HUMZA Yousaf has said he will resign as Justice Secretary next year if Scottish police officers fail to be paid.
In a stormy fringe event at the SNP’s annual conference, Calum Steele, the chair of the Scottish Police Federation said Police Scotland was overstretched and would run out of money next year.
He said the force might not be able to pay police wages in February.
Steele said that in order to balance budgets the chief constable would have to cut between 750 and 1000 officers.
“At the current rate the police service is going to run out of money and not be able to pay wages in February.
“We are currently spending less than half the money we need each year to spend on our vehicles.
“You think about the debilitating impact of being a police officer, turning up to work each day and the building around you is crumbling.
“We deserve better than this.”
Yousaf said that was an “outrageous” suggestion.
The minister said that either he or Steele should resign next year, depending on who was right.
He said: “Shall we make a bet?”
Yousaf added: “It simply won’t happen.”
The Justice Secretary said the chief constable would either ask Government for more money or run a deficit, which picked up by the Scottish Government.
Steele warned the SNP against going into an election talking about record numbers.
He added: “People care about policing in their communities.
“Communities are beginning to get scunnered that resources once available are no longer there.”
Steele added: “There are 100 rapes and sexual assaults at any one time for senior investigating officers.”
Yousaf assured Steele he would fight for a share of the budget in Cabinet.
He added: “We will have a challenging conversation over the next few months.
“We are entering a critical phase in policing.
“There is a spending review coming up.
“When the chief constable comes to me and says this is what I need to keep the country safe I will never turn my back on that.”
Police numbers in Scotland are at their highest level since the end of 2017, after the force recruited extra officers to help deal with any trouble around Brexit.
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