
Officers considering legal action against Police Scotland over Trump visit plans
Following a meeting on Monday to discuss the operational plans ahead of Trump's visit to Scotland, the Scottish Police Federation, which represents 98% of the country's officers, is seeking legal advice, STV News understands.
The Scottish Police Federation believes the operation breaches legally binding workplace arrangements and the Presidential visit will have a significant impact on officers.
Trump will be at both of his golf courses in Scotland: Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire, between July 25 and 29.
The President will meet with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer while in Aberdeen, while plans are being put in place for the President to meet First Minister John Swinney, according to the Scottish Government.
Police Scotland has been contacted for comment.
Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scotsman
15 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Investors need certainty to build the homes Scotland needs
We must unlock the investment that would deliver new housing, says Colin Brown Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In May 2024, the Scottish Parliament declared a national 'housing emergency' with some councils also declaring a housing emergency in their areas. The announcement of the emergency came two months after the Scottish Government laid the Housing (Scotland) Bill before the Scottish Parliament. The Bill continues to work its way through Holyrood and is expected to come into force later this year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Observers in the world of institutional investment and those working in the sector have been watching the progress of the Bill with interest. Of particular concern to investors are proposals around rent controls. Colin Brown is a Partner at TLT To give one example that has occurred recently – a London-based investment firm, was about to commit many millions of pounds to its first Scottish investment before discovering that a committee considering the Bill had voted to include purpose-built student accommodation as subject to statutory rent controls. All of the financial appraisals the firm had undertaken in making the decision to invest in Scotland were potentially being ripped up by MSPs and they had no power to do anything about this. In this situation, the Scottish Government moved quickly to make clear it would not support rent control for purpose-built student accommodation. Whilst the project is now starting to come out of the ground it remains to be seen whether they consider Scotland a safe haven for future investment. The rental income which institutional investors derive from their investments in bricks and mortar helps to fund many individuals' pensions. The investors need to understand that in exchange for making their money available they will get a return on their investment and this return has generally been left to market forces – the law of supply and demand. The housing emergency should make investment in new build housing in Scotland a win-win. The country gets much-needed new housing to alleviate the emergency, and the investment funds get to deploy their capital to deliver housing and make a return on their investment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In the UK in the first quarter of this year £1.2 billion was invested in private rental accommodation with the potential for £6bn to be invested by the end of the year. 76 per cent of this investment is being directed outside London, with Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds leading the way. Every penny of this investment creates new housing and sustains and creates job opportunities. The fact that Scotland has not been able to open the investment tap when cities in England are seeing private rental accommodation expand, could be seen as a missed opportunity. In launching the latest consultation, the Social Justice Secretary acknowledges that rental properties are a crucial element of the efforts to tackle the housing emergency. Government policy has slowed investment into the sector in recent years and resulted in lower investor confidence in providing much-needed housing. Rent caps and controls are of course not universally despised and a balance must be struck between protecting tenants and unlocking the investment that delivers the new housing. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The latest consultation on exemptions for certain types of properties from rent control closed earlier this month. There will be investors with capital looking for a home waiting to see if the legislative and political environment in Scotland means they should be deploying more of this in Scotland or continuing to explore opportunities which guarantee a better return elsewhere.


Scotsman
15 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Appeal court decision has raised questions over liabilty claims
Andrew Gilmour expects further guidance will follow as cases addressing the issues proceed Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Every day, members of the public enter offices, shops, supermarkets, restaurants and gyms. An issue that has arisen of late is how the Scottish courts deal with accidents caused by the condition of something in such premises that is defective. In the case of McCormack v Fitness Limited, the Sheriff Appeal Court provided guidance on how to analyse and determine whether an occupier of premises containing defective items should be liable for such an accident. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It has long been a feature of Scots Law that in certain circumstances, the maxim res ipsa loquitor could apply to an accident. The claimant should establish that the thing which caused damage was under the defender's management and control, and that the accident was of a type that does not ordinarily occur if proper care is taken. An inference of negligence is then accepted only if the defender can offer no explanation consistent with absence of fault on their part. Andrew Gilmour is a Partner, Horwich Farrelly In McCormack, the claimant was injured by a ragged edge on the outer rim of a weight plate in a gym that cut his hand when he tried to place it onto a shoulder press machine. How the damage to the plate occurred was unknown. At first instance, the court decided that res ipsa loquitor applied to the accident circumstances and found for the injured party. The view taken was that the gym owner could not provide a reasonable explanation for how the accident occurred without negligence. The court held the gym owner had exclusive management of the premises, controlling access by way of membership and subscriptions. The owner employed staff on reception and on the gym floor. Seeking to place a weight plate onto a machine should not ordinarily cause injury to a user. There was no evidence of any inspection of the plate on the morning of the accident and no faults were recorded. However, the appeal court decided the court had erred in focusing over the control exerted over the gym premises, rather than the weight plate itself. The court was bound to consider and decide the question in this way, as if there was no control over the thing that caused the accident, then res ipsa loquitor did not apply and liability would not be established. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The court had regard to the well-established observation that the principle only applied where the incident suggests negligence on someone's part and, because of exclusive management and control in the defenders at the time when the negligence occurred, it can be presumed it was the defenders who were negligent. In this case, the free weights and shoulder press machine were not in the exclusive control of the gym. The gym was open to members of the public who had a membership or subscription to use the premises. Those members had free use of the weight plates during the course of their exercise. Therefore, the appeal court overturned the decision and absolved the gym from any liability, as the exclusive management and control over the weight plate had not been established. The decision raises questions about exclusive management and control of items in premises. Does the presence of members of the public mean that few items in the premises could be under such control? When should a claimant seek to establish a case based on a failure to take reasonable care, rather than risking establishing that res ipsa loquitor applies? A number of cases are addressing this issue and no doubt further guidance will follow.


