Terror expert warns Brexit could be a step back for crimefighting in Britain
David Anderson QC urged PM Theresa May to replicate EU security and intelligence-sharing deals
BREXIT could plunge Britain back into the “dark ages” on crimefighting, the country’s top terror expert warned.
David Anderson QC urged PM Theresa May to replicate security and intelligence-sharing deals we currently have with the EU. But he said the EU will not “prostrate itself” doing any deal.
It came as the European Commission’s Security Commissioner - Sir Julian King - separately said Brexit would make it more difficult to combat IS and people trafficking.
Speaking to MPs yesterday, Mr Anderson said Britain should be able to strike an arrangement to retain links with the EU’s Europol law enforcement agency once we leave.
But he warned the consequences of losing membership of the European Arrest Warrant – which governs extradition across the EU – could be devastating.
He said: “If we didn’t have the European Arrest Warrant then we would be really back in the dark ages in terms of extradition and the nightmares of the Costa del Crime.
“The price of failure is quite high hopefully that will ensure success. But I don’t think it’s an altogether straightforward road.”
Mr Anderson – Britain’s outgoing independent terror watchdog – also warned that despite Britain’s expertise in counter-terrorism the EU wasn’t going to “prostate itself” in the hope of a deal.
The warning came as the European Commission’s own Security Commissioner Sir Julian King said the Government could lose the ability to track “hundreds” of wanted suspects through an EU-wide Schengen alert system.
Speaking yesterday afternoon to MPs he hailed Britain’s “material contribution” to counter terror. But he said there were “legal constraints and some practical constraints” to replicating agreements already in place.
On terrorism, cyber-crime and human trafficking Britain and the EU had a “shared interest in fighting it collectively”. But Sir Julian added: “Just because something is a shared objective doesn’t mean that it’s easy to achieve.”
He said Norway and Iceland had both attempted to strike separate extradition agreements with the whole of the EU. But the deals have yet to be enacted 15 years after the first talks.
However, Tory MP Dominic Raab said Brexit will “boost our security by applying proper border controls, particularly to bar terrorists and dangerous criminals”.