Government lawyers have refused to enter into negotiations on Mr Shayler's plea to be allowed to return to the UK from France without fear of being arrested for allegedly breaking the Official Secrets Act.

David Shayler: I am not a traitor

Mr Shayler told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme that he was sure an "imaginative solution" could be found.

"I have read recently in the British press about various judges being let off various charges using ancient laws and I am sure it could also be done for me," he said.

The ex-spy is wanted in the UK in relation to allegations he made about the intelligence services.

Ministers have denied his claim that British agents helped organise a failed assassination attempt against the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

On 18 November a Paris court threw out the UK's attempt to have Mr Shayler extradited from France, ruling that the case against him was "politically motivated".

Revelations

Mr Shayler has said he will not make any fresh disclosures about the intelligence services in the hope that a "negotiated settlement" can be reached with the UK Government.

Free: Mr Shayler reunited with his brothers after the court decision

But failure to secure an agreement has reopened the possibility that Mr Shayler could reveal more potentially embarrassing information about MI5.

Mr Shayler said he still had things to say about the security services, but was prepared to let the government vet any manuscript, or to give his evidence to Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee.

"It seems very much to me that they are trying to push me into a corner," he said.

"I would say I don't want to be pushed into that corner.

"As I have said, I am not in the business, at the moment, of making new revelations, so I would ask the government to reconsider their position."

Mr Shayler and his girlfriend Annie Machon, also a former member of the intelligence services are looking for work in France.