UK Brexit chief dismisses £50B EU payment reports

london — UK Brexit Secretary David Davis dismissed as “nonsense” published reports that Prime Minister Theresa May is set to approve paying as much as £50 billion ($64.8 billion)to leave the European Union.

May is ready to agree to the total in a bid to kickstart trade talks, but won’t disclose details until after the Conservative Party conference in October, The Sunday Times reported, without citing anyone for the information. Britain would pay up to £17 billion a year to Brussels for three years after Brexit, ending payments ahead of the 2022 general election, the Times added. The newspaper said May’s office “did not recognise” the payment plan.

“There are all sorts of stories flying around,” Davis said on the BBC’s “Andrew Marr Show” on Sunday. “It’s nonsense. The story is completely wrong.”

How much the UK owes the EU in leaving the bloc is among the most difficult issues concerning Brexit, with analysts estimating that the EU will put forward a gross bill of as much as €100 billion ($119 billion). Britain’s government acknowledged in July that it will have to pay, but said it wants to “determine a fair settlement of the UK’s rights and obligations.”

There are all sorts of stories flying around... It’s nonsense. The story is completely wrong David Davis, UK Brexit Secretary

The EU is trying to “play time against money,” Davis said on the BBC, after the bloc’s negotiator, Michel Barnier, last week said the talks still had done nowhere near enough for there to be a prospect of moving on to trade discussions after October. “He wants to put pressure on us which is why the stance this week,” he said. “Bluntly, I think it looked a bit silly.”

In a separate report, The Mail on Sunday said that May has been advised that Britain may have to pay up to £46 billion to break the deadlock in Brexit talks.

“We want to leave in an orderly and smooth manner,” Davis said. “There are issues if you just walk away. We’re aiming for a smooth, sensible, amicable exit, which leaves us and the European Union in a good position.”

The government is also facing challenges to the EU divorce plans at home, with the opposition Labour Party’s Brexit spokesman lobbying for changes in the legislation repealing laws that took Britain into the EU.