‘Leadership gap’ as police chief probed
Ex-Justice Secretary warns of danger to force
‘Unfortunate human errors’
FORMER Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has warned of a ‘leadership gap’ at the top of Police Scotland after an investigation was launched into the Chief Constable’s conduct.
Phil Gormley is facing an official probe by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) over allegations he bullied a senior officer working in his private office.
A complaint about Mr Gormley was lodged with the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) by Superintendent Graham McInarlin about a fortnight ago.
The Chief Constable has vowed to continue in his post during the PIRC investigation, despite growing pressure for him to step aside while it takes place.
It comes only a month after SPA chairman Andrew Flanagan announced he was standing down after being criticised by two Holyrood committees over issues of governance and transparency. But yesterday Mr MacAskill waded into the controversy, suggesting the force’s troubles amount to ‘more than the present story about its Chief Constable’.
The former SNP minister, who stood down as an MSP at the last Holyrood election, believes Police Scotland would struggle to find a suitable replacement for 54-year-old Mr Gormley if he were to step down.
Mr MacAskill told the Herald newspaper: ‘There’s a leadership gap appearing. The chairman of the SPA has resigned in inglorious circumstances and the senior Deputy Chief Constable, Iain Livingstone, is retiring.
‘He was viewed as Mr Gormley’s likely successor but, with other senior officers going or gone, the leadership team is stretched.’ He added: ‘It’s time for the Scottish Government, which has distanced itself recently, to show greater support for the service and for opposition MSPs to cease grandstanding and political point-scoring.’
Mr MacAskill, who controversially freed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in 2009, added that Mr Gormley had ‘steadied the ship’ following a series of rows that dogged his predecessor, Sir Stephen House.
He said: ‘There have been some unfortunate human errors but that happens in all walks of life; in policing it can have greater consequences.
‘Due process is being followed and nothing further should be read into the investigation by the PIRC.’
But opposition MSPs rounded on Mr MacAskill, pointing out that he was one of the main architects of the single Scottish police force. Labour justice spokesman Claire Baker said: ‘We have had the chairman of the SPA forced out, the chief executive under pressure and now the Chief Constable under investigation.
‘The SNP Government needs to urgently convince the public that policing in Scotland is under control.
‘But Kenny MacAskill has a cheek to accuse opposition politicians of political point-scoring.
‘He is the man responsible for the creation of Police Scotland, and was responsible for one of the most outrageous attempts at political point-scoring in Holyrood when he attempted to claim that opposition to his plans to abolish corroboration in the courts was part of an antiindependence conspiracy.’
Mr Gormley was appointed in January last year, having previously served as deputy director of the National Crime Agency.
On Wednesday, Mr Gormley said he was ‘co-operating fully with the PIRC’.
The PIRC said it would refer the findings of its investigation to the SPA.