Britain will be magnet for terrorists if we remain in EU, claims minister
Murder, kidnap and gun ownership could increase if UK doesn’t back Brexit says Penny Mordaunt
BRITAIN will become a magnet for terrorists and gangsters if we stay in the EU, a minister warned last night.
Penny Mordaunt said thousands could flood in when Turkey, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia join.
All five have far higher levels of murder, kidnap and gun ownership than Britain.
Four in ten have a weapon in Montenegro and Serbia compared with barely seven in 100 in Britain.
Turkey also has a problem with honour killings and from 2002 to 2009 the number of women murdered grew 1,400 per cent.
Vote Leave claim 5.2million people will move to the UK if the five countries join in 2020.
Under EU law, the UK could not keep the criminals out.
Europe would also have 12.7million more guns.
Armed forces minister Ms Mordaunt said: “These countries have high crime rates, problems with gangs and terror cells, as well as challenging levels of poverty.
“What’s more, we are currently sending them £2billion to speed up the process of them joining the EU. I believe that this is dangerous and it will make us less safe.”
The Remain camp dismissed Ms Mordaunt’s claims as “absurd and untrue”.
Ex-Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind last night said they amounted to a “desperate” bid to escape economic experts’ warnings that leaving would plunge Britain into recession.
He said every EU country, including Britain, has a veto on any new country joining.
He added: “Pulling out of EU co-operation on policing and border control will make our country less safe.”
The referendum is on June 23.
Brown fears Brexit is ‘wrong message’
LEAVING the EU will send the wrong message to the world about Britain, Gordon Brown warned yesterday.
The former PM said that a Brexit win would suggest the UK did not want to co-operate with nearby countries and would question “what kind of world we are going to build for the future”.
He also argued for young people to be heard, fearing they may not vote “unless we challenge them to do so”.
Farage rallies Leave loyalists
BREXIT campaigners are set to bombard BBC chiefs demanding Nigel Farage appears on their showpiece live TV debate.
Leave.EU — separate from the official Vote Leave campaign — will urge its loyalists to lobby Director General Lord Hall.
Ukip’s Nigel Farage last night said it would be “frankly astonishing” if the 6,000-strong audience Wembley debate didn’t include his party on the main stage.