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Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Chris McCall

SNP police officer target number 'plucked from thin air' admits former justice secretary

SNP Police Kenny MacAskill Scotland Scottish Labour

A former SNP justice secretary has admitted a key election pledge to increase the number of police officers in Scotland by 1,000 was "plucked from thin air".

Kenny MacAskill was responsible for delivering the policy when the Nationalists took power at Holyrood for the first time in 2007.

The former MSP said there was a recognition at the time that the number of cops needed to rise - but the final figure reached was "arbitrary".

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