PM 'is ready to offer another £20billion' to kickstart Brexit talks amid fears Brussels wants to hammer the City of London

  • Theresa is preparing to make a fresh cash offer over the Brexit divorce bill
  • Effort to break talks deadlock comes after she met Merkel ally in Downing Street
  • Failure to make progress by Christmas would raise fears about no deal Brexit 

By JAMES TAPSFIELD, UK POLITICAL EDITOR

Published: | Updated:

Theresa May is said to be ready to offer another £20billion to kickstart Brexit talks with the EU - amid fears Brussels is determined to hammer the City of London.

The Prime Minister could brave the fury of Tory Eurosceptics by pledging more cash in a bid to break the deadlock over starting trade discussions.

But she is expected to ignore a deadline set by the EU's chief negotiator that she must spell out the divorce bill offer by the end of next week in order to make progress before Christmas. 

The task facing Mrs May was underlined today when it emerged that Brussels is resisting calls for a 'bespoke' deal with the UK.

Theresa May, pictured meeting business leaders in Downing Street yesterday, is preparing to make a fresh offer on the divorce bill

Theresa May, pictured meeting business leaders in Downing Street yesterday, is preparing to make a fresh offer on the divorce bill

Instead they want a looser Canada-style arrangement that would not cover much of Britain's crucial services industry.

Negotiating briefs seen by Politico suggest such an agreement would only mean 'limited EU commitments to allow cross border provision of services'.

According to The Sun, Mrs May could say the UK is ready to honour £20billion of commitments - on top of the £18billion she has already offered for a two-year transitional deal. 

The signs of a financial move came after she met a key ally of Angela Merkel in Downing Street last night.

After the talks, Manfred Weber, head of the EPP group in the European parliament, said he was now 'more optimistic' about the prospect of progress.

But he added: "The atmosphere is positive but we need clear and concrete commitments to step into the second phase. 

'For now the green light is not there." 

On divorce bill, Mr Weber said while the UK did not have to state a figure at this stage, it did need spell out which of its outstanding commitments to the EU it was prepared to honour. 

"For the so-called sufficient progress question for the December council, the most important thing is not the figure. 

'The most important thing is to clarify the commitments - the areas where Great Britain has to see its commitments.' 

Manfred Weber, a senior MEP and ally of Angela Merkel, held talks with Mrs May in Downing Street yesterday

Manfred Weber, a senior MEP and ally of Angela Merkel, held talks with Mrs May in Downing Street yesterday


A failure to get the green light from national leaders at the December gathering would mean discussions about future trade arrangements could not begin before March - raising the risk of the UK leaving without any deal. 

Downing Street described the meeting with Mr Weber as 'constructive' and said that Mrs May had made clear the UK was seeking an 'ambitious partnership' which did not 'follow the existing models'.

Mr Barnier last week gave Britain just two weeks to put more cash on the table to secure a divorce deal in time for future trade talks to start next month.

There are fears that failure to reach an agreement before Christmas could lead to a 'no deal' Brexit and cause severe harm to economies.

Business on both side of the channel has become increasingly anxious about the prospect of political deadlock disrupting trade.

Mrs Merkel is coming under pressure to protect her country's car exports - with Britain a key market.

Guy Verhofstadt, the EU parliament's chief negotiator, also increased the temperature this week by demanding that EU citizens are given 'the exact same rights as they have today'.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (pictured right with Theresa May in July) is coming under pressure to protect her country's car exports - with Britain a key market

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (pictured right with Theresa May in July) is coming under pressure to protect her country's car exports - with Britain a key market

Guy Verhofstadt, the EU parliament's chief negotiator, also increased the temperature by demanding that EU citizens are given 'the exact same rights as they have today'

Guy Verhofstadt, the EU parliament's chief negotiator, also increased the temperature by demanding that EU citizens are given 'the exact same rights as they have today'

'Our aim is nothing is changing. They can simply continue rights as they have them now,' he added.

'For European Parliament and steering group inside European Parliament, our priority is to have a good arrangement on citizens' rights. 

'Not only rights of EU citizens in the UK but UK citizens in the EU. What we absolutely want to avoid is citizens being victims of Brexit,' Verhofstadt explained.

'What we absolutely want to avoid is citizens being victims of Brexit.' 

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