Scotsman
15 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Apathy and awe from a roadside cafe at Trump's Turnberry during US president visit
The apathy and awe from a roadside cafe during Trump's visit | Katharine Hay The media and security presence dominated a village with little to no sign of support or protest against the Donald Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Tucked in the corner of a cafe just outside Turnberry on the weekend of Donald Trump's visit, a waitress was trying to high-five a customer's dog before giving it a treat. At the next table, a family was tucking into an all day breakfast, washing it down with cans of Irn Bru. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Balkenna Tea Room is an ordinary roadside eatery, with some added character from a wall covered in an array of porcelain teapots of different designs. Balkenna Tearoom became a hub for journalists and Trump entourage over the US president's visit | Katharine Hay The cafe gave a very 'business as usual' vibe despite the furore a mile up the road with unprecedented security level for Mr Trump's visit | Katharine Hay But that changed over the weekend when the spot, popular with locals and motorists travelling up and down the A77, became a pitstop for members of the world's media and Mr Trump's entourage during the US president's private visit to Scotland. The trip has, so far, involved a few rounds of golf at Turnberry's Ailsa course, where Mr Trump was spotted wearing a white USA cap surrounded by family, including his son Donald Trump Jr, waving to journalists and a handful of supporters on Sunday morning. This was followed by an afternoon meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the hotel to discuss trade deals. Getty Images The president is expected to meet prime minister Sir Keir Starmer at the hotel on Monday before meeting First Minister John Swinney in Aberdeen, where he is set to open a second 18-hole golf course at his Menie estate. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Trump's politics and play in the country that was home to his late mother, Mary Anne Trump, from the Isle of Lewis, has drawn an unprecedented level of security to the small south Ayrshire village. With several sniper points, helicopters and drones overhead and bus-loads of police driving in and out of the site as officers swap shifts guarding the site 24/7, the operation is said to be the largest security operation in Scotland since the death of the Queen. Yet the furore at the Turnberry resort under lockdown with a 10ft fence and multiple checkpoints was a far cry from the apathy felt among locals a mile down the road. Apart from the revolving door of reporters and suspected security officers with radios coming in for a bite to eat throughout the day, staff at the roadside cafe said it was just another normal weekend shift. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When asked if the last 48 hours was any different with Turnberry resembling a military training ground rather than a golf course, one of the waitresses shrugged, saying: 'We're always busy. It's just always a busy spot here with or without Trump.' Conversations mostly revolved around complaints on road blockages 'going on for days' and increased police presence in the area. The busy cafe, however, did attract the occasional fan of the US president, usually popping in for break from waiting around in the village in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Donald. The giveaway was usually someone wearing a 'Make England Great Again' cap modelled on the MAGA design or something printed with stars and stripes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Kenny Weir said Donald Trump has helped bring money into the area | Katharine Hay Sitting at a table looking out the window at the distant Ailsa Craig, an island off Ayrshire's coast where curling stones used in Olympic competitions come from, businessman and Ayrshire local Kenny Weir spoke about his support for the US president. 'I support Trump and I think John Swinney having been a finance minister should welcome Donald Trump with open arms,' he said. 'I know Trump has his faults but, at the end of the day, he spends a lot of money in Scotland.' Mr Weir, who claimed to have met Mr Trump while on a visit to America and who has built hotels all over the world, said he had eyes on buying Turnberry, but couldn't afford the renovation costs at the time it was up for sale about a decade ago. 'Trump spent hundreds of millions on that place,' he said. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'He has done a lot employing people in the area with the work he's done here. 'And now we have what has to be the best golf course worldwide.' While flicking through pictures of himself with Trump memorabilia on his phone, he said: 'I think about 60 per cent of Scotland are in favour of him, but most are just too scared to show their support. I always say I have the best house in Ayrshire because it's just up the road from Turnberry.' Mr Weir then started to pull a flag with a picture of Mr Trump's face against stars and stripes from his bag before adding: 'I had better not in here actually.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Despite the heavy media and security presence, the village pavements lay mostly bare when it came to either supporters or protesters over the weekend. There were no signs of pro or anti Trump messages in home windows. Nick, from 'the people's peace core' standing at one of the blocked off roads leading to Turnberry Hotel | Katharine Hay One lone member of a group called 'The People's Peace Core' stood at a checkpoint on a road leading to the Turnberry Hotel in the hope of handing a certificate to the president saying 'to acknowledge your integrity and honourable dealings in promoting the cause of peace, harmony and love around the world.' A handful of demonstrators showed their support for the president on arrival and during a round of golf on Sunday, but, apart from a small protest on Friday, were no signs of the anti-Trump brigade all weekend.