Divorce bill a ‘blank cheque’ for Brussels

Theresa May has been accused of handing the EU a “blank cheque”, as a Bill to be published today suggests Brussels will be able to determine how much of the £39billion Brexit divorce bill the UK will pay each year. The Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill, which will enshrine Brexit divorce arrangements and any future deal with Brussels in law, states that “the EU will inform the UK of the required payment amounts during the transition period”.

THERESA MAY has been accused of handing the EU a “blank cheque” after new laws suggested Brussels will be able to determine how much of the £39billion Brexit divorce bill the UK will pay each year.

Ministers will today publish the Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill, which will enshrine in law Brexit divorce arrangements and any future deal with Brussels.

The Daily Telegraph has learned that the document, which is more than 100 pages long, states: “The EU will inform the UK of the required payment amounts during the transition period.” David Jones, a Tory MP and former Brexit minister, said: “It would appear that they are now prepared to write a blank cheque or a series of blank cheques that the EU can continue presenting at their own discretion.

“I don’t think that will find favour with many people, not least a large number of Conservative members of Parliament. The Chequers compromise [the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan] is a dodo; it’s extinct; it can’t fly.”

However, a Government spokesman said: “The process for meeting the financial settlement was agreed in the draft Withdrawal Agreement and includes clear provisions to ensure that the UK pays no more than it owes, including through the UK appointing auditors.”

The Brexit divorce bill is a source of mounting concern among Eurosceptic Tory MPS, who fear that Britain could be forced to pay it even if a trade deal is not signed. The Government said in May that there were no plans for a legally enforceable link between the bill and a future trading relationship.

However, Dominic Raab, the new Brexit Secretary, told The Sunday Telegraph at the weekend: “You can’t have one side fulfilling its side of the bargain and the other side not, or going slow, or failing to commit on its side. So I think we do need to make sure that there’s some conditionality between the two.”

However, there was concern last night that the new paper will fail to make the payment of the bill “conditional” on getting a deal. The Government denied the claim.

Oliver Robbins, the Prime Minister’s chief Brexit negotiator, will today appear before MPS on the exiting the European Union select committee.

Mr Robbins was accused of sidelining David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, after producing the Prime Minister’s Chequers compromise just days before the Cabinet met.

He will face questions over reports that he recently “poached” 50 staff from the Department for Exiting the European Union to work directly for him. “Is Dexeu now a complete irrelevance?” one MP asked.

He will also be asked about a £20,000 bonus he received last year that was signed off by the Prime Minister. It took his total pay package, including pension contributions, to more than £200,000.

It comes amid a tide of anger over Theresa May’s Brexit White Paper, which led to the resignation of two of her most senior Cabinet ministers and saw Conservative support fall away.