Boris Johnson: We won't pay Brexit divorce bill before 'substantive' negotiations
BRITAIN will not pay a Brexit divorce bill before "substantive" negotiations with the European Union begin, Boris Johnson has said.
The Foreign Secretary appeared to put himself at loggerheads with the EU, given Brussels' insistence that the UK must "settle the accounts" and at least agree an exit bill of around £50 billion before talks on a new trading relationship can begin.
If you're saying that they want the money before they get any substantive talks then that is obviously not going to happen
Mr Johnson was not clear whether he opposed agreeing a divorce settlement or paying it before trade negotiations, but struck a defiant tone, telling Radio 4's Today programme: "If you're saying that they want the money before they get any substantive talks then that is obviously not going to happen."
Boris Johnson and John Humphrys in HEATED Brexit debate
In a series of breakfast broadcast interviews, the leading Leave campaigner also defended his controversial claim that Britain sends £350 million a week to Brussels that could otherwise be spent on the NHS, and claimed Germany blocked a UK Government request to reach an early agreement on the rights of EU nationals in the UK and British expats in Europe.