Commenting on the BBC poll which reveals that one of the highest ranked priorities for the public is keeping police officers on Scottish streets, Liberal Democrat Campaign Chair George Lyon said:
“This poll confirms that the public are worried about the loss of police officers on Scottish streets.
“A move to a centralised police force, which the SNP, Labour and the Tories all back would see nearly 4000 police officers lost from policing Scottish streets just to pay for it. Local, visible and community based policing would be eradicated under these plans.
“Chief Constables don't want it, the public don't want it, and it's time other parties dropped it. Liberal Democrats want to keep police officers on our streets and keep policing local and visible.
"The public can rest assured that Liberal Democrats will continue our campaign to keep local police on our streets all the way to the polls on the 5th May."
Mr Lyon also commented on on remarks made by Cosla Chief Pat Watters, saying:
"Liberal Democrats are the only party in this election who are standing up for local communities. Our plans will keep the services that really matter to communities local.
“It is true that Labour’s mismanagement of the economy will force the next Scottish Government to make some tough choices.
“But this does not mean that local services will need to go on crash diet. Liberal Democrats have come forward with practical and costed solutions for Scotland, including £1.5bn of additional investment from the reform of Scottish Water that will help create jobs.”
Want to discuss other issues? Join the debate on our new Scottish Voices forum
Elswhere in their campaign The Liberal Democrats launched their Science Nation Action Plan at the Edinburgh International Science Festival, pledging to make Scotland a science nation, the world leader in science and research. Commenting, Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott said: “The Liberal Democrats have the best plans to boost Scotland’s reputation in science and research. We compete at the highest levels, but we want to go even further. “We will create a £250m Science Nation Fund to create jobs in science and maintain the international competitiveness of our university based research and science. "Life sciences alone contribute £3bn to the Scottish economy. We will create a Minister for Science, Innovation and the Digital Economy to drive through our plans in science and research. “We want Scotland’s research to help Scotland’s services. We will foster links between the Scottish life sciences industries and NHS Scotland to ensure that there are appropriate opportunities for the development and introduction of new products in Scotland.Related posts: