Yes vote ‘won’t affect security’

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has rejected the claims that an independent Scotland would have difficulty detecting and preventing t errorist attacks.

The SNP minister said Home Secretary Theresa May was “wrong” to suggest security arrangements would be diminished as a result of a yes vote in September. Mr MacAskill claimed that an independent Scotland would have “first rate” security arrangements to counter any threats the country may face.

SNP MSP Christine Grahame, convener of Holyrood’s justice committee, claimed the UK Government report represented “‘Project Fear’ at its worst”.

“Trying to politicise issues of security and antiterrorism in this way is the height of irresponsibility,” she added. MsMay claimed the UK’s current intelligence and security network would be difficult to replicate in an independent state.

The UK Government believes threats from organised crime gangs, cyber criminalsandglobal terrorism “were best confronted with Scotland inside the UK”.

Ms May rejected the nationalist arguments that Scotland may face a diminished threat from terrorism by rejecting nuclear weapons and shunning “illegal wars” such as the Iraq conflict.

Mr MacAskill said that Scotland was already an independent jurisdiction when it comes to policing and justice issues.

He said current crossborder co-operation shows how well that can work to combat terrorism and other threats.

“An independent Scotland will have first rate security arrangements to counter any threats we may face,” he added. The Archbishop of Canterbury has controversially suggested Scotland is reluctant to work with England because it is a victim of centuries of oppression.

The Most Rev Justin Welby reportedly said it “takes a lot” for Scots to work with their southern neighbours, due to the English “ill-treating them” for 800 years.

The comments were believed to have been lighthearted, but come amid debate over relations between the two nations in advance of next year’s independence referendum.

Mr Welby was speaking in Iceland about a scheme to challenge payday loan companies with low-interest, co-operative credit unions. “We are even working with the Scots about it,” he is reported to have told a congregation in Reykjavik. “And there is a miracle. It takes a lot to make the Scots willing to work with the English. We have spent about 800 years ill-treating them.”

A spokesman for the SNP said: “While we recognise Justin Welby’s comment as the humorous remark it is intended to be, we want Scotland to work positively with

our neighbours.”

Most Rev Justin Welby: “a miracle”