Live: Theresa May confirms Brexit divorce bill will be £35-£39bn, says transition period will be agreed early next year
Theresa May has confirmed the UK will pay the EU somewhere between £35bn and £39bn to leave the bloc – but said that money would be taken “off the table” if a trade deal is not agreed.
The Prime Minister has also said she believes a transition, or implementation period, will be agreed early next year, saying it was “generally expected” on both sides that a deal would be struck by March.
During her first Commons update since being given the thumbs up by Jean-Claude Juncker to reach the second phase of Brexit talks, the Prime Minister said last week’s agreement was “good news” for both Remain and Leave voters.
She said: “I have always been clear that this was never going to be an easy process. It has required give and take for the UK and the EU to move forwards together. And that is what we have done.
“Of course, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. But there is, I believe, a new sense of optimism now in the talks and I fully hope and expect that we will confirm the arrangements I have set out today in the European Council later this week.”
In response to a series of questions from Jeremy Corbyn, May confirmed that the methodology which appeared in the joint report published last Friday meant that the divorce bill would come in somewhere between £35bn and £39bn – significantly lower than the EU had been seeking, albeit higher than some Eurosceptics would have liked.
She rebuffed Corbyn’s claims that she had “scraped through” the first set of negotiations, retorting that Labour’s position on Brexit was so confused Corbyn could not achieve “full alignment” with himself.
Last week’s deal was welcomed by Remainers such as Ken Clarke, Anna Soubry and Tom Tugendhat, although they were not uncritical. Clarke said he had never known a deal like this followed by aides briefing that it is not binding – a reference to the stories from the weekend.
When asked by Tory MP Anna Soubry about the timeline for the next phase of talks, May dodged specifics, but said she would be looking to agree “details of implementation period, details of withdrawal agreement… and also the future relationship that we wil have in trade terms and security terms with the European Union”.
Regarding the Irish border, she told DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds that the agreement signed last week had been “strengthened to make [it] absolutely clear” that there will be no “separation of Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom”. But in response to a question from Leave campaigner Kate Hoey, May reiterated her commitment to leaving the Single Market and customs union.
Asked about what savings she expected Brexit to produce, the previously Remain-supporting PM responded: “Significant savings will be made when the UK leaves the EU and is no longer paying the price of membership… every single year”.
But not everyone was convinced.
Tory MP Philip Davies asked why she was pledging “tens of billions” that’s “not legally” due, while his constituents were suffering “austerity at home”.
And Chuka Umunna, Labour MP and supporter of Open Britain, said her statement “gave us no more clarity about the huge pile of fudge she has brought back from Brussels. Ministers can’t agree if the £40bn Brexit bill is conditional on trade talks or not. There are no solutions on Ireland, just meaningless commitments that may not survive contact with reality.”
More to follow…