Meeting of the Parliament 02 April 2014
We do not know whether that is a tenth of our population or fewer people suffering more searches, but we know that the figure is four times that for England and Wales. Why does the justice secretary think that our citizens are less trustworthy than those in the rest of the UK?
Furthermore, what about the concerns over the hundreds of young children who have been stopped and searched; the question of consent in cases where there is no suspicion of criminal activity, which are the vast majority of cases; the recording of incidents; and the consequences of stop and search? Those are real issues of public concern, but not, it seems, in the eyes of the justice secretary. In common with almost everything that Police Scotland does, they are considered to be operational matters and not his responsibility. As long as Police Scotland maintains officer numbers above a certain level, the justice secretary leaves it to that body to slash its budget by closing down facilities and shedding thousands of civilian staff.
On that point, I note the publication of Police Scotland’s corporate strategy, which is full of operational matters that are none of our business and further cuts for which the Scottish Government cannot be held responsible. Funnily enough, I have yet to find any reference to stop and search in the document, so we might assume that its prevalence is not a deliberate, strategic measure—unless, that is, it is an attempt to make the police more visible so that we do not notice the extent to which civilian jobs are being backfilled.
The cabinet secretary will welcome and take credit for the evidence that there are still enough officers on the streets to stop and search so many people, but really he ought to be addressing the dire state towards which policing in Scotland is heading, with staffing policies retreating towards the era of “Life on Mars”—the TV programme, not the song by the nationalists’ bête noire. Now, it seems, policing tactics and civil liberties may be heading in a similar direction.
What about that toothless tiger, the Scottish Police Authority? As MSPs, we do not get much say, but the SPA is supposed to provide the public with accountability. Does it do that? Has it ever sent Police Scotland “homeward” to “think again” when proposals such as those for control rooms have been shown to be lacking consultation, evidence and scrutiny? Why is the SPA just rubber-stamping everything, regardless of that lack of consultation, evidence and scrutiny?
If the SPA was a football team, the public would be demanding the resignation of the person who picked the team. Why should it be any different for the justice secretary?
15:15