LONDON - A former head of British intelligence agency MI6 has warned that Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the European Union threatens British national security by placing control of British security “in foreign hands.”
The letter, written by former MI6 head Sir Richard Dearlove and former defence chief Lord Guthrie, and obtained first by Sky News, claims May’s controversial withdrawal agreement hurts NATO as well as “our close bilateral defence and intelligence relationship with the USA” and urges MPs to vote against the deal.
The first duty of the state, above trade, is the security of its citizens,” the letter says. “The Withdrawal Agreement abrogates this fundamental contract and would place control of aspects of our national security in foreign hands.”
The deal, which is expected to be defeated in Parliament next week when it is voted on, has split May’s Conservative Party and sparked numerous resignations -- with Brexiteers unhappy that it would keep the U.K. in a customs union until a trade deal is forged. The so-called “backstop” to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, has led to fears that it would keep Britain in the E.U. permanently.
Former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said in his resignation letter that it would give the E.U. “a veto over our ability to exit.”
Dearlove and Guthrie say that the deal “threatens to change our national security policy by binding us into new sets of E.U.-controlled relationships.” According to The Daily Telegraph, the letter also says that the deal is “the exact opposition of the people’s instruction to take back control” when Brits voted in 2016 to leave the bloc.  (Fox News)