Claim: EU Security Would Be Diminished Without Access to British Intelligence Reports Post Brexit

LONDON (AP) — A former counterterrorism chief for London’s Metropolitan Police says Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union could compromise the security of other EU members if they do not continue to have full access to British intelligence.

Richard Walton says that Brexit “represents a risk to the safety” of other EU nations as Britain’s membership “is more beneficial to the EU than to the UK in relation to security and counterterrorism.”

Britons voted in a 2016 referendum to leave the 28-member bloc, although the details of that divorce are still to be negotiated.

In a security paper released Monday, Walton says Brexit will have “little if any impact” on Britain’s national security or counterterrorism capabilities.