Statement from the PFCC

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Roger Hirst, said, “I wish to apologise to Allison Pearson, the Daily Telegraph journalist, for accusations I made about her in an interview I gave to Lewis Goodall of LBC on 17 November 2024, and in an article I wrote for Conservative Home which I later published on my own website. 

"I intended to address wider issues about hate crimes and policing rather than to make accusations against her personally, but I accept, as the High Court has found that I did accuse her personally, I should not have made those allegations against her. I am very sorry for the damage and hurt I have caused to her, and I have agreed to pay her substantial damages and costs in recognition of that."