May refuses to pay billions into EU coffers after UK quits
Johnson urges Premier to follow Thatcher example
THERESA MAY has told Brussels that Britain will not pay billions of pounds into European Union coffers post-Brexit after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged her to channel the spirit of Margaret Thatcher into her negotiations with the other 27 member states.
Speaking at what is thought will be her last pre-Brexit EU summit, the Prime Minister declared: “Let me be very clear there is only ever one Margaret Thatcher.”
She then added: “If it comes to the issue of the comments about paying money into the EU, Boris is clear and I am clear: when people voted on June 23 for us to leave the EU, they voted for us in the future not paying huge sums of money into the EU every year and, of course, when we leave the EU that will be the case.”
Mrs May spoke as speculation is high that – if the Lords back down early next week and accept the Commons will on the Brexit bill – she could trigger Article 50 by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Mr Johnson made his remarks as pressure mounted on the PM over a Brexit “divorce bill”, which, it has been suggested, could total as much as £52 billion.
Enda Kenny, the Irish Taoiseach, indicated he would back demands for Britain to pay for leaving the Brussels bloc.
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Johnson suggested Mrs May should be inspired by Mrs Thatcher’s battle to secure a rebate for the UK in 1984; regarded by Eurosceptics as one of her finest moments.
“We have illustrious precedent in this matter,” Mr Johnson declared. “You can recall the 1984 Fontainebleau summit in which Mrs Thatcher said she wanted her money back and that is exactly what we will get.”
The issue of an exit fee for Britain could be a major stumbling block in the negotiations after Mrs May triggers Article 50, starting the two-year countdown to Brexit.
Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s chief negotiator, has reportedly discussed the fee figure already with European leaders ahead of the crucial talks. He has revealed he has agreed a “common position” on the budget regarding Brexit with Rumen Radev, the Bulgarian President, whose country will hold the rotating EU presidency for the first half of 2018; potentially a crucial period in the negotiations.
Any Brexit fee would cover legally binding budget commitments already made by the UK that will continue after withdrawal as well as pension payments for EU officials.
But Mr Johnson told BBC2’s Brexit: Britain’s Biggest Deal: “It is not reasonable, I don’t think, for the UK having left the EU to continue to make vast budget payments. Everybody understands that and that’s the reality.”
But in a sign of the pressure the PM will face on the issue, Mr Kenny made clear he would back demands for Britain to pay a divorce fee. “When you sign on for a contract you commit yourself to participation and, obviously, the extent of that level of money will be determined,” he argued.
David Davis told the programme he had told Cabinet colleagues to work on “Plan B or C” if the UK failed to secure a favourable deal with Brussels during the negotiations on divorce and a future trade agreement. He said it was “not a catastrophe to contemplate things” but insisted that a trade deal – “Plan A, or some variant of it” – was the most likely outcome of the talks.
Meanwhile, Donald Tusk is to get a second term as European Council president despite weeks of strong opposition from his native Poland.
‘‘ You can recall the 1984 Fontainebleau summit in which Mrs Thatcher said she wanted her money back