Scotland’s papers: Growth plan ditched and ‘terrifying’ police cuts

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Thursday’s Metro leads with “terrifying” cuts to police budgets, after MSPs were told that 4,500 jobs could be at risk in the police service. A senior police officer told a Holyrood committee that community policing, campus officers and even the 101 phone line could be at risk.

The same story makes the front of The Scotsman which reports that Police Scotland could become more reliant on English and Welsh police help if proposed budget cuts go ahead.

The potential loss of 4,500 police officers is the headline in the Scottish Daily Express, which reports deputy chief officer David Page’s comments to the Criminal Justice Committee. He said Police Scotland could be left as a “quasi-paramilitary force” responding only to major incidents.

The Scottish Daily Mail calls it “the death of policing as we know it” while saying the proposed budget cuts are “devastating and terrifying”. It reports police leaders as saying that serious and organised crime groups would be “empowered”.

The i looks to Westminster and new PM Rishi Sunak’s plans to “rip up” his predecessor Liz Truss’s growth plan. The paper quotes a No10 source as saying that their team is trying to “reset and instil discipline”. It says the proposed fiscal update has been delayed to allow more work to be done on on the proposals.

Mr Sunak’s task also makes the lead in the Daily Telegraph, which says the leader is reconsidering tax rises and major public spending cuts following an improvement in the state of the nation’s finances. The paper’s second story reports that King Charles is said to be extending the number Royal Family members who can act as Counsellors of State, rather than replacing the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of York.

“Join the euro or your EU dream dies” says the headline in The Times. The paper claims Nicola Sturgeon’s plans for an independent Scotland to rejoin the EU have been dealt a blow after senior figures in Brussels insisted the country should adopt the euro before membership could be considered.

The National claims Rishi Sunak is spending more than double the national average wage on fees sending his two children to exclusive private schools. The SNP’s education spokesperson at Westminster, Carol Monaghan, tells the paper the PM should send his children to state school to “clearly demonstrate that he has an interest in improving the educational experience and outcomes of all young people in England”. She says he must show he is not an out-of-touch multi-millionaire.

Nurses are resorting to whistleblowing channels to highlight staff shortages in Scotland’s biggest health board, reports The Herald, as it says unions warn the national picture is “critical”. The number of employee complaints investigated by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has doubled this year, figures show. It also reports on a Turkish shipyard becoming the favourite to land a contract for two new island ferries.

The family of road crash victim Chloe Morrison tells the P&J that the lorry driver who caused her death escaping a jail term is a “travesty”. The Highland schoolteacher died three years ago when she was struck by a metal beam protruding from the lorry.

The pastor of a Moray church is the subject of the Daily Record’s headline. The exclusive story claims preacher Donald Clough is being investigated after telling churchgoers that a woman’s place is to serve men.

The Scottish Sun’s lead centres on a crime figure’s building company which was awarded a police contract to board up crime scenes. The paper reports that the man went on to kill an employee, a crime he has now been jailed for.

“The cost of saving Christmas” is the Edinburgh Evening News headline as it sets out the financial losses of the city’s council over the collapse of the annual Christmas markets.

The closure for a year of one of Perth’s busiest roads has traders fearing for their livelihoods, reports The Courier. Business owners tell the paper they will struggle to survive when part of Tay Street is shut for sewage work for about 11 months.

The Glasgow Times speaks to a Glasgow charity which is struggling to cope with its energy bills, which have risen from £9,000 to £62,000 a year.

In a similar vein, the Evening Express hears from entertainment venues trying to get to grips with the cost of living crisis.

Dundee’s Evening Telegraph leads with a tale from the courts and a man who went on a stealing “spree”, taking cars, tools, jewellery, cash and a McDonald’s meal.

And an alarming development from the bird world leads the Daily Star. It claims there has been a rise in so-called “zombie pigeons”. The paper says these creatures cannot fly and instead roam the UK’s streets by walking in circles with their heads to one side.