Brexit: Barnier says things will be 'more difficult' for UK

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The Government had agreed to pay Brussels a divorce fee of around £37.1bn during Brexit negations. This would cover infrastructure spending agreed during Britain’s time as an EU member, and pensions for the bloc’s officials.

However Brussels is now claiming the UK owes a whopping £40.8bn, risking another brutal post-Brexit row.

A No10 spokesperson said: “This is just an accounting estimate, and does not reflect the exact amount the UK is expected to pay to the EU this year.

“We will publish detail on payments to and from the EU made under the financial settlement in the EU finances statement later this year.”

Express.co.uk readers responded with anger to the demand, with many insisting Britain should refuse to pay.

One wrote: “We don’t ‘owe’ a penny. We agreed to cover out share of the pre-agreed spending in the existing EU budget, and pension liabilities for British MEPs etc.

“However our £15bn annual contributions between when the bill was agree and the end of 2020 when the EU budget ended should cover off the majority of the bill.

“The only thing left to pay should be the pensions, and we could agree to simplify that by paying them directly.

“Instead the EU are trying to charge us for something we’ve already paid for.”

Another added: “The ‘divorce payment’ is a political exercise rather than an official accounting.

“An accurate accounting of the UK’s responsibilities should also credit the UK for the portion of the EU’s assets that the UK has paid for but will no longer benefit from.

“Despite what the Prime Minister says, the current EU leadership are not “your friends” but adversaries that are hell bent on making an example of the UK to any other member that may be considering leaving the EU.”

A third said: “We should deduct the 40 billion from the assets we have paid for in the EU.”

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Britain is already locked in a dispute with Brussels over trade to Northern Ireland.

Under the terms of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, some customs checks were agreed on trade between the province and Great Britain via the Northern Ireland protocol.

These were introduced to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, which could have endangered the peace process.

However unionists are furious about the new checks, which they claim undermine British sovereignty.

Loyalist rioting across the province in April was attributed, in part, to anger over the protocol.

The UK and EU have agreed a three-month delay to the introduction of new checks on chilled meats.

However this could just postpone the next confrontation with Brussels until the autumn.

Britain formally left the EU in January 2020, after a number of delays caused by parliament.

However until the end of December it remained closely tied to the bloc, during the Brexit transition period.

Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal replaced this relationship, restoring Britain as a fully independent trading nation.
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