UK National Audit Office Warns of Border Security Risk in Case of No Deal Brexit
A no deal Brexit could lead to increased security risks on the UK border as organized criminals and other elements posing a threat could use any weaknesses they saw at that moment, the National Audit Office said in a report issued Wednesday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2018) A no deal Brexit could lead to increased security risks on the UK border as organized criminals and other elements posing a threat could use any weaknesses they saw at that moment, the National Audit Office said in a report issued Wednesday.
"In the event of 'day one of no deal' the government has accepted that the border will be 'less than optimal' ... Government's assumption that the risks will not change materially on day one is reasonable in the short-term but organised criminals and others are likely to be quick to exploit any perceived weaknesses or gaps in the enforcement regime. This, combined with the UK's potential loss of access to EU security, law enforcement and criminal justice tools, could create security weaknesses which the government would need to address urgently," the report read.
According to the paper, government agencies have already begun "civil contingency planning."
The UK National Audit Office's report pointed to risks on non-delivery of the government's no-deal plans for the border.
"Infrastructure identified by government departments cannot be built before March 2019 ... The additional resources required to operate the border may not be ready by March 2019," the paper read.
The report indicated that the planning for no deal is better developed than planning for a deal due to the uncertainty over the future EU-UK relationship. Any changes in case of a deal are believed likely to be "less significant than the work required to be ready for a 'no deal'."
"However, introducing new border arrangements as part of a 'deal' could still involve a large amount of work leading up to and beyond the end of the implementation period in December 2020," the report warned.
The United Kingdom will have to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019. Despite the progress already made on the Brexit talks, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland remains a thorny issue. A possibility of no deal has been raised repeatedly, although both sides have stressed that they believe that a Brexit deal is possible.