France ‘wants to block UK from crime database’

FRANCE is obstructing Britain’s bid to remain in an EU security network that helps members catch foreign criminals.

The UK government wants continued access to a shared database that helped French and Belgian authorities identify the terrorists responsible for the Paris attacks in November 2015.

Ministers have said Britain’s ability to access and share vital

DNA, fingerprint and vehicle data under the so-called Prum convention is ‘clearly in the national interest’.

But France led the resistance against Britain’s efforts to join a ‘Prum 2’ at a recent meeting to discuss security after Brexit. A Government source told The Times: ‘Normally France is quite helpful when it comes to security co-operation but on this they are being awkward.’ The EU is digging in on sticking to rules that limit the sharing of sensitive information with third-party countries.

The Government had been confident that its own strength in law enforcement and intelligence would overcome ‘ideological’ objections to a deal. ÷Britain’s economy will fare better than expected over the next two years, a leading global economic watchdog says.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said it expects the UK economy to grow by 1.4 per cent this year and 1.3 per cent next year, having forecast 1.3 per cent followed by 1.1 per cent in March.

It downgraded forecasts for Germany, France and Italy.