EU leaders can “go whistle” if they expect the UK to pay a large Brexit divorce bill, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Tuesday (July 11).

The EU wants an agreement on how the “Brexit bill” to be reached before launching talks on a free trade agreement. It puts Britain’s financial settlement at tens of billions of euros, in part to cover a share of future EU budget commitments made while the country had no plans to leave the bloc.

“The sums that I have seen that they (European Union) propose to demand from this country seem to me to be extortionate and I think ‘go whistle’ is an entirely appropriate expression,” Johnson told MPs.

The phrase means to ask for something with little chance of obtaining it.

Thorny issue

Johnson also said he was confident Britain would eventually secure a “great” deal.

But the EU wants an agreement on the so-called Brexit bill before negotiations start on a new free trade agreement.

It’s a thorny issue in the divorce talks, and definitely not the only one.

Earlier this week, top members of the European Parliament warned they would veto a deal if Britain doesn’t improve its offer regarding the rights of EU citizens remaining in the country.

Contingency planning

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she could walk away from the EU without a Brexit agreement if she believed the deal on offer was worse than no deal at all.

Johnson said this was unlikely as it was in the interests of both sides to reach an understanding.

Asked to spell out what “no deal” would mean, he said: “There is no plan for no deal because we are going to get a great deal.”

May’s spokesman contradicted this, saying contingency planning was taking place for “a range of scenarios”.