Yvette Cooper has given Home Office officials a furious dressing down after they failed to answer questions about the risks a no-deal Brexit would pose to UK security.
A stark report published by the National Audit Office last week warned that failure by the government to prepare for the UK crashing out of the EU could leave the country’s borders vulnerable to criminal gangs.
But when quizzed by the Home Affairs select committee on Tuesday about Brexit preparations, immigration minister Shona Dunn and Border Force director general Paul Lincoln were unable to outline the impact a no-deal Brexit would have on border security.
While Lincoln said he would have to return to the committee with more details when asked whether the UK would lose out on significant security information, Dunn said the precise consequences could only be known “if we find ourselves in that position”.
“You’ve only got five months left,” an incredulous Cooper - who chairs the committee - exclaimed.
“If there is no deal, surely you will have done… I mean surely this is one of the top priorities, to do a security assessment of what the consequences are of no deal at the border?”
“How are you going to reassure the British public the borders have not become less secure as a result of no deal?” the Labour MP asked, saying it was “really hard” to have confidence in the border officials’ contingency planning.
Asked by a clearly frustrated Cooper to give a “yes or no” response to whether the government would have less information about people trying to enter the country in the case of no deal Brexit, Dunn said: “I think that depends on the circumstances we have at the time.”
“I just think you’re not being straight with us,” Cooper accused. “And I really think at this stage in the process, when Parliament is going to have to make some decisions about whether or not there is no deal or not, you really have an obligation to be straight with us about what the security issues are.”