Appearing on today’s edition of Good Morning Britain, the MEP hit out at Europe for its failure during this week’s talks.
Speaking to ITV hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ranvir Singh, he explained: “The EU’s position seems to be, ‘We think you owe us lots of money, now you must calculate the figure,’ and that’s a very odd way to begin any negotiation.
“Their bottom line is even weirder, ‘Unless you sign up to all our terms, we won’t let you give us all this extra money,’ which is a brilliantly clever tactic. Of course we pay what we owe. No one’s arguing with them.”
He added: “What they want is extra mulla on top without actually specifying that they want. They both know it’s not legally owed.”
Hannan estimated that Britain has been paying about gross 70 billion to the EU and that they would honour obligations that were still owed up until 2020, however the extra, unknown amount asked for by the trade body was “damaging”.
The Tory MEP for South East England explained: “Basically what they’re saying is unless you give us a wad of money up front, we are going to act in a way that damages our own people and yours out of spite.”
Labour MP Chuka Umunna was also on the show and said that he was willing to pay any subscriptions to remain “part of the club” even after Brexit.
“It’s a negotation. If you get divorced you have to work out how to share the spoils. You have to pay a bit of a subscription,” the MP for Streatham explained.
He added that he hoped he would not have to deal with divorce himself, joking: “I hope it’s never going to affect me.”
However, host Holmes was left unimpressed as he asked the Labour politician: “Why? Divorce means divorce.”
The veteran broadcaster went on to say: “It makes sense not to pay the divorce bill.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV at 6am.
Daily Express :: TV and Radio Feed
