Police on the beat should not be armed
With five weeks to go till the referendum on separation we are still waiting on Alex Salmond to provide answers on everything ranging from the currency, pensions, jobs, the armed forces, welfare and... well the list goes on.
This is the biggest decision in Scotland’s history and the stakes couldn’t be any higher. The SNP and Yes campaign owe it to us to provide the facts and information we are all demanding. Assertions and an ‘it will be alright on the night’ attitude just isn’t good enough.
One of the biggest unknowns in this referendum is currency. Mr Salmond has repeatedly said a separate Scotland would use the pound, despite everyone who would be involved with the decision saying it would not happen. What currency we use is absolutely vital to the people of Scotland. It will affect everyone in Rutherglen and Cambuslang – our mortgages and rent, our pensions and savings, our wages and bills.
How can the nationalists talk about investing in our schools and hospitals if we don’t even know what money we would use to do that? It simply could not be more important to Scotland.
This campaign has already been running for more than two years. Alex Salmond has been campaigning for separation his whole career, yet with just weeks until polling day he still can’t, or won’t, tell us what currency we would use if we left the UK.
People in Rutherglen and Cambuslang and right across Scotland deserve a straightforward answer to a basic question. We deserve to know what Plan B is, and we need to know now.
I believe that in Scotland we can have the best of both worlds within the UK. We can have what the majority of Scots want without taking on all the risks. That means more powers for Scotland guaranteed, backed up by the strength, security and stability of the UK. Only separation puts that at risk, which is why we should say No Thanks on September 18. Police shouldn’t be routinely armed
There has been significant concern expressed recently from both the public and the media on the matter of routinely arming the police in Scotland.
No one doubts the need for armed officers to deal with dangerous situations and no
How can the nationalists talk about investing in our schools and hospitals if we don’t even know what money we would use to do that? James Kelly MSP
one argues about the need for mobile armed response vehicles; however police should not be routinely armed.
There is simply no need for police officers to be armed while carrying out normal everyday duties, and it can be very disturbing to members of the public.
The SNP Government in Edinburgh has been very slow to act on this matter and the Justice Ministers response smacks of complacency.
Just last week Kenny MacAskill ignored MSPs from all parties who raised genuine concerns on behalf of constituents who don’t want to see cops on the beat armed.
There will now be two reviews into this by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.
I hope wiser heads prevail and the Scottish Government admits for once it got it wrong and listens to the concerns from communities right across Scotland.