May’s Brexit deal ‘a national security threat’

Two Brexit-supporting former British defence chiefs have said that Prime Minister Theresa May’s European Union withdrawal agreement will threaten national security if it is passed by legislators next week.

May’s spokesperson said the comments by former secret intelligence service chief Richard Dearlove and former chief of defence staff Charles Guthrie were “completely wrong”.

In a letter to chairs of May’s Conservative Party local associations, Dearlove and Guthrie warned that her Brexit agreement would “threaten the national security of the country in fundamental ways”.

“Buried in the agreement is the offer of a ‘new, deep and special relationship’ with the EU in defence, security and intelligence which cuts across the three fundamentals of our national security policy,” said the letter, which Sky News published on its website.

Both Dearlove and Guthrie supported Brexit ahead of the 2016 referendum in which Britain voted to leave, arguing that quitting the EU would be better for Britain’s defence and security.

“Please ensure that your MP votes against this bad agreement and supports a sovereign Brexit on WTO rules,” the letter said. Asked about the letter’s claim, May’s spokesperson said: “Nothing in the Withdrawal Agreement or Political Declaration cuts across Nato, our defence and intelligence relationship with the US or the five-eyes alliance [with Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States].

“Our deal delivers the broadest security agreement the EU has with any of its partners.”

In November, Britain’s security minister Ben Wallace said leaving the EU without a deal would jeopardise co-operation with the bloc and affect the ability to keep the public safe. –