The UK will refuse to pay Brussels the agreed £39 billion Brexit ‘divorce bill’ if the European Union (EU) fails to agree on a trade deal with Britain, the Brexit secretary has threatened.
Dominic Raab also blasted Brussels bosses as “irresponsible” for talking up the prospect of a “no deal” Brexit and said he wanted there to be a formal “conditionality” between settling the divorce bill and striking a post-Brexit deal.
He told the Sunday Telegraph: “Article 50 requires, as we negotiate the withdrawal agreement, that there’s a future framework for our new relationship going forward, so the two are linked.
“You can’t have one side fulfilling its side of the bargain and the other side not, or going slow, or failing to commit on its side.
“So, I think we do need to make sure that there’s some conditionality between the two.”
He added: “Certainly it needs to go into the arrangements we have at international level with our EU partners. We need to make it clear that the two are linked.”
Later on Sunday, speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, he did not deny claims the government’s plans for a “no-deal” Brexit included turning parts of the M26 in Kent into a lorry park.
However, he criticised “selective” reports claiming the government was also planning to stockpile food and medical supplies.
Asked about the EU’s threats that Britons living inside the bloc would not be protected under any specific arrangements in the event of a “no deal” Brexit, Mr Raab replied:
“I think that’s a rather irresponsible thing to be coming from the other side. There is obviously an attempt to try and ramp up the pressure.”
Speaking to The Telegraph, he also admitted he was still trying to secure the backing of some Cabinet ministers for Mrs May’s Brexit strategy, which will keep Britain tied to all EU rules for goods and limit the UK’s control of trade policy.
Leaked minutes revealed over the weekend that House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom secretly “hates” Mrs May’s plan and thinks it betrays the EU referendum result.
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