Will Kerr, deputy chief constable, told MSPs there was little recognition of Scotland’s distinct legal position

Police Scotland has been denied access to sensitive plans to handle civil disruption after Brexit, a senior officer said as he accused UK ministers of stoking tensions with irresponsible language.

The force has only seen arrangements that are heavily focused on the south of England, with little recognition of Scotland’s distinct constitutional and legal position, according to Will Kerr, deputy chief constable for local policing.

“We have, frankly, at times struggled to access some of the more sensitive elements, or layers, of those planning assumptions,” he told the Holyrood justice committee.

“Some of those planning assumptions have tended, at times, to be quite London or south of England-centric, and we’ve been constantly reinforcing the different legal and constitutional arrangements in Scotland.”

Rhetoric in Westminster is