PM told reconsider £39bn EU bill if trade deal is not agreed in 2020

Boris Johnson has been urged by senior Tory MPs to tear up the £39bn divorce bill to the EU if they fail to agree a 2020 trade deal.

David Frost the governments chief Brexit negotiator confirmed that the government will not cave in to demands from Brussels.

MPS are pushing for stronger negotiations and the UK must keep hold of the £39bn divorce bill and put that to deal with coronavirus.

North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen said, “Circumstances have changed. The UK taxpayer now has a major bill to pick up to pay for the coronavirus aftermath.

“We cannot afford to pay huge sums of money to a dysfunctional organisation which we are no longer part of.

“The government needs to look at this again particularly if the EU fails to conclude an acceptable trade deal with us we should be paying nothing.”

There are real concerns that Brussels are deliberately dragging their feet to force to delay the UK from leaving the bloc.

Peter Bone MP said that Brexit talks can easily take place via video link, so there is no need to delay.

He said, “Given that Britain has paid the EU around £210bn already they should be paying us not us them.

“I never agreed that we should pay them £39bn.

“If the EU itself does not act in good faith and agree on a sensible proper free trade deal then we should rethink the money we promised to pay in the Withdrawal Agreement.”

Former cabinet minister David Jones said, “It is good that David Frost has confirmed the transition period will end on 31 December.

“The government has said it will pay what is due, but we should not pay a penny more.

The French President Emmanuel Macron has warned the European Union faces collapse unless Brussels comes to the aid of the economies.

Macron insists Brussels have “no choice” and must set up a rescue fund that enables poorer member states to share their debt with the richer states.

Macron has slammed the EU over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic and said the bloc faces a “moment of truth” to prove and decide whether they are just a single economic market.

The French President told the Financial Times, “If we can’t do this today, I tell you the populists will win today, tomorrow, the day after, in Italy, in Spain, perhaps in France and elsewhere.