Theresa May and Michel Barnier fooled British public to hide ‘REAL’ £90billion Brexit bill, EU chiefs claim
Negotiators allegedly performed 'maths acrobatics' to produce a total amount that is less than half the true total - so as not to undermine the PM's authority
THERESA MAY and Michel Barnier hoodwinked Britain with financial “acrobatics” to mask a true Brexit bill of £90billion, smug EU chiefs boasted yesterday.
Brexit negotiators allegedly performed “math acrobatics” to keep the public figure as low as possible to help Theresa May stave off a rebellion back home.
UK negotiators were stunned after eurocrats briefed German media that the tab will actually reach £90 billion.
Senior EU officials boasted that they managed to pull the wool over British taxpayers’ eyes with “mathematical acrobatics”.
But British sources told The Sun that the figure of £35billion to 40billion agreed between the two sides before Christmas still stands.
In a piece about EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier for German newspaper Die Welt - titled “smiling, he humiliates the British” - eurocrats gloated: “The EU has won 95 per cent of its financial demands.
“We’re doing everything possible to keep the final bill as low as possible in order not to undermine the authority of British Prime Minister May in her own country.”
The leak is being seen as another example of the Commission’s ‘black ops’ media strategy designed to distract from its own fractious budget debate.
EU states are deeply divided over how to cover the £10billion a year shortfall they face when British contributions end.
In December the UK agreed to honour all its financial commitments to the EU, with total possible liabilities reaching £90 billion.
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However, both sides agreed many of those costs would never fall due with a payout of less than half of that being predicted.
British officials put the tally at £35billion to 40billion, with the EU refusing to either confirm or deny that figure.
An EU official told The Sun that “nothing has changed” since December and that there was a “gross figure and a net figure” for the final bill.