Brexit gives us the chance to develop an even stronger and closer global relationship with our partners as well. Brexit creates an opportunity to look beyond our traditional methods and to take a global approach to security. So said the security minister at the Home Office, Brandon Lewis, at an event by the think-tank Policy Exchange, on ‘Security and Crime after Brexit’.
He suggested that the fresh deal secured by Prime Minister Boris Johnson was an ‘opportunity for UK security’. He said that we would ‘pursue an ambitious and close security relationship with the EU’, and that ‘Brexit gives us the chance to develop an even stronger and closer global relationship with our partners’. He said: “Although we are leaving the EU, we are not leaving Europe, and we will continue to work closely with our partners there, focusing our efforts where there is genuine mutual benefit, seeking deeper, more effective relationships.”
In what he called ‘my vision for the future security of the UK’, Lewis spoke of being international (‘terrorists and criminals know no boundaries’), using tech (such as the recently-launched counter-drone strategy), and ‘hitting criminals where it hurts’. He concluded: “Criminals must not be allowed to enjoy the profits from their offending at the expense of law-abiding citizens. They need to be clear that this is a country that they should be fearful of trying to operate in. It is our responsibility to keep the UK safe and to strike fear into those that would do us harm at any level. I take the weight of that responsibility very seriously. We as a government will continue to take it seriously, and we want to make sure that we are ready to deal with those challenges.”
For the speech in full visit the Home Office website.
