SNP ‘interference’ in police slated by ex-justice minister
Peer says Matheson ‘hoarding too much power’
A FORMER justice secretary has attacked ‘government interference’ in Scotland’s chaotic single police force.
Lord Wallace said the row over Chief Constable Phil Gormley made the ‘case for fresh police reform even stronger’.
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson blocked a decision by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) to bring Mr Gormley back from gardening leave to lead Police Scotland.
The police chief has been on ‘special leave’ from his £214,000 a year post since last September, amid multiple bullying allegations.
Last night, former Deputy First Minister Lord Wallace said there was no longer a ‘proper and healthy balance’ between ministers and policing.
He told the Mail: ‘Recent revelations of government interference in policing make the case for fresh police reform even stronger. At the moment too much power is hoarded on the desk of the justice secretary. That has to change.
‘When I was justice minister, there was a proper and healthy balance among the roles of minister, chief constables and, crucially, local police authorities.
‘That has been lost and that is why Scottish Liberal Democrats have been clear that the way to avoid these situations is for powers over policing to be handed back to communities and an independent review of how policing structures are operating.’
Lord Wallace was the Lib Dem justice minister for the Labour-led Scottish Executive between 1999 and 2003.
His intervention comes after Britain’s top civil servant was urged to investigate the Government’s role in the row over Scotland’s chief constable.
Former Scottish Secretary Lord Forsyth is calling on Sir Jeremy Heywood, who is the head of the civil service in the UK, to probe whether or not strict guidelines were breached when minutes were not taken at key meetings.
His involvement would put further pressure on Mr Matheson as he faces calls to quit over his potentially unlawful interference in the work of an independent body. After an unminuted meeting between Mr Matheson and former SPA chairman Andrew Flanagan last November, Mr Gormley was told he could not return to his job – despite the quango’s board having approved the move.
Lord Forsyth spoke out after Mr Gormley’s wife Claire last month told the Mail she feared the investigations into her husband were a ‘disproportionate fishing expedition’.
Mr Gormley, 54, denies the allegations against him. Earlier this week, a former sheriff demanded that Mr Matheson quit following claims he misled parliament.
Douglas Cusine, who sat on the bench for 17 years, described Mr Matheson as an ‘embarrassment’.
It also emerged this week that Mr Gormley is facing a fifth investigation into an allegation of gross misconduct.
The probe relates to a complaint against Mr Gormley from the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), representing rank-and-file officers, over a claim of ‘dishonesty’.
It was sent to the SPA, which has referred the grievance to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC).
There have been seven complaints against Mr Gormley since last July.
He took charge of Police Scotland in January 2016 following the resignation of Stephen House.
Comment – Page 16
‘Independent review of police’