UK won’t pay EU bill without a Brexit deal

BRITAIN will not pay its “divorce” bill in the event of a no-deal Brexit, Dominic Raab will say today, as he steps up the pressure on Brussels to accept the Government’s Chequers proposal.

The Brexit Secretary, who will hold talks with Michel Barnier tomorrow, will tell him: “There is no deal without the whole deal.”

Theresa May told MPS yesterday that while Britain had agreed to pay a £39bn Brexit bill, “without a deal the position changes”.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph,

Mr Raab dismisses “scaremongering nonsense” about Britain running out of food or medicine in the event of no deal.

The stance taken by Mr Raab and Mrs May is in marked contrast to her previous insistence that the UK would “honour our commitments” and that “no other EU country needs fear that they will have to receive less or pay in more” as a result of Brexit.

The toughening of the Government’s rhetoric appeared to be aimed at Tory Eurosceptics plotting to oust Mrs May if she does not drop her Chequers plan.

Members of the European Research Group (ERG) of Leave-supporting Tory MPS have held talks about triggering a no-confidence vote in the PM, saying no deal would be preferable to Chequers.

Jacob Rees-mogg, the leader of the ERG, insisted Mrs May retained his support, while Iain Duncan Smith, another senior Brexiteer, promised to “stamp” on any attempt to oust the PM.

However, some members of the ERG are determined to replace Mrs May with a Brexiteer such as Boris Johnson.

Mr Raab is in Brussels tomorrow for fresh talks with Mr Barnier, the EU’S chief Brexit negotiator, after attending a Cabinet meeting where ministers will discuss no-deal contingency planning.

He has put Mr Barnier on notice that Britain will not compromise further, writing in The Telegraph that the country wants a good deal, but “it will require our EU friends to match the ambition and pragmatism we have demonstrated. If that doesn’t happen, the UK will manage the challenges of no-deal – so we make a success of Brexit”.

He adds that if there is no deal “the Government would not pay the terms of the financial settlement. There’s no deal without the whole deal”.

He says that while trading with the EU on World Trade Organisation terms would be “inferior” to putting a trade deal in place, “we shouldn’t give succour to those scaremongering for political ends”. He says Britain will not run out of food or medicines if there is no deal, and there would be some positives as the UK could strike global trade deals and would take back control of its laws and immigration policy.

Whitehall sources said last night that while Britain would be obliged to pay part of the Brexit bill for commitments the UK had made, the final bill would be less than £20bn under no deal.

A senior source added: “It would be up to us to decide when to pay, so the EU would have to wait an awful lot longer for their money.”

On Tuesday, Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, said the Brexit bill agreement would fall in the event of no deal and deciding how much Britain was legally obliged to pay could be “a complex and time-consuming process”.

Mr Barnier has suggested it is possible that a Brexit deal could be agreed within six to eight weeks, but Jean-claude Juncker, the EC President, yesterday said Mrs May must make further concessions if she wanted a deal.

The Government will publish its latest no-deal planning papers today, which are expected to warn that mobile roaming and data charges will return for Britons travelling abroad.

Mrs May is expected to tell ministers that if a deal is not agreed by midnovember, work must begin on physical infrastructure for a no-deal Brexit.