Three Scottish MP’s have demanded major changes in the honours system, after two hero cops were refused bravery medals.
Wendy Chamberlain Deputy Leader of the Scottish Lib Dems and Angela Crawley and Allan Dorans of the SNP last week wrote to the influential House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Commitee (PACAC) calling for the overhaul.
It follows a U-turn earlier this year by the UK government on plans to give posthumous awards to PC George Taylor and Detective Sergeant Ross Hunt, who both were murdered in the line of duty.
Veterans minister Johnny Mercer told MPs in January he would look at how their bravery - and that of other emergency workers - could finally be recognised.
But in a meeting with Taylor family representative George Barnsley in March, he made a complete U-turn on his earlier pledge.
In their letter to PACAC commitee chair William Wragg MP the three MP’s said there was a lack of transparency in the system of granting honours.
They wrote: ”There is no clarity as to why an award may be made and another ignored.
“There is no mechanism by which decision makers can be held to account.”
The Taylor and Hunt families believe both men are entitled to a variety of honours including the George Medal and Queen’s Commendation for Bravery.
But Mercer told George such medals could not be awarded to PC Taylor because of a five-year time bar - which meant Ross would also miss out.
It was also claimed by the UK Government that no applications were made at the time for bravery medals.
However George uncovered a letter written in 1977 by then Chief Constable Sir Patrick Hamill on PC Taylor’s behalf to then Scottish Secretary Bruce Millan recommending him for an award. But Mercer told him they could find no record of it.
Ms Chamberlain, a former police officer, told the Sunday Mail: “I have written to PACAC in the hope that it will review the current functioning of the honours system because these cases show just how narrowly and arbitrarily the current rules are being applied.
“Bureaucratic oversight is clearly getting in the way of providing a response that is fair, considered and shaped by a sense of justice.
“This award is extremely important to the families who deserve recognition after years of being let down by a system that is restrictive for absolutely no good reason.
“Serving emergency responders also need to know that when they put themselves in harm’s way, their bravery will be recognised and commended.”
Constable George Taylor was murdered in 1976 by Robert Mone and Thomas McCulloch, on the run from the State Hospital in Carstairs after killing two people.
Det Sgt Hunt was stabbed to death in 1983 in nearby Larkhall while trying to arrest a teenager suspected of an earlier knife attack.
The only recognition of George and Ross’s courage is plaques at Hamilton police office, paid for by colleagues.
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