Alan Johnson faces ridicule over claim that EU exit would raise terrorism risk
He urges Tories not to join Labour radicals over Syria Doubts over his 70,000 allies claim before vote today
A FORMER Labour minister was accused of scaremongering last night for claiming that leaving the European Union would make a Paris- style attack in the UK more likely.
Alan Johnson, who is chairman of the Labour In For Britain campaign, warned that ‘cutting ourselves off’ from cross-border efforts to tackle terrorism would make the country less safe.
But John Mills, a Labour millionaire donor who sits on the party’s group campaigning for an exit, accused him of ‘scaremongering’ and said taking back control over policing from Brussels would actually make us safer.
Launching the Labour In For Britain campaign yesterday, Mr Johnson, a former home secretary, said the UK’s security is ‘inextricably’ linked to staying in Europe.
Referring to the Islamic State terror attacks in Paris last month in which 130 people were killed, he told an audience in Birmingham that a Britain that cuts off its ties with Europe would be less safe.
‘The first duty of any government is to keep our country safe and I firmly believe that leaving the EU would fail that test,’ he said.‘ From the European Arrest Warrant to cross-border data sharing on terrorists, the speed of our response is vital.
‘The lesson from Paris is clear: to tackle terrorism we must stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies in Europe. The security of Britain is inextricably linked to staying in Europe.’
Mr Johnson added that Britain was better off in Europe, which brings us jobs, growth and investment. ‘With challenges like the refugee crisis, terrorism and Russian aggression on the EU’s borders, Britain is stronger when working with our allies, committed to peace, democracy and international law,’ he said.
‘When this vote comes, it will be a choice between staying in the European Union or leaving and Labour will defend the rights of working people by campaigning to keep Britain in Europe.’
But his arguments were criticised by party donor Mr Mills, who is part of the opposing Labour Leave campaign.
He said: ‘Politicians have given away vital powers over migration, crime, terrorism, and human rights to the European Union and European Court of Human Rights.
‘It’s safer to take back control than to keep giving away powers to Brussels. The public won’t believe this scaremongering.’
In an article for Mail Online, Mr Johnson warned that leaving the EU ‘would be a grave mistake that would undermine, rather than enhance, our security’. He sin- gled out the deal with France that led to ‘juxtaposed border controls’, which means British border guards are based at French ports. ‘If Britain put two fingers up to the 27 other nations in the EU the first reaction of the French would undoubtedly be to end that arrangement, thereby ending the security barrier that that arrangement offers us,’ he said.
In campaigners say leaving the EU would mean we would have to leave the European Arrest Warrant system, which makes it easier to deport criminals. Outside the EU, we would have to sign individual treaties with member states – a lengthy process.
The lesson from Paris is clear: to tackle terrorism we must stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies in Europe.
Alan Johnson
It’s safer to take back control than to keep giving away powers ... the public won’t believe this scaremongering
John Mills
DAVID Cameron triggered a blazing row with Labour last night by urging wavering Tory MPs not to vote against bombing Syria alongside ‘Jeremy Corbyn and a bunch of terrorist sympathisers’.
The Prime Minister made the controversial remarks amid indications that support for military action is slipping.
Some Tory and Labour MPs voiced significant doubts over a key claim by the Prime Minister that there are 70,000 ‘moderate’ forces on the ground in Syria ready to help.
Westminster’s influential foreign affairs committee also came out against going to war. Downing Street remains confident a sizeable majority of MPs will support taking military action against Islamic State in the crunch Commons vote at 10pm tonight. But in a sign of the increased tension at Westminster, Mr Cameron told a private meeting of Tory MPs they must not sit on their hands or ‘ walk through the division lobbies with Jeremy Corbyn and a bunch of terrorist sympathisers’.
Tory sources said the Prime Minister had not been directly referring to Mr Corbyn as a ‘terrorist sympathiser’. However, the remark drew a furious response from Labour which said it was a ‘ contemptible slur which demeans his office’.
And one of Mr Cameron’s own MPs, John Baron, told the BBC’s Newsnight: ‘I’ve served in the Army and served in Northern Ireland, and I do think we must not resort to such language.’
Tory and Labour sources both PUBLIC support for bombing IS in Syria has plummeted over the last week – but almost half of people still agree with extending British air strikes, a poll has claimed.
Last week 59 per cent of the public supported the bombing campaign, backed by David Cameron, but now only 48 per cent agree with the prime minister.
According to a YouGov poll carried out for the Times, the decline was equal to five million voters turning against bombing. said last night that – after looking a foregone conclusion on Monday night – the result of the vote was tightening. Insiders said this was a direct result of mounting doubts over Mr Cameron’s claim about 70,000 troops. Labour MPs are also being scared away from voting with the Government by an extraordinary ‘bullying’ campaign mounted by party leader Mr Corbyn and his anti-war supporters.
The 70,000 troops claim – which Mr Cameron said was backed by intelligence chiefs – has been compared by critics to Tony Blair’s notorious ‘45 minutes claim’ about Saddam Hussein’s readiness to fire chemical weapons when making the case for the Iraq War.
On another day of drama ahead of the vote:
Mr Corbyn accused shadow cabinet members of being played a central role in helping Mr Blair make the case for the Iraq War – triggering the comparisons with the 45 minutes claim.
Tory MP Julian Lewis, who chairs the defence select committee, told Mr Fallon that ‘not many are moderates from a Western viewpoint’ within the 70,000. Lieutenant Gen- eral Gordon Messenger, deputy chief of the defence staff, said the moderate opposition ‘was not a coherent force’ and could not immediately take territory from IS. But he told MPs: ‘We would be wrong to characterise them as a ragtag army.’
The failure to win the support of the foreign affairs committee is a blow to Mr Cameron. After initially opposing bombing raids, chairman Crispin Blunt last week said he had been won over. But, at a vote yesterday of the full committee, it came out four to three against saying Mr Cameron ‘ has not adequately addressed concerns’.
Ex-head of the Army Lord Dannatt told the BBC: ‘As much as I don’t want to see British, American, French boots on the ground, if we are serious about defeating Islamic State it may have to come to that.’
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