Police off rails
The findings of the recent poll into the future intentions of members of the British Transport Police as they merge with Police Scotland is very worrying (your report, 3 January). These are officers who are well trained and experienced in working in the railway environment. It need hardly be said that working in this environment, on the railways, in the sidings and around stations can be hazardous; these BTP officers are well equipped to do so more safely than many officers with little or no experience of such environments.
BTP officers also have powers to act across the whole rail network and are able to, and do, travel across the network, into the remainder of the UK if necessary to fulfil their duties.
Of course the Scottish Government will say that nothing material will change, that these officers will continue to work as they currently do, that new powers will be sought if necessary to ensure that there is a seamless transition. However, no transition is seamless. What’s more, there is simply no requirement for it. The Scottish Government have produced no evidence that there has been a failure of the BTP in Scotland; that the travelling Scottish public have been let down by an inefficient or ineffective BTP in Scotland. Tory MSP Liam Kerr’s response to the findings of this survey is correct, “the SNP have pressed on, despite all the warnings”.
This merger is nothing more than a power grab by the Scottransport. tish Government who simply do not like to think that there are police officers operating in Scotland that they cannot control; it is as simple as that. It has nothing to do with efficiency, effectiveness or finances and has everything to do with politics and nationalism.
The Scottish Government states that one of the principal benefits of this merger is that the integration of railway policing into Police Scotland will provide a single command structure; we should all be very concerned because we know what difficulties there are currently with structures in Police Scotland.
The issue of specialist support for railway policing is a red herring; the Scottish Government has never provided any evidence to show that this is, or has been, a problem. Cooperation between the BTP and Police Scotland is excellent. Rail users in Scotland will not be any safer with this merger. Indeed, they are likely to be less well served.
LW TURNBULL Edderston Road, Peebles