-Bargaining on U.K. divorce bill
The U.K.’s divorce bill has seen much speculation last weekend, as the U.K. government avoided making any clear statement regarding the matter. Hard Brexiteers maintain that there is no need to make payments to reach the EU market, however, most people with common sense support ongoing access with no disruptions in return for an EU payout.
According to The Guardian newspaper, in February the Czech Republic joined Germany, Italy and France in insisting that the U.K. must come to an arrangement on the divorce settlement, which is expected to come to about €60 billion (£50 billion), before any substantive negotiations on a future relationship. However, according to sources quoted in the Sunday Telegraph, the U.K. is only ready to pay a divorce bill of up to €40 billion (£36 billion). Following the news, Downing Street dismissed the idea of paying for a Brexit divorce and the leading supporters of the leave campaign said they would not accept handing over such a large sum.
A Downing Street source said the figure, quoted by Brussels sources in the Sunday Telegraph, was “inaccurate speculation”, playing down the idea that such a high bill would be acceptable to the government or Brexit voters, The Guardian reported. While previous statements from U.K Prime Minister Theresa May seem to leave an open door for negotiations on the Brexit divorce bill, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson last month had suggested that European leaders can “go whistle” if they expect Britain to pay a divorce bill for withdrawing from the European Union.
Speaking in the House of Commons, the foreign secretary also told MPs that the government had “no plan for no deal” because of its confidence in securing a strong Brexit settlement with the bloc.
One of the main arguments of the leave campaign was “to stop sending money to the EU”, meaning that the U.K government could stop contributing to the EU budget and that sum could be better used elsewhere if the U.K. leaves the bloc. However, now the foundations of this Brexit argument have almost been destroyed with the divorce bill discussions.
Speaking to The Guardian, the Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said there was “no logic to this figure. Legally we owe nothing,” His colleague Peter Bone said it would be “very strange” for parliament to vote in favor of such large sums.
“One of the prime reasons the U.K. voted to leave the EU was to stop sending them billions of pounds per year, so it would be totally bizarre to give the EU any money, let alone £36 billion, given also that over the years that we have been in the EU or its predecessor we have given them, net, over £200 billion,” he said. “So if there was going to be any transfer of money, then it should be from the EU to the U.K.
The question now for the U.K. is whether it is going to be a messy divorce or if it will be a settled and smooth farewell.