Government ‘has already set aside £27bn to pay Brussels for a three-year transition deal’

MINISTERS plan to hand over £27billion to the EU in exchange for a transition deal, it was reported today.

The huge payout could come on top of the "divorce bill" being demanded by Brussels.

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It was claimed that the Government has already set aside the cash hidden in its financial forecasts.

Theresa May is likely to request a transition deal of up to three years which will ease the impact of Brexit.

It is intended to give businesses time to adjust to life outside the EU while ministers strike trade deals around the world.

But Eurocrats plan to use the transition deal as a chance to squeeze even more money out of Britain.

One EU official : "There is a contribution to make for that single market participation which is independent and on top of any debts from the past."

The EU has already demanded a separate one-off payment of as much as £90billion as a condition of striking a trade deal.

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The extra transition payment would give Britain access to the single market for a limited period after Brexit.

Brussels leaders face a €30billion (£27billion) shortfall in the EU budget from 2019 because Britain will no longer be contributing.

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Official figures show that ministers can afford to spend exactly that amount of money without adding to the national debt.

Former deputy PM Nick Clegg claimed the Government has deliberately set aside the money to pay for a transition.

And he called on Mrs May to come clean about the payment when she makes a major speech in Florence next week.