It is fair for PSNI to seek funds but police do have role in border security

The Labour MP and DUP leader did not dispute the right of police leaders to highlight security challenges in the event of Brexit. It was the seemingly constant emphasis of those challenges that concerned them, as opposed to an emphasis that any law breaking in the event of a ‘no deal’ departure from the EU would be vigorously pursued.

The repeated commentary by the PSNI about the difficulties that they will face in the face of a hard Brexit has been seized upon by opponents of leaving the EU, who cite it alongside other gloomy predictions in spheres such as business.

Yesterday Northern Ireland’s chief constable explained that he had told Boris Johnson that it will not be possible to police the Irish border with his current officer levels. It was, he said, an “open conversation, trying to tell him we saw that it was nigh-on impossible to ... police over 300 crossings”.

But he also said that he had been clear with the Northern Ireland Office that “it will not be the role of the PSNI to staff any form of border security”.

It seems that Mr Byrne was saying that they will not carry out customs checks, and clearly they will not. But of course officers are required at times to police aspects of border security. If dissidents, for example, are rushing to cross the border after a terror attack, stopping them is a security operation.

There should be no suggestion that the police enforce customs or regulatory checks or any such thing. But they have a major role to play in a declining security situation.

No one wants such a worsening situation, but nor can any dissident exploitation of political uncertainty be ignored.

Mr Byrne wants more resources, and that is a reasonable request, particularly in event of ‘no deal’.

In that case, with the said extra resources, police will then be able to play their key part in trying to help keep the peace.