The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
UK ‘divorce bill’ offer may double to £38bn
PM leads talks as Britain tries to come up with deal to get EU to open trade talks
Prime Minister Theresa May and senior Cabinet members have held top-level discussions on Britain’s Brexit plans.
The two-hour gathering of the key Cabinet Exit and Trade (Strategy and Negotiations) sub-committee followed suggestions that Britain was preparing to double its “divorce bill” offer to £38 billion in order to get the European Union to agree to open trade talks next month.
After the meeting, a Downing Street source said: “It remains our position that nothing’s agreed until everything’s agreed in negotiations with the EU. As the Prime Minister said this morning, the UK and the EU should step forward together.”
European Council president Donald Tusk has set a deadline of the start of next month for Britain to make further movement on the divorce bill and the Irish border issue in order for the EU heads of government summit on December 14-15 to allow talks on a future trade relationship to begin.
Number 10 has dismissed as “speculation” reports claiming Mrs May could be prepared to offer a further £20b in payments, which would bring the total sum Britain is prepared to pay to settle its liabilities to around £38bn – well short of the 60bn euro (£53bn) sought by Brussels.
Ahead of the Downing Street gathering, Mrs May insisted the UK “will honour” its commitments with the EU.
The PM said the Government position had been made “very clear” in her speech in Florence in September, adding no other member of the European Union would have to pick up the UK’S tab for the current budget cycle.
Mrs May said: “I set out in my Florence speech that we will honour our commitments.
“I was very clear about that, as I said – for the current budget plan – no other European Union country needs fear that they will have to receive less or pay in more.
“We’ve been very clear that we will honour our commitments.”