Long goodbye Pay up until 2023, says German EU chief
The European Commission’s budget chief risked further inflaming tensions with Britain’s Brexit negotiators yesterday by declaring that the UK “must continue to make payments to the EU” until 2023, four years after Brexit. John Redwood, the former trade secretary, described the claim by Günther Oettinger, the German budget commissioner, as “completely idiotic”.
BRITAIN now has a one-in-three chance of leaving the European Union without a free trade deal after Brexit talks ended in acrimony, Cabinet sources have told The Sunday Telegraph.
Eurosceptic ministers believe that the chance of a hard Brexit has increased significantly after a bruising round of negotiations last week ended in deadlock, with Brussels publicly ridiculing the UK’s negotiating position.
One Government source said that there was now a one-in-three chance of talks ending without a trade deal amid claims that Whitehall is failing to put sufficient contingency plans in place.
The issue is at the heart of a bitter divide within the Cabinet. Eurosceptic ministers including Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, and Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, have suggested Brexit will still be a success if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
By contrast Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, has warned that failing to secure a post-Brexit trade deal would be a “very, very bad outcome” for the UK, a concern shared by other Cabinet ministers who backed Remain. Theresa May last week confirmed during a visit to Japan that she still believed Britain would be better off leaving without a deal than accepting a bad one. However, Eurosceptics are concerned that the Government’s negotiating stance has softened significantly since she failed to secure a majority after calling a snap election. They want Whitehall to ramp up plans for a nodeal scenario.
One Cabinet source said: “We need to wake up to the fact that leaving the European Union without a deal is a very realistic possibility. We need to make the preparations and be confident about it and show that we are prepared to call their bluff. Theresa must show that she’s prepared to walk the walk.”
Last night there were reports the Government was preparing to pay up to £46billion in a so-called divorce bill but was keeping the details private until after Tory conference over fears it would provoke a backlash from pro-Brexit MPs. The reports follow The Telegraph’s disclosure in early August that officials had drawn up plans to pay up to £36billion. Last night Government sources denied the claims.
Negotiations with Brussels ended in deadlock last week with the EU refusing to accept that trade negotiations can proceed before the UK its divorce bill. In an extraordinary joint press conference Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, publicly criti- cised David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, saying the UK’s position on Brexit is nostalgic and unrealistic. Mr Davis said Mr Barnier “should not confuse a belief in the free market with nostalgia”.
One Cabinet source said: “Michel Barnier was totally over the top, he was acting like a schoolteacher marking our homework. He was deeply patronising. I thought David Davis handled it incredibly well, but it speaks to a deeper problem.
“It’s hard to imagine Barnier being as disrespectful if the Conservatives had secured a significant majority at the election. It feels like their position is hardening, and that the no-deal scenario looks increasingly likely – I’d put it at 70-30. We have to speak with one voice on this.”
It comes amid claims that the Treasury is blocking contingency plans for a no-deal scenario. The claims have been strongly denied by both the Treasury and Downing Street. A Downing Street source said: “We are making sure that departments are prepared for a negotiated settlement and for the unlikely scenario in which no mutually satisfactory agreement can be reached.”