John has said that the debate moved yesterday by Labour showed how out of touch the party has become after it refused to acknowledge the need to reform the service to protect it from Westminster cuts.

Commenting after the debate John said:

“Not so long ago Labour was completely obsessed with police numbers, continually insisting that the SNP Government could not provide an extra 1000 police officers, and when it did Labour changed track.

“Now they are attempting to scaremonger over police staff, with some Labour members even suggesting more support staff should be hired than frontline officers.

“The Tory/Lib Dem Government are cutting police budgets in England and Wales by 20%, while Labour suggest cutting them 12%. When the UK Home Secretary spoke to the Police Federation she was met with silence, but when Kenny MacAskill addressed the Scottish Police Federation he was met with a standing ovation for helping to protect the Scottish Police from Westminster’s cuts.

“Labour need to stop desperately looking for political points to score, and support efforts to create the new single police service.”