Small boat blow as UK tries to get back intelligence access surrendered during Brexit
The UK has been pushing for access to European intelligence databases, which include asylum data and real-time information about criminal suspects, which officials say would be a game-changer
A desperate bid to get back access to crime and illegal migration databases surrendered during Brexit has been rejected, it is reported.
The Government wants to use the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the EU's fingerprinting system Eurodac again. Officials believe this would be a game-changer in identifying asylum seekers whose claims should be rejected.
It would also give UK police and intelligence services real-time alerts on criminal suspects. But EU negotiators have ruled out giving the UK access, The Times reports. Britain had access to the systems before Brexit, and Mr Starmer says improved intelligence sharing will be crucial in tackling illegal migration.
He has previously complained that Boris Johnson's botched deal affected the UK's ability to lead intelligence operations targeting traffickers. The fingerprint database will tell Home Office decision-makers whether a person has had an asylum application rejected in Europe - making it quicker to remove them.
Mr Starmer will meet fellow leaders from the continent next week at the European Political Community Summit in Albania, where he will make the case for better information sharing. A source told The Times: "This is something that we would see as mutually beneficial but so far there has been no movement. The EU's argument appears to be that it would set a precedent and that third parties can't have access to Schengen databases. But it is frustrating, as it makes co-operation in areas like illegal migration much harder."
The UK is understood to be seeking a "workaround" rather than full access to the SIS system. It had limited access before Brexit as it was not a member of the Schengen zone with free movement between borders.
Last year Mr Starmer complained that the UK's Brexit deal had hampered efforts to tackle people traffickers. He told The Mirror in November: "I do think when it comes to security, we can do better than the deal we've got and that's what we're pursuing. I don't think the deal we got was a particularly good one.
"I don't think we did as well as we should have done when we came to the question of cross border, crime and security, and that's why we want to improve on it."
And he went on: "I'll give you one example - when we were in the EU, we could lead on operations, and at the moment we can't. We're very good in the UK.
"We've got very good intelligence, we've got very good law enforcement. We should actually be really proud of what we're doing in the UK.
"But when UK leads something, in my experience, and I did this for five years, it works well. And I'm very keen to get the UK into a leadership position when it comes to the actual operations, particularly in relation to smuggling and putting people into small boats across the channel."
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