REGARDING security considerations in the Brexit debate. I am writing to the Oxford Mail, as a concerned reader of your newspaper, about the upcoming Brexit debate and subsequent referendum.

Many of the arguments being advanced for and against Brexit from the EU now seem to centre around national security considerations which will come as a bit of a revelation for many readers. Most of us thought that economic considerations were paramount here.

The Prime Minister is saying that, should the UK leave the EU, the French will pull out of the 2003 Le Touquet treaty between the UK and France which allows Britain to conduct border controls on French soil, principally around French ports.

An unwelcome consequence of this, he asserts, is that many of the migrant camps now in northern France will be relocated to southern England, ie, right on our doorstep. As a result we would be on the receiving end of waves of asylum seekers who would make their way to these camps for visa processing prior to settling in the UK. This contrasts with the present arrangements where they are being held in France. A former head of the Border Agency says the number of asylum seekers would rise from 30,000 to 50,000 if we left the EU.

The French government have denied that they would pull out of the Le Touquet Treaty but many of their politicians in and around Calais are now promoting this should the UK leave the EU.

Another consideration outlined by the Prime Minister is that the British Government would be denied vital intelligence from other EU governments on the movements of criminals and terrorists around Europe.

Most of us would find these outcomes to be a highly unwelcome consequence of leaving the EU and should make us pause for thought when we come to vote in the upcoming referendum on the Brexit question.

NIGEL BRIDLE
Park Close
Middleton Stoney