Britain will refuse to reveal how much we want to pay for EU divorce bill – as negotiators insist Brussels has ‘overegged’ their demands
BRITAIN will refuse to reveal how much we want to pay for EU divorce bill when David Davis enters a third round of Brexit talks next week - as negotiators insist Brussels has "overegged" their demands.
Both sides are at loggerheads over how much Britain should pay to quit the bloc, which is causing problems in the ongoing negotiations.
Next week the Brexit secretary will refuse to make any concessions on calculating sums,
Four days of talks are set to try and make progress on EU citizens rights, the Northern Irish border, and our divorce bill.
But a person familiar with the talks said Brits wouldn't be talking cash.
They said: "It would be like turning up half your cards."
"In an ideal world they want to salami-slice us, step by step by step," they added. "And on you go, up and up, and there is the bill. That is not going to happen and we are not going to play that game."
Our negotiators are also set to challenge their EU counterparts on the exact payments involved in the bill - which are likely to include budget contributions and pensions for Brussels officials.
"We are in the season of the Great British Bake Off, aren’t we," the source said. "So we will make it clear that they have massively overegged their demands."
Merkel's right-hand man admits Brexit is a danger to the EU but we could thrive like Switzerland
By Allan Hall
ANGELA MERKEL's right-hand man has admitted that Brexit is a danger to the EU - but also said that he thinks we could thrive like Switzerland.
Peter Altmaier, her chief of staff who has been described as "the most powerful man in Berlin", warned of the "severe loss" to the UK in its decision to retreat from the bloc. But he admitted that the EU too will be a loser.
"When we see the preparations for the Brexit talks in Brussels and we see how difficult it is for our friends in the UK to establish their national interest and their national negotiation papers then we can see this will mean a severe loss, not only for the UK but also for the EU,” he said.
The self-confessed Anglophile told a gathering of Nobel laureates in Lindau that there could be success for Britain outside the EU, but we could have to sign up to EU rules.
He said: "Of course there is life outside the European Union, look at Switzerland.
"But in Switzerland for many decades already they are transposing every economically important directive and regulation from Brussels into Swiss legislation in order to be…part of the single market… without any influence on the content of what is adopted in Brussels.”
EU officials say we can't move on to talking about a trade deal until all the other issues have been resolved.
But Mr Davis has repeatedly stressed the need to look at them side by side, so we don't end up having talks twice and wasting time.
And he's vowed that they will not be delayed as time ticks towards March 2019 and our EU exit.
David Davis will insist all cash is off the table until they discuss the “bigger issue” of our future relations, The Sun revealed on Sunday.
The Brexit Secretary will bombard them with a mountain of detailed proposals covering everything from trade to migration.
And he has also recently warned that failing to secure a deal would be disastrous for EU business.
He said European companies sold more to Britain than China, India, Brazil and Russia combined.
In October the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier will sit down with the 27 other EU leaders to decide whether we have made enough progress on talks to start discussing a trade deal.