Police problems

Helen Swann makes an attack on the Westminster government because Police Scotland are unable to recover VAT ( Letters, 1 June).

She raises the“hate Westminster” threshold by implying that this will weak en the police and “shows a flagrant disregard for the safety and security of people in S cotland” and throws in the threat of terrorism to the mix, but she herself says that police numbersin Scotland have been maintained. She needs to look closer to home, namely at an SNP- dominated government who consistently refuse to take any advice from Westminster.

In 2012 the Scottish Gove rn ment were warned that making Scotland’s police and fire services national rather than regional bodies would make them ineligible for VAT refunds, but Alex S almond chose to ignore this advice.

Ms Sw ann says that the Chancellor has the authority to waive the VAT liability, but that would open a can of VAT worms.

The formation of Police Scotland has not exactly been an outstanding success sto - ry; quite the opposite, with a mega-expensive computer problem, pressures on staff and numerous other welldocumented failures, resulting from the enforced merging of eight well- run independent forces. The police south of the Border have nosuch p roblems, since they are regional.

This costly problem was entirely caused by the SNP’S refusal to take Westminster advice.

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