Crime Chiefs know better than Boris how important Europe is to Britain’s national security

Labour Crime Chiefs around the country to warn of Brexit security risks, as Home Office reveals “no precedents” for non-EU members being able to cooperate fully in security measures

• Letter from all Labour Police and Crime Commissioners says Brexit would endanger our country and communities, not protect them.
• Police chiefs say “it is the police who see day to day how EU agencies play a crucial role in keeping us safe.”
• “From bringing peace to Europe 70 years ago, to making 21st century Britain more secure from crime and terrorism, staying in the EU means security and stability.”
• Signatories include Vera Baird QC, Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria and Lord Willy Bach, Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire
• Labour questioning of the Home Office revealed this week that withdrawal from the EU would bring security cooperation into question
• Immigration Minister says “there are no precedents for non-Members being able to cooperate fully” with European security measures and confirmed that Brexit would mean loss of Europol membership
 
 Jack Dromey MP, Shadow Police Minister, said:

“Our Police and Crime Commissioners know better than Boris how important Europe is to Britain’s national security.

“Brexit campaigners would have us out on our own, cut off from the cooperation that keeps us safe.

“They have been peddling a myth that turning our backs on our European neighbours would not make Britain less safe. But just this week the Home Office confirmed that not one non-EU member state has full cooperation on EU security measures, and that a vote to leave would be a vote to leave Europol.

“21st century Britain is facing the twin threats of terrorism and organised crime operating across global borders. Labour PCCs are right. International crime requires an international response.”
 
Hugh Orde, Former Northern Ireland chief constable and former ACPO head, said: 

“This response from the Home Office is clear. If we leave we lose direct access to critical intelligence systems, and the power to quickly and effectively deport wanted people to face justice in other EU Countries.”