EU leaders can “go whistle” if they expect the UK to pay a large Brexit divorce bill, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Tuesday (July 11).<br /><br />The EU wants an agreement on how the “Brexit bill” to be reached before launching talks on a free trade agreement. It puts Britain’s financial settlement at tens of billions of euros, in part to cover a share of future EU budget commitments made while the country had no plans to leave the bloc.<br /><br />“The sums that I have seen that they (European Union) propose to demand from this country seem to me to be extortionate and I think ‘go whistle’ is an entirely appropriate expression,” Johnson told MPs.<br /><br />The phrase means to ask for something with little chance of obtaining it.<br /><br />Thorny issue<br /><br />Johnson also said he was confident Britain would eventually secure a “great” deal.<br /><br />But the EU wants an agreement on the so-called Brexit bill before negotiations start on a new free trade agreement.<br /><br />It’s a thorny issue in the divorce talks, and definitely not the only one.<br /><br />Earlier this week, top members of the European Parliament warned they would veto a deal if Britain doesn’t improve its offer regarding the rights of EU citizens remaining in the country.<br /><br />Contingency planning<br /><br />British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she could walk away from the EU without a Brexit agreement if she believed the deal on offer was worse than no deal at all.<br /><br />Johnson said this was unlikely as it was in the interests of both sides to reach an understanding.<br /><br />Asked to spell out what “no deal” would mean, he said: “There is no plan for no deal because we are going to get a great deal.”<br /><br />May’s spokesman contradicted this, saying contingency planning was taking place for “a range of scenarios”.<br />
