Theresa May heading for major Brexit battle over 'divorce bill' that could last many years, say leading academics
Britain faces a monumental tussle with the EU that could last years beyond Theresa May’s 2019 Brexit target and involve bitter court rows over unpaid bills, a group of academics has warned.
LSE professor Iain Begg, among the group, said: "I suspect that the money issue is going to be far more potent than has been allowed so far. We've heard whisperings of a £50bn to £60bn divorce bill coming out of the negotiations.
He went on: "[European Commissioner Michel] Barnier comes along and says 'Here's a bill for €60bn’. Britain says ‘get lost'. Barnier says, ‘if you don't pay, we'll sue you'. 'Fine, sue us'. That's the kind of contest it could end up being, which people haven't really envisaged."
Angus Armstrong of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said there was "little or no evidence that EU member states have moved beyond their reflexive - and understandable - rejection of the UK's desire to 'have its cake and eat it'."
He argued that the key moment in Brexit talks will not be Ms May's tabling of Article 50, but the EU's response to it.
He said: "If the continental consensus is that the UK is still living on fantasy island, we could be heading for a showdown sooner than anyone expects."
London School of Economics assistant professor Sara Hagemann said that Ms May's post-referendum tour of EU capitals "seems to have generated little support for the British cause".
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-a7491291.html