The UK's Brexit divorce bill from leaving the EU could rise to £42.5bn, potentially adding billions to payments, the government says.

Treasury minister Simon Clarke said inflation meant the bill could be up to £7.5bn higher than initially estimated.

The UK struck a deal to pay the EU for outstanding spending commitments after leaving the bloc in January 2020.

The Liberal Democrats said the "terrible deal" was costing UK taxpayers billions.

 

Full story

 

 

And that’s just the one of payments to the EU bill that can be paid off.

 

The costs to the economy are a constant, year on year hit.

Sounds like it’s time to tell them “Sorry, that deal’s off.”

 Peanuts compared to the long-term losses from losing the European Union financial services industry. Makes one wonder what the heck they were thinking. 

2 hours ago, Loiner said:

Sounds like it’s time to tell them “Sorry, that deal’s off.”

Well Johnson has been trying to unilaterally renege on the deal he signed.

 

But no, the deals not off, it’s not even done yet.

 

It all comes around again in 2026.

5 hours ago, pegman said:

 what the heck they were thinking. 

Regaining sovereignty of UK?

Why are they still paying money to a club they no longer belong to?

51 minutes ago, wombat said:

Regaining sovereignty of UK?

Why are they still paying money to a club they no longer belong to?

To pay the pensions of the British (ex) employees and members of European Institutions.

 

15 minutes ago, candide said:

To pay the pensions of the British (ex) employees in European Institutions.

Including all those UKIP MEPs like farage and widdecombe who will complain bitterly but still have time to work out how to spend their EU pensions.

6 hours ago, pegman said:

what the heck they were thinking

I thought that was known. Under proposed future EU regulations tax havens and non domiciled status was to be strictly curtailed. Now for the UK that represented a significant issue given those facilities are catered for and preserved wherever possible by the Tories.  So leaving Brexit was the answer, and coupling that with stoking up the false sense of nationalism, which Boris achieved very well, then two birds were killed with one stone and the extremely wealthy are still able to avoid paying their fair share of taxes to the exchequer. Now whether Boris's dream of turning the UK into a tax haven is still an open question perhaps.

6 hours ago, pegman said:

 Peanuts compared to the long-term losses from losing the European Union financial services industry. Makes one wonder what the heck they were thinking. 

They were not thinking they were catering to nationalists and lying through their teeth. If the present has taught us anything that is that BJ probably lied all the time to the public about the deal. How easy it was and how much they would make.

 

He did it all to stay in power have a big deed to remember and cover up the faults UK politicians. Much of what they accused the EU of was just things they agreed too themselves and then blamed the EU when they had to implement the policies they agreed too.

 

Its not unique in the UK seen it happen in the Netherlands too, agreeing to stuff and then when its time to execute blame the EU. Just typicial politicians that don't want to admit they were wrong to agreeing to something or did not understand what they agreed too. Its always easier to shift the blame and make the EU look guilty.

 

Same is happening again BJ agreed to the deal and now is having second thoughts as he cant sell it at home and is playing the victim threatening to break it open.

I vote we keep every penny and say it is reparation for all the migrants the EU has allowed to travel to the UK and their subsequent social services and benefits bill for the years ahead. 

20 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

I vote we keep every penny and say it is reparation for all the migrants the EU has allowed to travel to the UK and their subsequent social services and benefits bill for the years ahead. 

Given the govt's penchant for breaking its word in regards to the "oven ready" Brexit agreement, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they follow your advice.

From the article: 

 

"Mr Clarke's statement says the increase is "primarily due to the most recent valuation of the UK's obligation under Article 142 for EU pensions"

 

UK taxpayers money going into the EU pension trough.   Quite why the people of the UK voted to leave the EU remains one of life's little mysteries.  

7 hours ago, pegman said:

 Peanuts compared to the long-term losses from losing the European Union financial services industry. Makes one wonder what the heck they were thinking. 

They weren't thinking. They did the Thai thing and failed to think it through. It is beyond belief that no-one realised that you could not have a border between the UK and the EU in Ireland without having the hard border that was unacceptable by either side. Just incredible.

Add to that, no-one, no-one at all, knew what the full effects of leaving would entail. It was 'we'll deal with each thing as it comes along'. Kicking everything down the line. Many who voted Leave did so in order that they wouldn't have to suffer EU laws, but ask them what laws had adversely affected them and you'd get no answer.

