The EU’s plan to bill the UK for Brexit is ludicrous

JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER has been at it again. The European Commission chief has been issuing more threats to Britain, claiming that we will face a huge bill for leaving the EU and predicting it will take years for a trade deal between us and the rest of the bloc to be finalised.

His plan to bill us is ludicrous. We are the second largest net contributor to the EU and one of only a handful of nations that put in more than they take out. The idea that we should pay more upon leaving is completely wrong.

If anything, they should be giving us money. Not only has our cash been spent on covering the bloc’s running costs it has also been invested in a huge array of assets.

At the very least the other member states need to buy out our share of the EU’s properties, financial assets and cash reserves.

As for taking years to settle a trade deal, whose fault is that? Brussels has a woeful track record of securing new agreements and only recently its attempt to forge one with the US collapsed.

By contrast Britain has countries lining up to do free trade deals with President Trump at the front of the queue. If Brussels really does take years to reach an agreement with us, it will hurt the rest of the continent far more than it does Britain.