UK ministers under fire over 'threat' to EU on security
UK ministers were forced on the defensive over claims that Prime Minister Theresa May had "threatened" to withdraw security co-operation from the EU if no Brexit deal was agreed by 2019.
In her six page letter to EU President Donald Tusk triggering the start of Brexit talks on Wednesday, May appeared to warn the EU against playing hardball over talks by pairing economic talks with those on security matters.
“If, however, we leave the European Union without an agreement, the default position is that we would have to trade on World Trade Organisation terms. In security terms, a failure to reach agreement would mean our cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened,” she wrote.
"Europe's security is more fragile today than at any time since the end of the Cold War. Weakening our co-operation for the prosperity and protection of our citizens would be a costly mistake."
Amid fury from Brussels at what some saw as a tactless attempt at blackmail, Brexit Secretary David Davis and Home Secretary Amber Rudd both tried to suggest there was no motive in linking the two items.
“We have got to negotiate a replacement for that piece of the treaty, and that is what we are setting up to do. We have to do a negotiation, otherwise it won’t be there,” Davis told UK television on Thursday.
In a separate radio interview Davis said: “What the prime minister was saying was that if we have no deal, and we want a deal, it’s bad for both of us. If we don’t have a deal, what we are going to lose is the current arrangement on justice and home affairs.”
On Wednesday night Rudd denied the allegation of a threat, but did state that security information would be withheld.
“If you look at something like Europol, we are the largest contributor to Europol. So if we left Europol, then we would take our information – this is in the legislation – with us. The fact is, the European partners want us to keep our information there, because we keep other European countries safe as well,” she told British television.
The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, said he would not accept security being used as a bargaining chip for a trade deal.
When asked if he thought the EU was being blackmailed by May he said: “I tried to be a gentleman towards a lady, so I didn’t even use or think about the use of the word blackmail.”
“I think the security of our citizens is far too important to start a trade-off of one and the other. Both are absolutely necessary in the future partnership without bargaining this one against the other.”
Gianni Pittella, the leader of the Socialist bloc in the European parliament called the demand "outrageous".
"This has not been a good start by Theresa May. It feels like blackmail, but security is a good for all our citizens and not a bargaining chip. We still hope that Theresa May can get back on the right track … This was not a smart move.”