Facts

Priti Patel wrote in the Daily Telegraph that, as a consequence of Brexit, the police and security services will have “stronger powers to keep this country safe and protect our homeland security.”

Patel said that Britain would be able to ban foreign criminals who have served more than a year in jail from entering the UK, stop accepting “notoriously insecure national identity cards” and “will be able to crack down on illegal imports of goods”.

She added “We will also crack down on illegal immigration and reform the broken asylum system which only encourages people trafficking into the country through dangerous and illegal routes.”

As a result of Brexit, the UK automatically forfeited its membership of Europol, Eurojust and the European Arrest Warrant and no longer benefits from the same real-time sensitive data-sharing agreements.

Although the deal allows co-operation on security and policing issues, Brussels said the UK will no longer have “direct, real-time access” to sensitive information.

The UK will also lose access to the EU’s Schengen Information System II (SIS II) database of alerts about wanted or missing people and items such as stolen firearms and vehicles.

Priti Patel failed to mention any of this in her Daily Telegraph article.

Verdict

Priti Patel’s Telegraph article made a massive boast that Britain would be safer as a result of Brexit. Her failure to mention a single one of the security downsides arising from Brexit rendered her boast meaningless and empty.