THE European Union sometimes “gets in the way” of intelligence operations, the former head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said yesterday.

General Michael Hayden waded into the ongoing EU referendum security debate stating that the EU was “not a natural contributor to national security” in member states.

He backed former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove’s claim that the cost of a British exit from the EU would be low and could in fact improve security.

“National security remains a national responsibility and so, sadly, the grades you have to give to each [EU member state] for the services are individual and it’s very uneven,” said Gen Hayden before singling out the Belgian security services for particular criticism.

The retired spooks’ comment fly in the face of the insistence by both Home Secretary Theresa May and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon that EU membership contributes to Britain’s security.

They were backed by Sir Jon Day, former head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, who said it was “muddled and wrong” to claim that leaving the EU would improve security.

He said it was “hard to see” how leaving would be viewed “as anything but a retreat from the UK’s traditional place in the world.”