MI5 Intel Full Access to PSNI, Critics Raise Accountability Concerns

0:00It's April 17. You're listening to Europe News Today, AI-powered coverage from across the continent. I'm Cory with the story. A new review confirms, the police service of Northern Ireland has full access to all MI5 intelligence on terrorism threats of their, plus knowledge of, every operation and investigation the spy agency runs. Secretary of State Hillary Ben shared some details from Dr. Johnny Burns report this week, which checks compliance with the 2006 St. St. St. Andrew's agreement on how PSNI and MI5 handle national security together. This comes right after the new IRA tried a proxy bomb at a Lurgen station last month that didn't go off, with the threat level still at substantial. But PSNI's top cop expecting it to ease to moderate soon. Dr. Burns found no independent terrorism probes happening. PSNI manages most covert sources like informers and both sides stress tight teamwork with, Intel flowing through PSNI channels.

1:00Critics like Daniel Holder point to a big accountability gap, since MI5 skips oversight from the policing board and political talk on security stays, quiet, leaving questions on full transparency hanging in the air.