Theresa May holding a cabinet meeting at Chequers in August last year. Since losing the Tory majority in the election her team has continued largely unchanged but several ministers may now be at risk

Britain will offer to keep paying more than £1 billion a year to the EU after Brexit to continue to participate in its science and research programmes.

The proposals are expected to be published on Wednesday, and follow David Davis’s rejection of claims that the UK will pay £50 billion as a so-called divorce bill upon leaving the EU. He accused Brussels of taking a “silly” approach to negotiations.

In the latest in a series of position papers the Brexit department will set out its proposals and name the agencies in which it wants to keep participating. They include Horizon 2020, the EU’s €8.5 billion (£7.8 billion) science and research fund. The UK would probably have to contribute at least €1.3 billion, the average amount