 

Others declared that now the UK would be free to trade with the rest of the world, even though it was anyway as being a member of the EU didn't prevent that. Instead, the UK voted to remove itself from the world's largest trading bloc, thereby giving a competitive advantage to its competitors in the EU who continued to enjoy the preferential tariffs that the UK does not.

And then there was the small matter of Brits no longer automatically being free to work in any EU country as if it were their own. And it was said at the time of campaigning that EU investment in the UK exceeded the sum that the UK had to pay for EU membership, but that was ignored. Because 'we want our freedom' was the call. Freedom (from vague and unspecified laws), though, has come at a price.

8 hours ago, pegman said:

Makes one wonder what the heck they were thinking.

What gives you the idea they were thinking?

1 hour ago, robblok said:

Much of what they accused the EU of was just things they agreed too themselves and then blamed the EU when they had to implement the policies they agreed too.

The people in the UK never agreed to increase immigration from the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands per year.   Tony Blair was responsible for that and if he had made a manifesto promise to increase immigration so drastically then he would not have been voted into power.   It is not accurate to say the UK people agreed to this, and the first chance the people of the UK were given to correct it (EU referendum) they took it.  

38 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

I vote we keep every penny and say it is reparation for all the migrants the EU has allowed to travel to the UK and their subsequent social services and benefits bill for the years ahead. 

Let's make a deal: If the migrants cost more money than they contribute to the UK economy then the UK should keep the money.

But if the migrants pay more tax than they cost the UK tax payer then the UK should double the payment to the EU.

Now guess who would have to pay?

7 minutes ago, James105 said:

The people in the UK never agreed to increase immigration from the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands per year.   Tony Blair was responsible for that and if he had made a manifesto promise to increase immigration so drastically then he would not have been voted into power.   It is not accurate to say the UK people agreed to this, and the first chance the people of the UK were given to correct it (EU referendum) they took it.  

Was Blair not a PM someone who was voted in. I mean then its your (as in UK) problem not an EU problem. Everything your representatives voted for or agreed for is not something the EU is responsible for but your own people.

 

 

11 minutes ago, robblok said:

Was Blair not a PM someone who was voted in. I mean then its your (as in UK) problem not an EU problem. Everything your representatives voted for or agreed for is not something the EU is responsible for but your own people.

 

 

I never said the EU was to blame for this, I said specifically Tony Blair was to blame.  He never asked the people if they were okay with increasing immigration from ~40,000 per year to ~350,000 per year, nor was this a commitment in a manifesto.  If the people were asked about this in a referendum they would have said a resounding no for all the obvious practical, social and cultural reasons you can imagine.    

 

To put it simply, if the UK hadn't been adding the equivalent of a city the size of Birmingham through inwards migration for over a decade prior to the referendum then the people of the UK would not have voted to leave the EU.

 

Tony Blair does not get enough blame for this in my opinion. 

Sunak could of prevented these extra payments by insuring against them but he did not , so we are now paying more.

Quote

“We send the EU £350 million a week, let’s fund our NHS instead”

????‍♂️

4 hours ago, wombat said:

Regaining sovereignty of UK?

Why are they still paying money to a club they no longer belong to?

How many men pay money as an allowance to their ex-wives for an alliance they have abandoned?

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Let's make a deal: If the migrants cost more money than they contribute to the UK economy then the UK should keep the money.

But if the migrants pay more tax than they cost the UK tax payer then the UK should double the payment to the EU.

Now guess who would have to pay?

Whilst you make a good point that can't be argued i think that many people have failed to realise why Brexit happened.

I live in a city that now that now has a population of 10% polish, creating numerous areas where UK residents feel ostracised, English, has become the second language in the local schools while surgeries  and the like could not cope with the continued influx of this migration. Areas where the birth rate was 4 times that of UK residents

I only had to go to my local pub and listen to my mother to realise the hate/anger at the continuing growth of our migrant status. Also no one could differentiate between migrant and immigrants(which is still a problem)

IMO the actual consequences of leaving the EU was irrelevant for the majority of people.

However we were a ticking time bomb unable to sustain the continuing migration to the UK that was out of control.  

Had it not been for Macron and his continued refusal and influence amongst others to allow us to refrain from the freedom of movement we would still be in the EU and everyone would of been happy

16 minutes ago, Dene16 said:

Whilst you make a good point that can't be argued i think that many people have failed to realise why Brexit happened.

I live in a city that now that now has a population of 10% polish, creating numerous areas where UK residents feel ostracised, English, has become the second language in the local schools while surgeries  and the like could not cope with the continued influx of this migration. Areas where the birth rate was 4 times that of UK residents

I understand that that is a concern. And it should be addressed.

