Brexit talks facing further deadlock amid standoff over exit bill
Discussions between the UK and European Union over Brexit are facing further deadlock as the government refuses to agree to an amount to be paid in the so-called ‘Brexit bill’.
Brexit minister David Davis’ negotiating team will, according to a report in The Telegraph, not put a number on how much it is willing to pay the EU as part of any Brexit deal.
EU negotiators have said that there can be no further progress on the UK’s departure from the bloc until a financial settlement is agreed.
Quoting senior Whitehall sources, the newspaper said Theresa May and her cabinet decided to take the stance after it became clear the EU negotiating team will not open talks on trade and other issues despite the PM’s offer to put up €20bn as part of a transitional agreement.
May is due to meet with UK business chiefs on Monday ahead of the start of the next stage of negotiations with the EU.
The stance comes as May faces increased pressure from inside her own cabinet, with several reports of ministers calling for her to resign from her position after a disastrous speech at the Conservative conference earlier this week.
“There won’t be any political movement from the British side on the bill until the EU broadens its package to discuss transition and the future relationship,” the source said.
While there was renewed hope following May’s speech in Florence last month about progress being made in the negotiations, such optimism has been dampened for the reconvening of talks next week between the two sides.
A day earlier, the government's Brexit hopes took a damaging blow as seven major trading nations, led by the US, rejected the current plan for retaining food quota agreements following the UK's separation from the EU.
According to a letter seen by the Politico website, the US, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, New Zealand, Uruguay and Thailand have all rejected the proposed agreement for imports of meat, sugar, and grains.
The rejection is a further setback of the government’s aim of establishing stronger trade networks with former colonies.
The government plan was to divide internationally agreed quotas with the EU, so that the bloc's proportion would be reduced by an amount equal to a new British quota calculated according to historical trade.
However, a letter from the seven exporters to the UK and EU warned they “cannot accept” a simple agreement based on splitting the quotas.