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Access to security databases unlikely, says Raab

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has admitted that the UK is poised to lose the ability to share vital security data if there is a no-deal Brexit.

Although he denied that such an outcome would make Britons ‘less safe, Raab instead choose to focus on the ‘big win’ of the now likely result of negotiations, which he said was control of UK borders, which will ‘mean we are more secure and more safe’.

Until now, ministers have ducked questions about what will happen to security data after a crash-out Brexit, as the talks have largely concentrated on the future trade terms. On the BBC’s Andrew Marr Programme, it was put to Raab that the police have repeatedly warned that losing access to passenger records would ‘have a major impact on counter-terrorism and serious and organised crime’. But he argued it was a ‘finely-balanced call’, because of the wider security benefits of ending the free movement of EU citizens into the UK.

Among the databases the UK could be shut out of are SIS II, recording suspected terrorists and major criminals, live passenger records and DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration details. The UK alone has placed more than four million alerts on SIS II and forces used it a staggering 603 million times last year.

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