Will border safety be at risk if the UK loses access to a vital EU database of wanted persons and police alerts?

Parliamentary Committees heard last week that instantaneous border security checks via the vital Schengen Information System (SIS II) database are likely to cease from 1 January. Evidence given to Parliamentary committees reveals a lack of preparedness and no alternative system on the same scale. Is losing access inevitable or is it a political decision?

Read more: UK border safety alert - mind the capability gap

Theresa May's exclamation of 'what?' as Michael Gove effectively dismissed the idea of an EU security co-operation agreement, was a moment of truth.

The former Prime Minister has expressed her concern that the government is ignoring security issues in its hardened drive to leave the EU without any agreement - and indeed, without honouring the Political Declaration that she and her team negotiated. Official communications from the government, fail to mention security, including a letter from

Read more: What? Will UK government ignore security as it walks away from EU?

As talks on a UK-EU post-Brexit trade deal enter their tense final stages, a vital agreement on security co-operation is hanging in the balance. A bespoke proposal has been tabled by the EU. It would facilitate ongoing access to cross-border data that police and intelligence services need. If it cannot be agreed, there are serious risks for law enforcement and individual privacy. A reluctance on the part of the UK government to commit to future support for the European Convention on Human Rights puts it in jeopardy.

The security co-operation agreement is needed so that UK law enforcement

Read more: Britain unplugged: the security risk of no-deal