Police Scotland's former chief constable allegedly told to 'hire a Scot' as his deputy ... Phil Gormley warned there would be 'political problems' if he did not ... The order left him 'deeply troubled' ... But what did PIRC and the SPA do about the discrimination claim? ... SNP government ministers face questions about alleged meddling in policing
FORMER chief constable Phil Gormley was warned there could be ‘ political problems ’ if a Scottish candidate was not hired as one of his deputies. The former head of Police Scotland claims that the order came from Andrew Flanagan, then chairman of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), during a discussion about a vacant post for a deputy chief constable. During the meeting last September, Gormley was allegedly told ‘ there would be major presentational and political problems if either of the two internal (Scottish) candidates were passed over given how this would impact on the proportion of senior officers who were of Scottish national origin ’. In a document seen by The Times newspaper, Gormley said: “ He [Flanagan] indicated that Scottish Government were party to these concerns. As a senior officer of English national origin myself, this concerned me. The national origin of any candidate (from within the United Kingdom) should have no bearing on the selection process. ...