Transport cops to join Police Scotland

Holyrood has passed legislation to merge transport policing in Scotland with the national force despite widespread opposition.

MSPs voted by 68 to 53 in favour of the Railway Policing bill with the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats refusing to back the plans.

The bill will see British Transport Police (BTP) in Scotland subsumed into Police Scotland after the 2016 Scotland Act extended new powers to the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government says the move will make railway policing more accountable but critics include trade unions and BTP officers.

Speaking in the final debate on the bill at Holyrood, Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said maintaining high standards of safety and security on Scotland’s railways was the government’s “primary objective”.

He said: “The integration of the BTP in Scotland into Police Scotland will deliver an integrated approach to transport infrastructure policing in Scotland, bringing railway policing alongside the policing of roads, seaports, airports and borders.

“Integration is about providing a single command structure for policing in Scotland so there is access to wider support facilities and specialist resources. These crucially include Police Scotland’s counter-terrorism capabilities.”

Mr Yousaf said he remained “absolutely committed” to a triple-lock guarantee on jobs, pay and pensions of railway policing officers and Scotland.

He hit out at the Scottish Conservatives’ opposition to the merger in Scotland, pointing to Tory plans to merge BTP south of the border into a bigger national infrastructure force.

Conservative MSP Oliver Mundell said the government had discounted “the many voices who have raised real concerns about their dangerous plan”.

Labour’s Claire Baker called on ministers to put their plans on hold over Holyrood’s summer recess to further consult with trade unions and others about alternative options. staff in

Transport police will be integrated into the single force