EU Membership Undermines UK Ability to Fight Terrorism - London Mayor

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is hampering the ability of the United Kingdom to fight terrorism.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The membership of the European Union and such EU institutions as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) are hampering the ability of the United Kingdom to fight terrorism, Mayor of London Boris Johnson said Wednesday.

Last month, the mayor said he decided to advocate the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.

“We are thinking today particularly about how to combat terrorism and the threat that poses to to our societies. I have seen various people quoted as saying that remaining in the EU is essential for our security. I think it is important to put a counterveiling point, which is that there are some ways now in which the ECJ is militating against our ability to control our borders in a way in that we would want to do and indeed to maintain proper surveillance,” Johnson told the House of Commons Treasury Committee.

He cited the ECJ's opposition to retaining mobile phone data by governments "which is often very essential for monitoring potential terrorists" as an example of the negative effects on the anti-terrorist efforts.

The UK nationals are set to vote on June 23 in an in/out referendum, after Prime Minister David Cameron and 27 of his European colleagues secured a deal in February to grant the United Kingdom a special status within the bloc.

Cameron, who won the 2015 election on a promise to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership, now leads the "Stay" campaign.