Up to 100 Scots off icers sent to help
UP to 100 Police Scotland officers will be sent south to assist with the Extinction Rebellion protests in London.
The city ground to a standstill last week as protesters camped out in Trafalgar Square and blocked streets near the Houses of Parliament.
The demonstrators – labelled ‘unco-operative crusties’ by Prime Minister Boris Johnson – are planning another week of non-violent events beginning tomorrow.
Amid fears that the Metropolitan Police force is struggling to cope, a request was made for Scottish officers to assist on London’s streets.
Extinction Rebellion claims to be a ‘peaceful non-violent movement’ but says many of its protesters are ‘prepared to risk their liberty to stand up for the planet’.
Former Paralympian cyclist James Brown was arrested after he glued himself to a British Airways plane at London City Airport on Friday. As of 9.30am yesterday, 1,290 people had been arrested and 42 people charged with various offences following the week of climate change protests.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said protesters had ‘stretched’ police resources, leaving officers with less time to deal with victims of real crime.
The request for 100 Scottish officers comes when Police Scotland is facing a cash crisis.
In August, the Scottish Police Federation revealed 400 officers are only in place because of extra funding for Brexit, which will end after the UK leaves the EU.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said: ‘Scotland has benefited from mutual aid in the past and will do so in the future. It’s therefore appropriate that, as the UK’s second-biggest police service, we supply officers when asked to do so by other forces.’