GCHQ head stresses need for security co-operation after Brexit

Jeremy Fleming, director of the GCHQ, addressed a meeting of NATO officials in Brussels by emphasising the importance of European partnerships and the benefits of collective security. With the UK's future use of EU security measures and tools having come under heightened scrutiny since the nation voted to leave the European Union, as well as the government pursuing a bespoke co-operation deal in negotiations with the EU, Fleming highlighted that the sharing of intelligence data should not be allowed to ‘lag behind the pace of the threat’. Keen to point out the UK’s vital intelligence contribution, Fleming discussed the ‘mechanisms that allow us to share insight and expertise’ in light of increasingly ‘aggressive foreign powers’ and the continual use of online platforms by terrorist cell groups. Fleming said: “We’ve played a critical role in the disruption of terrorist operations in at least four European countries in the past year. Those relationships, and our ability to work together, save lives. That will continue after Brexit, for the benefit of the UK and our partners across Europe.”