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Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 1 July 2026.

Counterterrorism: AI and Facial Recognition

Question

My Lords, while I welcome the Government’s approach to this, with the postponement of the EU-UK summit, which was to discuss security issues, from 22 July to another date, I am all the more concerned that the re-establishment of our links to SIS II, the information system which gives real-time information on movements of terrorists around Europe, will now be put off as well. I wonder whether the Minister will update us on what we are doing to try to get ourselves back into what is undoubtedly the best means of dealing with terrorists.

Answer

The noble Lord knows my clear view on this matter: we have to have a very constructive relationship with Europe; the things that we lost due to the Brexit withdrawal need to be examined

in detail on the criminal justice front; it is in Europe’s and United Kingdom’s interests to have better access and understanding of who goes where, when and why; and it is the objective of the Government to try to help the European Union and to receive benefits. The summit that was planned for July has been postponed for reasons that are self-evident—because of a change of Prime Minister—but the objective of the Government remains the same.

Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
857 c1035 
Session
2026-27
Oral question type
Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Counter-terrorism Biometrics Artificial intelligence
Link
View this Oral question on hansard.parliament.uk