Britain will lose access to key European Union crime-fighting databases threatening to undermine national security and the fight against terrorism, organised crime and illegal immigration in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The government’s official analysis of the security implications of leaving the EU without agreement warns of the risk of “operational disruption and potential security implications”. This morning Ben Wallace, the security minister, said that Britain’s information-sharing process with the EU was “fundamental to how we fight terrorism”. “I’m afraid the alternative to this deal isn’t pretty,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. The Whitehall report provides no details of the potential risk to national security but police leaders have already warned of the dangers involved in being unable to access EU
A no-deal Brexit would result in the UK losing access to the EU's security databases, according to the UK government's own official analysis. Police leaders have already warned that the databases, which contain fingerprints, DNA, vehicle registration details and other information on suspects, form an irreplaceable part of their operations and could endanger national security if lost. Leaving the EU without a deal would also see the UK lose access to the Second Information II system, which allows police forces across Europe to immediately exchange information on wanted or missing persons, dangerous objects such as firearms, and criminal records.