Brexit bill BOMBSHELL: Theresa May CAN walk away without paying a penny to EU, experts say
THERESA May can walk away from Brexit talks “without paying a penny” if Brussels tries to punish the UK, a think-tank has said.
By TOM PARFITT & MACER HALL
Express.co.uk
Tue, Jun 27, 2017
The Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) said Britain can and should refuse to pay any Brexit bill if Eurocrats refuse to give her a “good deal”.
European Union officials have claimed the UK’s divorce fee could be as high as £90 billion.
But a discussion paper published by the IEA described the sum put forward by European Commission officials as “going too far”.
The think-tank’s chief economist Julian Jessop today said the “upper limit” for any payment should be £26bn.
He argued that a compromise payment of up to £26billion to cover existing EU budget commitments and other liabilities including staff pensions.
He said there was no reason for the UK to pay more than £21bn for liabilities, and around £5 billion for pensions and other one-off items.
He said: “The Brexit negotiations will need to decide how much the UK will pay the EU to settle financial obligations undertaken while it was a member.
“Many Brits would suggest that the right figure is in the ballpark of ‘zero’.
“However, some EU officials have suggested that the bill should be north of £85billion.
“A compromise towards the lower end of this range might be acceptable – a figure of around £26 billion could be justified using certain principles.
“But if the two sides fail to agree a good deal on the terms of any future relationship, the UK can, and should, walk away without paying a penny.”
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