The view off Dr David Lowe (lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University's Law School) is that the security of this country - indeed of all countries - is bound up largely in how it can-operate with others. His view is that the UK will always be as safe as it can be, but within the EU the UK is safer.
In the UK the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre brings together expertise from police and other agencies to ensure intelligence is analysed and processed on a shared basis. It is supported by the Joint Intelligence Organisation, which takes the lead on intelligence assessments. Its analysts are seconded from a wide range of departments and disciplines. Finally there is the Joint Intelligence Committee, which sits in the Cabinet Office, reviewing threats and overseeing liaison with foreign intelligence organisations.
Since WW2, there have been multi-lateral agreements between the UK, the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, where the five states share electronic communications interceptions.
How does the UK benefit from remaining in the EU? Groups like Islamic State see most of Europe as an enemy and have decentralised their use of social media to get their message across to a global audience in a variety of languages. In facing an international threat, there needs to be an effective international response. The EU provides this to its members states and to countries around the world through its policing agency, Europol. The current director of Europol is British citizen Rob Wainwright, and a large number of UK police officers are currently seconded to the agency. As a result the UK has played an important role in developing Europol's ability to counter terrorist threats. Since November 2015, French authorities have been looking at emulating the British model. The UK has also been influential in encouraging other member states to adopt 'prevent' strategies.
Post Brexit, the UK will still work alongside European states but will no longer be in the driving seat of agencies like Europol.
Read in full: Leaving the EU has made us all a little less secure by Dr David Lowe, in the New European, issue 4, 29 July-4 Aug 2016 [Available in print only.]
