Police Scotland fights terrorism with one hand tied behind its back over VAT

It was inevitable following the appalling terrorist attack in Manchester that policing would feature more prominently in the general election campaign, as each political party tries to convince the electorate that the UK is safer in its respective hands and under its particular policies.

Leaving aside the inconvenient, uncomfortable truth for the Conservatives that police numbers have been falling since 2010 (except in Scotland, where police officer numbers have been maintained by the Scottish Government) there is another relevant issue affecting Scottish policing which exposes the hypocrisy of the Conservatives at Westminster and Holyrood.

Of course policing is a devolved issue and the police budget for Scotland is set by the Scottish Government. But VAT is reserved and Police Scotland is the only police force in the United Kingdom which has to pay VAT. This has effectively removed about £25 million directly from Police Scotland’s budget: from delivering policing services across Scotland; from keeping people safe in their homes, in their schools, at work, on the roads, and in their local communities – from the very same threats as those in the rest of the UK, including terrorism.

The recent threat-level of ‘Critical’ (now reduced to ‘Severe’) was Uk-wide and applied as much in Scotland as elsewhere.

On 25 November 2015 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that “the police protect us and we are going to protect the police” – except in Scotland apparently. And this week Theresa May stated that she was “protecting police budgets” – apart from Police Scotland’s, which is being raided by the UK Treasury by millions every year.

This Conservative policy contemptuously flies in the face of their assurances that Scotland is an equal sovereign component of the United Kingdom. The Chancellor has the authority to waive the VAT liability – which also applies to The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service – and he chooses not to, and meanwhile Labour, Libdem and Tory politicians in Westminster and at Holyrood are actively or passively complicit. But they can no longer distance themselves, politically or ethically, from the impact of charging VAT on Scotland’s police and fire services. They all claim to be the best party for supporting our emergency services whilst conveniently forgetting that they have done nothing to challenge or abolish an unfair, inconsistent tax which shows a flagrant disregard for the safety and security of people in Scotland.

HELEN SWANN Glasgow