The Costs are Becoming Apparent…… (Catching Up…!)

Boris Johnson: UK should reject 'Brexit cash bill'.

Boris Johnson has told the BBC that Britain should reject any EU demands for a £50bn "exit bill" and follow the example of former PM Margaret Thatcher. It has been reported that EU negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must continue to pay into the EU until 2020. Mr Johnson said it was "not reasonable" for the UK to "continue to make vast budget payments" once it left the EU. He cited Mrs Thatcher's success at the 1984 Fontainebleau Summit, when she threatened to halt payments to the EU. "I think we have illustrious precedent in this matter, and you will doubtless recall the 1984 Fontainebleau Summit in which Mrs Thatcher said she wanted her money back, and I think that is exactly what we will get," he told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg in BBC Two's Brexit: Britain's Biggest Deal. "It is not reasonable, I don't think, for the UK having left the EU to continue to make vast budget payments, I think everybody understands that and that's the reality." The UK won the rebate in 1984, after then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher threatened to halt payments to the EU budget. At the time the UK was then the third poorest member of the Community but was on course to become the biggest net contributor to the EU budget.

Government still paying Brexit appeal cost.

The government has not yet finished paying the legal costs of its Supreme Court challenge over Brexit. In January, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court ruling that Parliament had to be consulted before Article 50 could be triggered. Labour MP Gloria de Piero tabled a written question asking when the cost of the appeal would be published. Brexit Minister Robin Walker replied: "The department has not been billed for all costs related to the case." He continued: "Details of the total costs associated with the case, including the costs of the Supreme Court appeal, will be published in due course after they have been settled." The government has rejected Freedom of Information requests for the cost to be revealed, saying it will be made public at a future date.

Brexit: Early financial settlement won't be 'forced on UK'.

The UK has been told it will not have to agree the exact sum of its financial exit settlement in the early stages after Article 50 has been triggered, BBC Newsnight has learned. A message has been passed through informal channels from EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to top figures in David Davis's department. The UK would first have to agree the broad principles of the payment. The principles for EU citizens in the UK would then have to be agreed. Once these two principles have been agreed - on the financial settlement payment and EU citizens - Mr Barnier is prepared to open up the negotiations to cover all areas and the nature of the UK's future relations with the EU. This would meet the UK demand for the negotiations on the UK's future trade deal with the EU to be discussed in parallel with the Article 50 talks. Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 - which have to be concluded within two years - in the final week of March. The exact sum of the divorce settlement would be agreed later in the negotiations. Amid reports that the UK could face a bill of between €34bn (£30bn) to €60bn (£52bn), Mr Barnier is saying the exact sum will be determined on the EU side by the EU's Court of Auditors towards the end of the two year negotiations. The ballpark in Brussels is that the EU has liabilities of around €600bn (£520bn). The UK would be responsible for around 12% of that, producing a rough figure of €60bn (£52bn).

Housebuilder Berkeley shrugs off Brexit vote to hit profit targets.

Housebuilder Berkeley Group has said it expects profits at be at the top end of forecasts this year, as it signalled the housing market in London and the South East had "stabilised". In the seven months since the Brexit referendum result, Berkeley said new home sales had fallen by 16%. But in the last two months reservations were higher than a year earlier. The London-focused developer also said inquiry levels remained "robust" and pricing continued to be "resilient". It said the market had been adversely affected by a number of factors apart from Brexit uncertainty, including changes to stamp duty, the challenges of securing planning permission and the demands to provide affordable housing. As a result, new housing starts have fallen by 30% in the capital. However, the company said: "Berkeley is uniquely placed to maintain its high levels of production in London and the South East and we are onsite in production on 58 sites." It added that there were a further 22 sites in the pipeline.

Schaeuble calls for 'strong' City post Brexit.

Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said it is in the EU's interest to have a strong financial centre in London. Speaking ahead of Friday's G20 meeting, Mr Schaeuble said he would want to negotiate a Brexit deal in which the City of London remains a global financial force. He said it was not feasible to move all of the City's operations abroad. To do so would involve a huge upheaval, Mr Schaeuble pointed out. In a keynote address to the IIF Conference in Frankfurt, he said: "I am convinced that for Europe as a whole - and I'm not sure this will be very beloved in Paris - it's in our own interests to have strong financial centre in London." Although he did promote Frankfurt as an alternative EU base for international banks in the wake of Brexit, Mr Schaeuble said he would want to negotiate a deal in which the City of London kept a key role. However, he cautioned, it had not been easy to "brainstorm" with his British counterparts. Mr Schaeuble's comments, made in conversation with UBS chair Axel Weber, come after Mr Weber confirmed that his bank would not wait for the outcome of Brexit negotiations to move up to 1,500 staff from London to an EU base.

All details above from BBC News website.

[Well, the Government are finally starting to get their act together and are beginning to speak with a single voice. I give that maybe 48-72 hours before the infighting and back-biting starts again amongst the usual leaks and ‘sources close to the Prime Minister’ headlines in both the pro and anti-Brexit papers. Apparently we’re now back to ‘Brexit means Brexit’ with none of this weak-assed ‘transitionary period’ nonsense. I honestly don’t know whether to laugh or cry some days….]