Government must compromise with EU if it wants to maintain inter-state security measures, says Nick Clegg

The former Deputy Prime Minister made the comments at the launch of a new research paper into the impact of Brexit on the security services

‘We cannot let political dogma get in the way of public safety,’ the Lib Dem MP says (Getty)

The former Deputy Prime Minister has said the Government must be prepared to compromise with the European Union, if it wants to maintain the inter-state security measures it has access to.

Nick Clegg made the comments at the launch of a new research paper on Wednesday that looked at the impact of Brexit on the security arrangements between the UK and EU.

The paper warned that rejecting the European Court of Justice would almost certainly lose Britain access to the European Arrest Warrant, making it harder to deport foreign criminals.

It also said the security services would no longer be able to mandate other countries to carry out anti-terror surveillance operations and that the courts would not continue to have access to rape and murder convictions in other EU countries.

UK court orders would no longer be able to enforce asset freezing in other parts of the EU, the paper warned.

It added that no country outside the European Economic Area and Schengen had managed to secure a deal keeping these systems.

“Britain’s future security has to be one of the Prime Minister’s top priorities in her Brexit negotiations,” Mr Clegg said.

“Our connections with Europe have strengthened our police and criminal justice systems substantially over recent years. Cross-border crime and terrorism will still need to be tackled after Brexit. We cannot let political dogma get in the way of public safety.

“The Government needs to think about what compromises they are prepared to make in return for an unprecedented deal that allows us to, at the very least, maintain the successful security measures we have in place now.”

Last month the Government confirmed it intended to remain in Europol, the EU’s integrated police and crime agency, at least until Brexit occurred.

The Government said the agency was valuable in tackling cross-border crime.

“The UK is leaving the EU but the reality of cross-border crime remains,” policing minister Brandon Lewis said.