably this being part of the role she was later allocated as cheque signatory for the group.

By early 2016 Mills had dropped all pretence of autonomy. The control Mills exercised over anti-fracking related activities and social media groups, along with her accomplices in Frack Free Lancashire, had become general knowledge with publications reporting her as "spearheading" Halsal and area campaigns.

On 05 May 2016 Mills was elected as the Labour Party Councillor for Halsall Ward, West Lancashire Borough Council, and currently serves on the Licensing and Appeals Committee, the Planning Committee and, from late 2017, the Executive Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

On 10 November 2016 Mills attended a scheduled planning meeting at which application number 2015/1055/FUL was listed for refusal. The application, for 12 wind turbines, was scheduled for refusal on the grounds of being "harmful to the visual amenity and landscape character of this part of the Green Belt contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework". At no point during the meeting did Mills declare a conflict of interest, in fact, as Joe points out, Mills "did not declare her interests in several organisations and NGO’s until 2018".

In 2016, in an interview as part of an article for Scisco Media by Claire Stephenson, "Are astroturf groups behind Lancashire fracking?", Mills was described as being a councillor for Halsall and "a member of the North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce". As part of the discussion during the interview on the various pro-fracking groups, including North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce Mills stated "... the now defunct North West Energy Task Force, having discredited themselves with their list of so-called “supporters” of their letter to the press of 8th January 2015, have suddenly re-branded themselves and are trying their “letter to the press” tactic again. Notably, five of the Lancashire for Shale supporters are on the council of the North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce (NWLC) that decides “policy“.  Add to that Dawn Cheetham; Director of NWLCC and Babs Murphy; Chief Executive NWLCC and it is now transparent how and by whom the Chamber’s policies are decided.

I asked Babs Murphy a direct question during the Cuadrilla appeals Inquiry, that was whether they had canvassed opinion of the membership as to their stance as a Rule 6 party supporting Cuadrilla’s appeals.  She answered that the Chamber does not canvass opinion of members, the Council makes policy decisions.  I found that unbelievable as they had carried out a survey for the “supply chain” for the shale gas industry.  As a member of the Chamber I objected to their Rule 6 stance."

Interestingly, as with Tina Louise Rothery's involvement with the North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce (NWLCC) and the Be Inspired Business Awards, Mills is not on record as resigning from the NWLCC in protest, once again personal and financial interest overcame ethics and morals.

Claire Stephenson, author of the article and Environment Editor at Scisco Media, is described on the news web blog as a "social media professional, editor and freelance journalist from Lancashire". Stephenson has a degree in forensic psychology and states she is an active campaigner against fracking as well as being a member of the Green Party, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Preston New Road Action Group and Frack Free Lancashire. Currently Stephenson is employed as the Press & Broadcast Officer for Green Party MEP Gina Dowding, who has also played an active part in the green wash of Preston New Road.

In early April 2018 Mills, in continued attempts to exert yet more control over anti-fracking groups, formed a new umbrella organisation, The Moss Alliance. The Moss Alliance was set up, ostensibly, to bring together local groups, including HAF, who are opposing Aurora Energy Resources’ plans to frack on Altcar Moss. The Moss Alliance is affliated to Frack Free Lancashire.

Also at the beginning of April 2018 a furore broke out amongst genuine anti-frackers. In a post on Frack Free Liverpool and Sefton's Facebook page, it was revealed a garden party for West Lancashire Labour Party was to be held at the home of Maureen Mills at which none other than Lancashire's Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw was to be present. The link and all information for the event has since been deleted and no list of those present on the day is available. The question the Green Wash authors are asking themselves is why, if you have nothing to hide, would you delete all information about the event?

Once again we see integrity has no place in the lives of those who see themselves as the pinnacle of Lancashire's anti-fracking pyramid. Why, the Green Wash authors would like to know, with all the knowledge of police brutality carried out against those protesting on the front lines of unconventional drilling sites and the, by now, well publicised complicit behaviour of the police in protecting the interests of oil and gas companies over the community they are supposed to serve, would you have Grunshaw anywhere near your home?

Names have been redacted in the interests of privacy

On 09 May 2018, following rapidly on the heels of the garden party revelations, West Lancashire Borough Council stamped Mills's pecuniary declaration of interests and published the document online. Listed under disclosable pecuniary interests Mills cites two directorship roles for herself and one directorship and one employment disclosure for her husband.

Prime Properties Southport Ltd, of which her husband is also a director, appears to be a low income letting agency with a portfolio of assets that suggests they only have one house on their books.

Maureen Golding Consultancy Limited was incorporated on 11 January 2012, with Mills, previously listed as Mrs Maureen Allchurch (surname changed in August 2012), as secretary and only director of the company. The company, details of which are quite difficult to locate, deals with marine insurance claims on a consultancy basis. Prior to starting the company, Mills was employed for 38 years and 4 months as "Assistant Director" by Richards Hogg Lindley.

Richards Hogg Lindley (RHL) is a provider of "independent marine claims advice". They are also "global average adjusters" with a worldwide staff that "includes more Fellows of the Association of Average Adjusters than any other business". With Bloomberg describing the main activity of RHL as acting "as a holding company to its subsidiary companies which provide average adjusting, liability claims handling services and insurance adjusting services."

Mr Mills appears on the declaration as working for Ocean Work Systems in the capacity of Offshore Construction Manager.

This picture of a Marine Platforms boat appears on both Ocean Work System Ltd's Linkedin account and Facebook page

A quick search in Google for Ocean Work Systems reveals very little about them, other than a LinkedIn profile and a Facebook page with the above picture used as a header for both sites. A listing of directors in a Companies House check revealed one of the directors of the board, and founder of Ocean Work Systems, Angus George Kerr to be of interest. Kerr is also a director of four other companies, one of which is Marine Platforms (UK) Limited.

Marine Platforms' website proudly declares it's vision to "be a globally respected company offering innovative quality services safely to the oil & gas industry". Using remotely operated vehicles (ROV's), support vessels and an experienced bank of personnel, the company claims to "continue to deliver high-quality brownfield development, subsea solutions, well completions and vessel chartering services safely".

Well completion is a comprehensive term used to describe the essential work processes, and equipment, necessary to bring a wellbore into production, once drilling operations have been concluded, to enable safe and efficient production from an oil or gas well, including from shale reservoirs.

Coming soon, part 4 - The Injunction Enforcers