Backlash over reports of £50bn Brexit bill

Theresa May is facing a backlash from Conservative eurosceptics over reports the UK has agreed a Brexit “divorce bill” with the EU of nearly £50 billion in order to clear the deadlock in Brexit talks.

Mrs May denied the reports and insisted that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”. But Tory backbencher Peter Bone warned it would be “betraying the trust of the British people” to hand bil- lions to Brussels rather than spending it on the NHS, social care and defence.

Jacob Rees-mogg said there was “growing concern that Her Majesty’s government seems in these negotiations to be dancing to the tune of the European Commission”.

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage also denounced what he said was a “sellout”, telling the European Parliament that “Christmas has come early”.

But other prominent Brexiteers held back with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson saying: “Now is the moment to get the ship off the rocks.”