I really like @Liam4Orkney but putting his name to this crud doesn’t square with the sensible pragmatic bloke I know. Let’s have a look at each of these things in turn scotsman.com/news/push-for-… 
Budget black hole - there are many reasons the police face this “budget black hole” but without any shadow of doubt two of the biggest sit squarely with the LibDems.
It was the LibDems who when in coalition government commenced the swinging cuts to public expenditure in the failed austerity experiment. These cuts have put almost immeasurable financial stress on all already of public service
Before the usual “ah but it’s the Scottish Government who decide how much to spend on services in Scotland” brigade dust off their faux outrage have a look at this
This shows the sheer level of cuts to public expenditure being visited upon Scotland as a DIRECT consequence of the political decisions of the 2011 coalition government which couldn’t have existed without the LibDems
These cuts have also had an altogether more pernicious and corrosive impact on the most vulnerable sections of our society who are exponentially more likely to hit crisis as a consequence.
People in crisis, despair and needing help increasingly come to police attention and increase demand for resources and interventions in the process. That’s resources that aren’t available due to austerity.
Then of course there is the whole history of VAT. As recent events have shown VAT relief could have been delivered with the stroke of a political pen.
When Danny Alexander was Chief Secretary to the Treasury you might have thought he would have wanted to use the LibDem kingmaker position in government deliver something on this?
I know I did which is why I was astonished at his sustained attempts to ignore me at LibDem conference to discuss the matter and scurried our the door pretending to take a phone call as I pressed him on the subject
Failing IT - you really have to be detached from reality if you believe police IT woes have come about as a consequence of the creation of PSoS.
Let there be NO DOUBT - the birth of what was to be i6 started way back in the early 2000s. That was the time the former chiefs in ACPOS could only agree on the colour of the police tie
The “failure” to deliver i6 was not a police failure but a PRIVATE SECTOR failure. The testimony to the benefits in PSoS are clearly demonstrated in the fact they had a watertight contract that recovered ALL the costs and then some
Prior to PSoS forces had systems that were (still are) falling apart. The former Strathclyde was still using floppy discs, the national intel system was running on coal and multiple login was/is commonplace
Extending IT to telephony. Many of the former forces were desperately needing to update telephony systems due to advances in tech. The need for fibre to enhance capacity was well known but many relied on copper which has limitations.
PSoS has invested in that fibre and whisky no one will pretend it’s been easy - at least its being done - as an aside were it not for the VAT Danny Alexander refused to do anything about - we might have had an easier time finding the money
Forced BTP merger - err - Smith Commission anyone - signed up to by all parties including the LibDems.
I have the most enormous sympathies for the BTP officers and staff who feel an affection for their force but I find the Damascene conversion of those who willingly threw them into Smith to be slightly hypocritical
Let’s face it - after realising road signs wasn’t quite going to cut it - the transfer of BTP was considered an inconsequential “give away”. I’ve had discussions with newborn political opponents who freely admit “we just never thought about it at the time”
I’ve yet to bottom this out but it’s my understanding the Scottish Government subsidised rail operating companies currently pay circa £23M p/a to the BTPA for policing in Scotland. BTP Scotland staff costs are circa £11M - you do the maths.
So yes by all means feel free not to be a fan of the police service of Scotland but at least be honest enough to realise that your own policies and decisions laid the foundations that necessitated its being built
