Union condemns plan

A union has put fresh pressure on the Scottish Government to drop plans to merge British Transport Police in Scotland with the national force.

The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) has launched an online petition urging ministers to ditch the Railway Policing Bill.

The legislation will hand power over railway policing to Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority watchdog.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “Rail safety is not a political principle. It is a public necessity and the SNP would do well to heed the lack of mood in Scotland for their nationalist interest being placed over the national interest. The national interest demands we retain a single trans-UK British Transport Police as a highly skilled, railway dedicated, cross-border, national force.”