Ulster Unionist Policing spokesperson Ross Hussey MLA has said that the findings by a Westminster committee that the National Crime Agency should assume responsibility from the Metropolitan Police for counter-terrorism, highlights once again the role played by the SDLP and Sinn Fein in ensuring the NCA does not operate to its full extent within Northern Ireland, thereby leaving the Province more vulnerable to serious and organised crime.     

Mr Hussey said:

“The news that the Westminster Home Affairs Select committee has proposed that responsibility for counter-terrorism should move from the Metropolitan Police to the National Crime Agency will be greeted with great interest by all who care about National Security and protecting the public.  

“Whilst the debate in London is focusing on oversight and accountability arrangements, in Northern Ireland we have yet to resolve a much more fundamental problem, namely the fact that the National Crime Agency is unable to operate in the Province in exactly the same manner as the rest of the United Kingdom due to opposition from the SDLP and Sinn Fein.

“The Ulster Unionist Party has consistently warned that the stance taken by the SDLP and Sinn Fein risks leaving Northern Ireland more vulnerable to terrorist attack and organised criminality than the rest of the UK, risks Northern Ireland becoming a weak link which could be exploited by terrorist and criminal groups wishing to operate in Great Britain, and leaves our citizens less protected by the forces of law and order.

“We need a fully operational National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland to tackle serious and organised crime including the exploitation of children, human trafficking, drug smuggling and cyber crime.

“Sinn Fein’s comments in the past week with regard to the arrest of Gerry Adams cast major doubts on how genuine their commitment to law and order really is, but many people will have thought better of the SDLP. Both those parties continued refusal to support the NCA operating fully within Northern Ireland risks an inferior response to crime in Northern Ireland and this is simply not acceptable.”