Britain, EU at odds over 100 billion euro Brexit bill

LONDON: Britain won’t pay a 100-billion euro ($109 billion) “divorce bill” to leave the EU, said Brexit Secretary David Davis on Wednesday, as the two sides clashed over the issue.

He told ITV’S Good Morning Britain that the country would pay what was legally due, in line with its rights and obligations, but “not just what the EU wants”. “It’s gone from €50 billion, to €60 billion to €100 billion,” Davis said during the radio interview. “I know that’s not where we’ll end up.”

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said there was no desire to punish Britain but “its accounts must be settled”. Publishing his Brexit mandate, Barnier said the EU would “put all its efforts” into reaching a deal but said negotiations must start as soon as possible after “10 months of uncertainty” and suggested the outcome of June’s general election would not change anything. While approaching the process in a “coolheaded and solution-oriented” manner, Barnier said it was an illusion to think it would be concluded “quickly and painlessly” or that there would be “no material impact” on lives.

On Wednesday, the Financial Times reported that the likely bill, on the basis of its formula, had risen sharply from 60 billion to 100 billion euros. Davis said the negotiations had not started in earnest but he indicated Britain would set down a marker when it came to talks over the divorce settlement. “We are not supplicants,” he said. “This is a negotiation. They lay down what they want and we lay down what we want.”

Various figures ranging from 50 billion to 100 billion euros had been knocking around, Davis said, but he had “not seen” any official numbers.

When asked whether the figure was acceptable, he replied: “We will not be paying €100 billion”. David also told the BBC that the 100 billion euro figure should be viewed “with a pinch of salt” and the negotiations would not “end up there”. He added that it was up to the two sides to agree and he did not want the European Court of Justice to become involved. British Prime Minister Theresa May declared that she would be a difficult woman in the Brexit talks.

The unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile blasted off from a silo at 12:02 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base and delivered a single re-entry vehicle to a target approximately 4,200 miles away at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the Air Force Global Strike Command said.

The test, which took 10 months to plan, was the latest designed to check the readiness and accuracy of a weapon system that forms part of the US nuclear force. The US has about 450 such missiles, each capable of traveling about 8,000 miles.

It was the second such launch in seven days from the Central California coastal base. Last week’s had been delayed from the fall.

Both come at a time when the US has expressed concern about North Korea’s nuclear capability. Fresh missile tests by the North and its progress toward developing a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States have made the isolated communist dictatorship one of America’s top national security concerns.

The US has sent warships to the region to deter North Korea from conducting another nuclear test However, President Donald Trump on Monday said he might be willing to meet with that country’s dictator, Kim Jong Un. “If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him,” he said.