EU-UK security treaty set to fail unless May drops opposition to ECJ

The simple fact is that the proposed EU-UK security treaty is likely to fail unless Theresa May drops her opposition to the European Court of Justice.

The government has announced it will seek a new treaty with the EU to preserve vital cooperation against crime and terrorism.

However, access to tools like the European Arrest Warrant, Europol and security databases all require abiding by rulings from the EU Court of Justice, an issue Theresa May has made a red line.

Whilst it's good Ministers have stopped threatening to use our collective security as a Brexit bargaining chip, but this proposal is deeply muddled.

Britain must be part of Europe's top crime-fighting tools like the European Arrest Warrant and shared databases on criminals.

But the Prime Minister's refusal to support any deal where the European Court of Justice retains judicial oversight is damaging our chances of preserving this vital cooperation.

Theresa May must not let her insecurity in the face of Boris Johnson's latest outburst deflect from the pressing need to keep existing EU crime-fighting measures.