Police Scotland ‘Brexit base’ to be opened in Midlothian

A Brexit base for Police Scotland will be opened in Midlothian as the force confirmed plans to put 360 officers on standby to deal with incidents that may arise because of the EU exit.
Iain Livingstone, Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Pic: John DevlinIain Livingstone, Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Pic: John Devlin
Iain Livingstone, Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Pic: John Devlin

The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March and the force hopes to have the officers available from mid next month.

They would deal with any incidents related to the potential impact of Brexit such as protests and disruption at ports, and would also be available to deployed elsewhere in Britain on a mutual aid basis. Officers will work in a multi-agency control centre that will be set up in a Police Scotland control room at Bilston Glen.

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Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr briefed members of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) on the plans at a meeting in Glasgow yesterday.

The planning has been based on identifying “reasonable worst case scenarios” in the possible event of a no-deal Brexit.

He said: “This is purely a contingency at this stage and part of our planning to allow us to give officers the required notice about changes to their shifts under police regulations.

“These officers will be deployed to local policing duties when not required for policing purposes related to Brexit.

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“We have taken this decision so that we have enhanced capacity to respond to greater policing demands during this period. Our principle focus is, and will remain, the safety of the citizens of Scotland. “As outlined to the SPA board last week, we are currently planning for a variety of possible scenarios, including potential disruption around Scottish sea and air ports, and protest events, to wider challenges across the UK leading to potential public disorder, which could lead to mutual aid requests from other police services in the UK.

“The Chief Constable has made it very clear that we will respond to such requests, particularly in relation to Northern Ireland, but any request will always be considered against the needs of policing in Scotland.” Officers will be drawn from local and national divisions and from back office functions.

At an SPA board meeting in Kilmarnock last week, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone confirmed to members of the watchdog body previous plans to cut 300 officers from the force had been dropped.

Scottish justice secretary Humza Yousaf said: “Decisions around officer deployment, contingency planning and mutual aid are operational decisions for the chief constable. However, I welcome this prudent, sensible approach to contingency planning to ensure Police Scotland remains best-placed to keep people safe.

“The Scottish Government is carefully considering the implications of leaving the EU.”