THE traditional ‘law and order’ party, the Conservatives, are increasingly putting their own eurosceptic views ahead of national security and law and order. Their stated intention to pull out of EU crime-fighting measures to satisfy their ideological ‘repatriation’ demands is truly astounding.

Leading experts from many different fields have made clear that these are much-needed measures.

Police bodies, too, have protested at the possibility of the UK backing out of this increasingly valuable crime-fighting mechanism. Now a House of Lords committee has published a report, based on a wealth of evidence from police and other law enforcement experts, concluding that an ‘opt-out’ from EU crime-fighting cooperation would seriously prejudice the UK’s national security.

Across Europe, cooperation on crime is essential to tackle serious criminals such as drug smugglers, people traffickers and paedophiles.

Do the Conservatives really want to let these people off the hook?

Yet, despite the wealth of evidence, many Conservatives are still determined to walk away from these vital crime-fighting tools.

The Conservatives cannot be allowed to let gesture politics get in the way of the nation’s security. Liberal Democrats in government will insist that our police are not left out of the loop in fighting major crime.

Edward McMillan-Scott MEP and Rebecca Taylor MEP.