"No-Deal Brexit Will Be Very Bad For Security Of The UK"
23 January 2019, 07:41
The UK's most senior counter-terrorism police officer is warning a no-deal Brexit would be "very bad" for the security community in the UK.
Neil Basu says it would mean a loss of access to EU data systems, and it would be more difficult to extradite criminals and terror suspects.
He was speaking to Nick Ferrari at the launch of a new cinema advert which encourages the public to report any suspicious activity they see.
He said: "A no-deal Brexit for the security community, certainly for policing would be very bad for the security of this country and very bad for Europe as well.
"What it means is losing a lot of access to some significant data sets, from significant ways of working in terms of sharing information across the border, sharing biometrics, fingerprints and DNA across the border.
"Also, things like the European Arrest Warrant, which allows us to arrest and extradite people, to get people back who we want and prosecute in this country from Europe.
"All of those things will revert back to old-fashioned techniques, which will be very clunky and cumbersome. And the longer it takes to process intelligence, the more risk you sit on."
The Assistant Commissioner also said that the police were on stand-by to deal with civil unrest once Brexit is defined. When Nick asked him if Brexit would be seen as a chance to cause mischief, he responded: "Yes I think it could be.
"There's a great deal of contingency planning from my fellow chief constables around the country."
