UK accepts it will have to pay Brexit bill

The UK acknowledged for the first time in writing that it will have to pay money to the European Union when it withdraws from the bloc, seeking to damp down a row over the country’s so-called Brexit bill.

“We will work with the EU to determine a fair settlement of the UK’s rights and obligations as a departing member state,” Brexit Secretary David Davis said in a statement to Parliament that referred explicitly to the “financial settlement” with the EU. “The government recognises that the UK has obligations to the EU, and the EU obligations to the UK, that will survive the UK’s withdrawal — and that these need to be resolved.”

Britain’s divorce bill is one of the thorniest issues in the Brexit negotiations, with media speculation putting the fee as high as ^100 billion ($114 billion). Prime Minister Theresa May needs to come to an accommodation with her EU counterparts on the payment, because it’s one of three areas, alongside citizens’ rights and the border with Ireland, where the bloc is demanding “sufficient progress” before talks can move on to trade.

The government’s battles over Brexit are piling up, with opposition parties and the semi-autonomous Scottish and Welsh governments opposing May’s approach and threatening to stymie the passage of her planned legislation to implement the split.