Britain must pay to stay in crime-fighting agency Europol says David Davis

The UK will strike a new security deal with the European Union after Brexit in which it will pay to maintain its links with the continent's crime-fighting agency.

Brexit secretary David Davis said that at a time of risk to terrorism, Britain needed to secure the legal pact it had with Europe as its membership of Europol threatens to become leverage in Brexit negotiations.

The Telegraph reported how Davis has drawn up plans for a new deal on co-operation with the EU which had threatened to become a bargaining chip for Theresa May on Brexit.

He said: "Effective international cooperation is absolutely crucial for both the UK and the EU if we are to keep our citizens safe and bring criminals to justice.

"We already have a deep level of collaboration with the EU on security matters and it is in both our interests to find ways to maintain it. We approach negotiations on our future special partnership with the EU as an opportunity to build on our existing achievements."

A government partnership paper will outline the terms of a new legal agreement for Britain on criminal justice, intelligence and law enforcement.

Terror attacks in London, Manchester, Brussels and Barcelona have focused the minds of European leaders on continent-wide intelligence sharing, with the European Commission saying that more co-operation among countries could help stop future incidents.

Europol does not arrest anyone or carry out investigations but it does support EU law enforcement colleagues by gathering and analysing information.

It comes amid a squabble within the Conservative Party after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was accused of "back seat driving" for his vision for a "glorious" Brexit in an article for the Telegraph in which he repeated the claim that Brexit would mean £350m a week would be returned to the UK.

The paper reported that Johnson will have a meeting with the prime minister in which he will want her reassurances that she will not agree to make big payments, reportedly as much as £10bn a year, to the EU after Brexit.

Tories fear that Johnson may quit the Cabinet if he is unhappy with the prime minister post-Brexit plans in a move that could "explode the fragile unity of the party" the Telegraph reported.