The Treasury should foot the bill for Police Scotland’s Brexit planning costs, the SNP have said.
Chief constable Iain Livingstone has said “reasonable worst-case scenario” planning for the UK leaving the EU means 400 of his officers being deployed on Brexit duty.
He has brought forward recruitment of 100 officers and ditched plans to cut numbers by 300 – costing a possible £18 million – to have sufficient strength to deal with possible public disorder and disruption at ports following the UK’s exit from the bloc.
Rona Mackay said it is ‘only fair’ for the Treasury to pay the extra policing costs (Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament/PA)
The SNP have called on the Treasury to pay out, pointing out Scotland voted by 62% to 38% to remain in the EU.
SNP MSP Rona Mackay, deputy convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee, said: “The reality of the Brexit situation we face is becoming increasingly apparent – with Scotland’s chief constable clear in his professional assessment of what extra pressures will fall upon Police Scotland.
“It’s important that he’s planning for the worst-case scenario since, regrettably, that’s the brink that the Tories seem to be dragging us closer towards.
“The risk of disorder, disruption at ports and airports, and the need for Scottish police officers to be redeployed to help forces elsewhere, are outcomes becoming all too possible in the event of a no-deal.”
She added: “But this is not a mess of Scotland’s making. We voted Remain, we voted for stability and security in Europe and it’s a situation created by the Tory government against our express will.
“On that basis, it’s only fair that the Treasury foots the bill for all contingency costs incurred by Police Scotland.
“Police forces in the rest of the UK have had extra funding in these circumstances and Scotland should be treated no differently.
“Ultimately, the vital work Police Scotland does to keep our communities safe should not be jeopardised by the additional pressures of a Tory Brexit, which we have stood firmly against at every turn.”
Earlier this week, Mr Livingston called for the necessary contingency funding to be made available, pointing out the UK Government has given around £17 million additional cash to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, as well as money to some forces in England to tackle the issue.
He warned if no extra cash is received it could threaten the financial stability of Police Scotland.
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “We are working closely with the Scottish Government on EU exit plans and have so far given them £92 million to support Brexit preparations for all scenarios.
“It is for the Scottish Government to decide whether any of this extra funding should be allocated to Police Scotland.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel