Brexit: Police accuse government of leaving them with ‘no idea’ how to protect UK amid withdrawal agreement chaos

Police have accused the government of leaving them with “no idea” of how they will protect the British public after Brexit, amid “disarray” following the unveiling of the draft withdrawal agreement.

Ministerial resignations sparked fears Sajid Javid would be moved out of his post as home secretary, during crucial contingency planning and financial negotiations.

The draft agreement makes no mention of Europol and says the UK would be locked out of EU tools including the Schengen Information System (SIS II), European Arrest Warrant and European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) when the transition period ends.

The Police Federation, which represents 120,000 rank-and-file officers, said they had "no idea what the policing landscape will look like post 29 March 2019”.

Simon Kempton, the lead for operational policing, added: “If anything, the resignation of ministers and MPs in the last 24 hours make the policing position even more precarious as the government still has to try to get the draft deal through parliament.

“In a nutshell, until we know what we are planning for, we cannot plan for it.”

He said the National Police Coordination Centre was doing its best but did not have the information necessary.

“Crime is no respecter of borders but we are still no closer to understanding what the Brexit process will mean for the current EU data sharing and co-operation tools,” Mr Kempton said.

“The fight against terrorism could also be severely hampered with our ability to map and track terrorist and criminal networks across Europe reduced.

“The safety and security of its citizens is the highest duty of any government, and I ask our own to recognise the difficult situation that the police service are in, by providing the clarity we need to ensure the transition through the Brexit process is as safe and orderly as possible for everybody.”

Challenging the prime minister during a lengthy parliamentary debate on Thursday, the Home Affairs Committee chair Yvette Cooper pointed out that SIS II is used by police more than 500 million times every year.

“Cross-border crime and security threats are at their highest ever level,” the Labour MP said.

“The prime minister knows that these measures save lives, stop criminals and stop terrorists, so how can she of all people say with her head and heart that this public safety downgrade is in the national interest?”

Ms May said the government was working on “swift and effective arrangements” to allow extraditions between the UK and EU that would replace the European Arrest Warrant.

But she admitted that the “instrument used for that will be part of the further negotiations”.

The prime minister said the importance of SIS II and ECRIS was recognised and would be “taken forward with the EU”.

Opposition from both pro- and anti-Brexit MPs makes the deal’s acceptance unlikely, and even if it were to be adopted continued security cooperation is dependent on a separate bespoke treaty being negotiated.

Mark Burns-Williamson, chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said progress on the security treaty “doesn’t seem to be very far on at all”.

“If there is a major cabinet reshuffle that isn’t helpful, given that Mr Javid hasn’t been in the role for very long anyway,” he told The Independent.

“We don’t want a Ministry of Justice scenario where it’s a revolving door at ministerial level because departments have to put things on hold … it is a worry regarding the instability that Brexit may well bring.”

“I think security has gone very much under the radar as a Brexit issue, people have taken for granted some of these hard-won protocols that have been put in place over the years,” Mr Burns-Williamson said, adding that the fall-back options would put additional strain on police and slow down investigations.

Both the home secretary and policing minister have admitted that any replacements for EU systems will be “sub-optimal” and contingency planning for a no-deal scenario on security continues apace.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said its national Brexit unit is continuing work on a reversion to tools including Interpol, bilateral channels and Council of Europe conventions to enable extradition of suspects, trace missing people and share intelligence about crime and terrorism.

“The alternatives we are planning to use, where they exist, are without exception slower, more bureaucratic and ultimately less effective,” chair Sara Thornton warned earlier this year.

“We have agreed a model that minimises the risks and makes best use of already pressured police resources. It does not predict a worst-case scenario but it does prepare for it.”

As well as a loss of intelligence and operational capacity, police are also preparing for potential protests, public disorder and border disruption over Brexit.