LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will have more money to spend on its health service when it leaves the European Union, even as it continues to make payments to the bloc, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday.

May has pledged to increase funding for the National Health Service by 20 billion pounds by 2023/24, even as some critics said that Britain’s departure from the bloc will weaken, not strengthen, public finances.

“There will be those payments that we’ll be making over a period of time to as part of our withdrawal from the EU but there will still be more money coming back from the EU, and our priority for that is the NHS,” May said in a news conference after outlining the policy in a speech.