EU is trying to blackmail UK over divorce bill, claims Fox

LIAM FOX has accused Brussels of “blackmail” by demanding a Brexit bill should be paid before trade talks begin.

Dr Fox, the Trade Secretary, told reporters in Japan that the EU must not be allowed to get away with “blackmailing” the UK over demands for money as a condition of negotiating a future trading relationship.

Ministers are concerned that European negotiators will refuse to draw up plans for how the single market and customs union relationships will work after Brexit, leaving the UK vulnerable to claims of uncertainty in June 2019.

Dr Fox said it was in the interests of both Britain and the EU to begin talks on the final Brexit deal straight away, after

‘We think we should begin discussions on the final settlement because that’s good for business’

a week in which the two sides reached deadlock over the way forward.

But there are now serious questions about whether talks on a trade deal will start in October, as originally planned.

Speaking in Japan at the end of a three-day trade mission, Dr Fox said: “We can’t be blackmailed into paying a price on the first part. We think we should begin discussions on the final settlement because that’s good for business, and it’s good for the prosperity both of the British people and of the rest of the people of the European Union. “

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, had demanded that the EU put “people above process” after a frustrating week was rounded off with an ill-tempered press conference between him and Michel Barnier, the EU chief negotiator.

Mr Davis said: “Our discussions this week have exposed yet again that the UK’S approach is substantially more flexible and pragmatic than that of the EU as it avoids unnecessary disruption for businesses and consumers.

“We urge the EU to be more imaginative and flexible in their approach to withdrawal on this point.”