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Brexit minister admits UK will have to pay £39bn divorce bill before trade deal is agreed
Brexit minister Suella Braverman was forced to admit to lawmakers that the UK is legally bound to pay the £39bn divorce bill even if it doesn't manage to secure a trade deal with the European Union.
This admission is not what Prime Minister Theresa May has been insisting all along, that the divorce bill and the trade deal are part of the same negotiations - although the EU has clarified that they are separate.
The divorce bill is still to be voted by parliament.
Braverman, who was giving evidence on the progress of negotiations with Europe before the Commons Brexit committee on Wednesday, said that currently the only link between the divorce bill and the trade agreement is a 'good faith' clause in the withdrawal agreement signed by Brussels.
"If there was going to be a change in circumstances whereby those payments were to stop, that would require renegotiating and looking at what's been agreed when it comes to the financial agreement with the EU. The duty of good faith should not be ignored in this context. It's more than just words," Braverman said.
A eurosceptic conservative, Braverman has always been critical of how the Prime Minister has gone about negotiating the divorce.
She also admitted to lawmakers that the Brexit bill would be paid before the trade deal is struck.
It was also confirmed that the possible 'backstop' transition deal keeping the UK aligned with the EU on customs after 2020 must be "time limited".
Yet that option has already been rejected by the EU on the grounds that it fails to guarantee a continued open border in Ireland.