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UK 'will be less safe without EU security deal'

Britain's top counter-terrorism officer has warned that the UK will be less safe if it fails to strike a post-Brexit security deal with the EU.

Speaking to the BBC's Newscast podcast, Neil Basu stressed that a deal was ‘incredibly important for the safety and security of our country’, adding that he was hopeful of a better security and law enforcement agreement than the UK currently has.

Talks are ongoing ahead of the 31 December deadline, with any deal between the UK and EU would need to be ratified by parliaments on both sides. On the issue of security, the UK is seeking to maintain the same access to shared databases that it has now, but the EU says that is not on offer to non-members.

Basu told BBC Newscast: "We need to negotiate a security treaty that either retains or improves on the current position that we've got today. It's incredibly important for the safety and security of our country. And I know the government gets that. And I know that that is what it's aiming for."

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