Theresa May risks Brexiteers’ wrath with pledge for huge Brussels payout to smooth trade deal
In a bid to prevent delays in negotiations the PM has agreed to 'a fair settlement of the UK’s rights and obligations as a departing member state'
BRITAIN will write a huge cheque to Brussels to clear the path to Brexit under Tory plans.
Brussels chiefs are demanding up to £60bn from Britain to settle all future liabilities before entering into any trade talks.
Officials on both sides fear the stand-off could derail the negotiations completely and see the UK spin out with no deal at all.
In a bid to solve the impasse, the PM included a commitment in her manifesto today to agree “a fair settlement of the UK’s rights and obligations as a departing member state”.
The blueprint also said the move is “in accordance with the law and in the spirit of the UK’s continuing partnership with the EU”.
All the manifesto ruled out any more “vast annual contributions to the European Union” – which also opened the door to smaller ones continuing.
Mrs May’s move risks infuriating hard Brexiteer MPs who don’t want the UK to pay up, but making it a manifesto pledge helps to bind their hands.
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The document also put Britain’s departure from the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union in writing – making it impossible for the Lords to try to block either too.
The manifesto also repeated Mrs May’s tough stance to still walk away if her red lines aren’t met, with the Tory blueprint again declaring: “No deal is better than a bad deal for the UK”.
Mrs May also today pledged to set up a United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund to spend the money coming back from the EU after Brexit on reducing inequalities across the UK – to be spent by each of the four nations individually.
A Swedish MEP today blasted Brussels over its demand for Britain to pay a multi-billion pound Brexit divorce bill, accusing Eurocrats of picking sums “out of the blue” and saying the EU needed a “reality check”.
Peter Lindgren, from the Sweden Democrats party, said Britain should instead be demanding a bill from the EU.
He said: “Everyone who has gone through a divorce knows that if you leave the house you have together, it’s the one who stays in the house that has to buy out the partner.
“Now they are coming up with ridiculous claims, the numbers are picked out from the blue, there is no reality check at all.”
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