Police in Scotland should be banned from taking part in Pride marches while on duty following a landmark High Court ruling, rank-and-file officers said last night.
They face being prevented from joining in the parades after the court ruled on Wednesday that one of Britain’s largest forces breached impartiality by marching at an LGBT+ event.
A judicial review was brought by a gender-critical campaigner who argued that Northumbria Police broke the professional oath sworn by police officers to act ‘with impartiality’.
Officers had a stall at last year’s Pride parade in Newcastle, marched under the Progress flag promoting transgender ideology and painted a police van in trans colours, while Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine was pictured at the event.
Last night Police Scotland came under pressure to ban staff participation in the events, as the High Court ruling was heralded as the ‘end of woke policing’.
Scottish Tory community safety spokesman Sharon Dowey said: ‘The public expect the primary role of police officers to be fighting crime and upholding community safety, so this ruling is a potential landmark moment.
Police are facing calls to be banned from attending pride marches over fears they could be breaching impartiality
‘At a time of low officer numbers and savage cuts to the police budgets on the SNP’s watch, attending parades is not what Scots expect to be a priority.
‘It is common sense that public safety should always be the top priority for the force.’
A Pride march is set to take place in Glasgow tomorrow (SAT).
Police Scotland was asked if any officers are likely to participate this year.
In his ruling at the High Court in Leeds, Mr Justice Linden said Northumbria Police might be seen by the public to be ‘taking sides’ in the women’s rights debate.
Linzi Smith, 34, the claimant in the judicial review, has said she will take further legal action against the force if Northumbria goes ahead with plans to allow off-duty officers to wear T-shirts identifying themselves as such at this year’s event.
The force declined to comment on whether it would change its position and said it was working through the judge’s ruling.
Dave Marshall, a former Grampian Police constable, says attending pride marches ‘simply does not square with the concept of an impartial police service’
Last night David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, representing rank-and-file officers, said he backed the court ruling.
He said: ‘The problem is where do you draw the line? If an officer is a member of the Orange Order and wants to take part in an Orange walk while in police uniform, for example, would you allow that – how would that go down?
‘Police have to do their job in an apolitical way – without fear or favour.
‘The lines had become blurred but this judgment clarifies the situation.’
Mr Kennedy said he believed officers in civilian clothes on their time off should be allowed to participate, for example by carrying flags or banners, but they should not wear uniform.
Writing in today’s Mail, Dave Marshall, a former Grampian Police constable and an ex-Chief Superintendent at the College of Policing and the British Transport Police, said: ‘The end of woke policing may be at hand thanks to a landmark High Court judgment which means that police participation in LGBT+ Pride events is unlawful.
‘As a senior police officer, I had been banging that drum for many years.
‘My professional view had always been that taking part in Pride parades – in the same way that participating in any kind of activist cause whether it be animal rights, Scottish Independence, or Black Lives Matters – simply does not square with the concept of an impartial police service.’
In July last year, the Mail revealed that police officers in Scotland were paid to take part in Pride parades despite the force cutting back on fighting crime.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell last year issued a formal apology for ‘recent and historical injustices’ suffered by LGBT people
Uniformed officers were urged to represent the overstretched force at LGBT+ events in exchange for either pay or a day off in lieu.
Around 25 uniformed officers took part in the march through Glasgow, wearing special LGBT rainbow epaulettes, and flanked by a marked car and van draped in Pride flags.
The group, which included some senior officers, would have accrued around £5,000 in wage costs.
At the time of the Pride march in Glasgow last summer, Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton said Pride officers’ participation was ‘considered by line managers to ensure there is no impact on operational policing’.
Last year, Chief Constable Jo Farrell issued a formal apology for ‘recent and historical injustices’ suffered by ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and intersex’ people.
Writing on LinkedIn, former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher said: ‘Diversity is not, nor can it be, an end unto itself.
‘This approach for the last 20 years has created this mess.
‘One of the core purposes of the police is to prevent and detect crime.
‘This is what diversity should be supporting, not replacing, as has sadly been the case in recent years and has led perversely to a breakdown of trust with some communities over perceived favouritism of others, as Wednesday’s judgement indicates.’
It is understood Police Scotland is reviewing the High Court judgment.
