INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The British government has sent mixed signals so far on the divorce bill.London: Britain will only pay its EU divorce bill if the bloc
agrees the framework for a future trade deal, the new Brexit Secretary warned in an interview published Sunday.Dominic Raab, who replaced
David Davis after he quit the role earlier this month in protest over the government's Brexit strategy, said "some conditionality between
the two" was needed.He added that the Article 50 mechanism used to trigger Britain's imminent exit from the European Union provided for new
deal details."Article 50 requires, as we negotiate the withdrawal agreement, that there's a future framework for our new relationship going
forward, so the two are linked," Raab told the Sunday Telegraph."You can't have one side fulfilling its side of the bargain and the other
side not, or going slow, or failing to commit on its side
"So I think we do need to make sure that there's some conditionality between the two."The British government has sent mixed signals so far
on the divorce bill.Prime Minister Theresa May agreed in December to a financial settlement totalling $46-51 billion that ministers said
depended on agreeing future trade ties.But cabinet members have since cast doubt on the position. Finance minister Philip Hammond said
shortly afterwards he found it "inconceivable" Britain would not pay its bill, which he described as "not a credible scenario".The country
is set to leave the bloc on March 30, but the two sides want to strike a divorce agreement by late October in order to give parliament
enough time to endorse a deal.Raab met the EU's top negotiator Michel Barnier for the first time on Friday, where he heard doubts over May's
new Brexit blueprint for the future relationship.But Barnier noted the priority in talks should be on finalising the initial divorce
deal. A hardline stance by the British government on the financial settlement could complicate progress, with Raab insisting on the link
with the bill and a future agreement."Certainly it needs to go into the arrangements we have at international level with our EU partners,"
he told the Telegraph."We need to make it clear that the two are linked."May's plans formally unveiled in early July envisages a customs
partnership for goods and a common rulebook with the EU.It has faced severe criticism in Britain, including from within her own cabinet and
Conservative Party.Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Davis both resigned in opposition.A new YouGov poll published by the Sunday
Times showed just 12 percent of people backed the proposals as "good" for Britain while 43 percent thought they were "bad".(This story has
not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
