Local London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai AM, is calling on the Government to “urgently get a grip” on security co-operation with the European Union when the Brexit transition period ends on 31st December.
Mr Desai’s call comes as a Plenary Session of the London Assembly on Friday 11th December passed his motion calling on the Home Secretary to reach an agreement on security co-operation with the European Union or ensure other, adequate contingency measures are put in place.
Unless some agreement with the EU is reached before the end of the year, the Metropolitan Police and other forces across the UK will lose access to a range of systems used for security co-operation across the EU, including the European Arrest Warrant, the Schengen Information System and the ECRIS database. If that happens, police in the UK will instead have to fall back on older agreements and procedures such as the 1957 Council of Europe Convention on Extradition, Mr Desai has warned.
Giving evidence to the Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee last month, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Dame Cressida Dick QPM, said of the fall back procedures “they will be slower, they may be more costly and there will be an impact.” Separately, the Chair of the National Police Chiefs Council, Martin Hewitt, has warned MPs that losing access to these systems would have “major operational impact”.
Despite these stark warnings, the Government has still not secured an agreement with the EU and has only three weeks left to do so, whilst claiming there are measures already in place to keep UK citizens safe, leading Mr Desai to bring his motion to the London Assembly and urge the Government to take action.
Local London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai AM, said:
“On the 31st December, the Met will lose access to five major systems used to track down criminals across Europe and keep Londoners safe, including the European Arrest Warrant and the Schengen Information System, unless the Government makes a new agreement with the EU.
“Time isn’t just running out, it’s run out. The Government needs to act right now, but they just don’t seem to be taking Londoners’ safety seriously. Just yesterday, in the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt MP said ‘We have measures in place to ensure that our citizens will be safe’ but this simply isn’t true.
“Unless the Government can urgently get a grip and reach an agreement with the EU, the Met and other forces will lose access to the tools they know and instead be forced to fall back on outdated procedures and agreements, that risk leaving Londoners’ safety in jeopardy.”
Notes to editors
- Details of the systems that will be lost and what arrangements are in place if we are to lose them are detailed in the letters from the NPCC and NCA, links to which can be found below;
- The 11th December Plenary Session of the London Assembly can be watched back here;
- Dame Cressida Dick’s evidence to the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee can be watched back here;
- A letter from the Chair of the National Police Chiefs Council to the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee on future UK-EU security co-operation, dated 11 November 2020, can be found here;
- Letter from the Director General Operations of the National Crime Agency to the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee on future UK-EU security co-operation, dated 5 November 2020, can be found here;
- Unmesh Desai AM is the London Assembly Member for City & East London.