Theresa May shows disbelief at Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit security plan

Former British Prime Minister Theresa May scoffed at the post-Brexit security commitments of her successor, Boris Johnson, by warning of the dangers of a trade no-deal scenario for counter-terrorism attempts.

The former Conservative leader repeatedly said “what?” in disbelief at Conservative Senior Minister Michael Gove’s response to his question on how the UK is expected to increase its security measures when outside the EU.

Gove said there are “many, many areas” in which the UK can cooperate “more effectively” to protect its borders outside the EU “than we could ever within”.

It was in this part of his response that he provoked May’s reaction of disbelief, where she seemed to say “absolute nonsense” at his reply.

Speaking in the Commons, May warned: “The government seems resigned to the prospect of no deal, but one area they shouldn’t resign themselves to to the prospect of no deal is security.”

May said neither Gove nor Johnson had mentioned safety in recent statements.

Addressing Gove in the House of Commons today, he added:

Will my honorable friend confirm to me that if the UK leaves without a deal, our police and law enforcement agencies will no longer have the necessary access to databases, such as the PNR? [passenger name record], to continue to identify and catch potential criminals and terrorists to keep us safe?

Gove said “significant progress” has been made in security cooperation, making three main points, the second of which sparked the May backlash:

It is the case that the EU insists that, before we have access to systems, such as the Schengen Information System, we have to accept the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Communities; we cannot accept that.

“The second thing I would say is that there are many, many areas in which we can cooperate more effectively to safeguard our borders outside the European Union than we ever could within, through a variety of methods and agreements open to us. Open to the Border Force and open to our security and intelligence services, we can enhance the security we provide to the British people.

“The third thing I would say [May] is that I agree with her: when it comes to everything, security and other matters, no deal is better than a bad deal “

“No deal is better than a bad deal” had been one of Theresa May’s mantras during her turbulent tenure as British Prime Minister.

Once used as a threat to force the EU to give in to some of the UK’s demands, May later ended up as a proponent of a draft Brexit deal, containing the controversial ‘endorsement’, which was rejected by the House of Representatives. Common three times.

After Boris Johnson won a majority for the Conservatives in last year’s general election, the bill, with some changes, was passed and ratified by Westminster, allowing Brexit to officially occur on January 31 this year. .

With information from Gráinne Ní Aodha