But it seem nobody wants to talk about the real issues. Yes, too many foreigners all together in the same place can be a problem. But talking about how much they cost and they are all bad, etc. is not helpful to solve the situation. But I guess that is exactly the point. Some politicians want something to point at, over years. They don't want to solve the situation. They only want to make people angry and then use that for whatever goals they really have.

And that is obviously not only happening in the UK.

4 hours ago, James105 said:

From the article: 

 

"Mr Clarke's statement says the increase is "primarily due to the most recent valuation of the UK's obligation under Article 142 for EU pensions"

 

UK taxpayers money going into the EU pension trough.   Quite why the people of the UK voted to leave the EU remains one of life's little mysteries.  

It’s money paid into the EU pension scheme for British members of the EU Parliament (Farage is an example) and the staff employed to perform the UK’s share of EU work.

4 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

They weren't thinking. They did the Thai thing and failed to think it through. It is beyond belief that no-one realised that you could not have a border between the UK and the EU in Ireland without having the hard border that was unacceptable by either side. Just incredible.

Although the people concerned were aware of that problem and it was one of the issues that was discussed for four years  between the U.K and the E.U. 

   Four years were spent trying to resolve that issue in negotiations and no solution could be found .

  Its no as though its an issue that suddenly arose and no one had previously considered 

4 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Although the people concerned were aware of that problem and it was one of the issues that was discussed for four years  between the U.K and the E.U. 

   Four years were spent trying to resolve that issue in negotiations and no solution could be found .

  Its no as though its an issue that suddenly arose and no one had previously considered 

No solution could be found because there isn't one, and could never have been one. You either have a border or you don't. There is no in between. As I said, no-ne had any idea of the complexities, and with almost no detail available about the consequences of a split at the time of voting I find it incredible that people voted to leave, changing the very fabric of UK business, on the vaguest of promises.

 

History will draw on it as an example of promises being made on the flimsiest of foundations. The world already has  judged it, as I haven't read of a single country that thought Exit was a sensible and rational course. And all it did among my many European friends and colleagues was to confirm the UK as a nation of inward looking bigots who still imagine that Britain rules the world.

1 minute ago, Bangkok Barry said:

No solution could be found because there isn't one, and could never have been one. You either have a border or you don't. There is no in between. As I said, no-ne had any idea of the complexities, and with almost no detail available about the consequences of a split at the time of voting I find it incredible that people voted to leave, changing the very fabric of UK business, on the vaguest of promises.

 

History will draw on it as an example of promises being made on the flimsiest of foundations. The world already has  judged it, as I haven't read of a single country that thought Exit was a sensible and rational course. And all it did among my many European friends and colleagues was to confirm the UK as a nation of inward looking bigots who still imagine that Britain rules the world.

Yes, many Europeans didn't want the U.K to leave the E.U. , they wanted us to stay and did everything possible to stop us leaving . Some E.U citizens wanted free entry to the U.K and others are concerned about an E.U dominated by Germany and France 

  They thought that playing hard ball with the Irish border and not compromising and coming to an agreement would force the U.K to remain in the E.U.

   The Irish border is a minor issue in comparison to Brexit as a whole 

32 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

And all it did among my many European friends and colleagues was to confirm the UK as a nation of inward looking bigots who still imagine that Britain rules the world.

I suspect (another) one of the reasons people voted to leave is due to the language of people who desperately wanted the UK to remain such as the language used in this lovely little sentence.   I have always been bemused by those who think they can bring others to their way of thinking by calling them bigots or some other derogatory term.   I have yet to see this tactic succeed to persuade anyone to do anything (it seems - not surprisingly - to have the opposite effect), and yet those who consider themselves intellectually superior to those who think differently to them continue to use this strategy.  

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

It’s money paid into the EU pension scheme for British members of the EU Parliament (Farage is an example) and the staff employed to perform the UK’s share of EU work.

Not that many people from the UK actually...

 

https://theconversation.com/how-many-people-work-for-the-eu-59702

 

"A 2013 report by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee noted that UK nationals working for the EU institutions is one source of British influence in the EU. Worryingly for the UK government, the number of British EU staff appears to be on a downward trend. The latest figures from the European Commission show only 3.8% of its staff are British, compared to 17.8% from Belgium, 12.5% from Italy, 10.2% from France and even 4.3% from Romania."