November 16, 2018 3.34 pm This story is over 63 months old

PCC not concerned by latest Brexit deal fallout

He said he’s confident policing won’t be adversely affected

Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner has said the national events around Brexit of the past few days has not yet left him concerned.

Marc Jones said the majority of issues currently surrounding the latest deal proposed by Theresa May – which has sparked a number of high-profile resignations and speculation over a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister – were not in his realm of responsibility or concern.

He said the National Police Chiefs Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners were “directly plugged in” to the Home Office and were working together on what the latest moves meant – deal or no deal.

He said: “I feel very confident that the Government has engaged, understands the issues and ultimately that pragmatic solutions will be found.

“It’s inconceivable to me that either the UK or indeed Europe would benefit from walking away from security arrangements and information sharing around policing and security.

“I’m fairly sure that’s one of the easier elements of Brexit to resolve if I’m being honest because we’re such an important part to global security not just UK or Europe, that they will find a way because they want our information much more than they will want information from most other countries.”

He expressed confidence in Chief Constables on the operational side to be planning nationally for every eventuality and said politically, he and his colleagues were feeding advice to Government and translating the information which came out of the Home Office back to the ground.

“That information flow is very good and there’s certainly nothing I’ve seen or heard in the last few days that looks to be endangering that information flow between the local and the national,” he said.

“At the moment the majority of issues with Brexit fortunately aren’t in my realm of responsibility or concern but obviously we remain engaged in the process.”

Mrs May revealed the draft withdrawal arrangement on Wednesday, however, shortly after saw several resignations, including from her cabinet.

More than 20 MPs have publicly declared they have so far sent letters of No Confidence in the PM – with 48 needed for it to be triggered.