Foreign secretary hits out at ‘extortionate’ demands in event of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union

Boris Johnson has suggested European leaders can “go whistle” if they expect Britain to pay a divorce bill for withdrawing from the European Union.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the foreign secretary also told MPs that the government had “no plan for no deal” because of its confidence in securing a strong Brexit settlement with the bloc.

He went on to say the sums demanded by Brussels as a price for a deal were “extortionate” and signalled that the UK would refuse to pay.

Johnson made the defiant remarks at the dispatch box in the House of Commons after Philip Hollobone, a Eurosceptic Tory MP, pressed him to reject requests for a multibillion-pound exit payment.



“Since we joined the common market on 1 January 1973 until the day we leave, we will have given the EU and its predecessors, in today’s money, in real terms, a total of £209bn. Will you make it clear to the EU that if they want a penny piece more then they can go whistle?” Hollobone said.

Johnson replied: “I’m sure that your words will have broken like a thunderclap over Brussels and they will pay attention to what you have said.



“He makes a very valid point and I think that the sums that I have seen that they propose to demand from this country seem to me to be extortionate and I think ‘to go whistle’ is an entirely appropriate expression.”



The foreign secretary, who was one of the leaders of the Vote Leave campaign to exit the EU, struck a similarly bullish tone about the UK’s prospect of getting a deal with the other 27 nations.



“There is no plan for no deal, because we’re going to get a great deal and I would, just for the sake of example and illustration, I would remind the honourable lady that there was a time when Britain was not in what we then called the common market,” he said in response to another question in the House of Commons.



However, Downing Street immediately slapped down Johnson’s claim that there was no work being done on the possibility of no deal, insisting that “contingency planning is taking place for a range of scenarios”.

No 10 sources have also played down suggestions that May intends to walk out of Brexit talks in September to show defiance over EU demands for a divorce bill.



Johnson’s warning to the EU was dismissed by the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who said it was “ridiculous for the foreign secretary to approach important and serious negotiations with that silly, arrogant language that he so often employs”.



“Treat people with respect and there’s a fair chance you will be treated with respect in return. If you start on the basis of those silly remarks, what kind of response does he expect to get?” he said.



Corbyn is due to meet the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, in Brussels on Thursday, to set out his party’s approach to Brexit and hold “exploratory discussions” about the negotiations ahead.



He said Labour would “pay what we are legally required to pay”, but nothing beyond that.



“We have to negotiate intelligently and sensibly, but above all negotiate with respect and expect to be respected in return,” Corbyn said.

The Labour leader is facing calls from some on his own side to put the issue of staying in the EU back on the table.

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the TSSA union, which has helped fund Corbyn’s Labour and Momentum, used an article in LabourList to call for Corbyn to leave open the possibility of staying in the EU.



“Why should we confine ourselves to the second-rate option of EEA or EFTA membership when what we already have is something far better?” Cortes said.



“I can’t see how we win the hearts and minds of those who voted for Brexit by telling them that we should now enter into a new arrangement which, in exchange for a large fee, will allow the EU to make all the rules for us because we gave up our EU seat and ability to shape things.

“This is such a poor proposal, it beggars belief that some serious players within our movement are making the case for it. And may I remind you, no one voted to leave the EU to join a second-best European economic unit?



“The best Brexit option to put on the the table is one which says we stay put. I hope our party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, will be holding out that olive branch when he meets the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, this week. Anything lesser is to cede to a deal meaning Britain will be agreeing to taxation without representation. What serious tribune of the people can advocate that?”

This position was praised by Chuka Umunna, the Labour MP and former shadow business secretary, who said it was a “bold and important” move for Cortes to say Labour should forget single market membership and now argue to stay in the EU.