David Davis says £40bn Brexit 'divorce bill' claim is 'made up'
Claims Britain is facing a £40bn "divorce bill" as a result of leaving the European Union are "made up", the Brexit Secretary has suggested.
On the eve of the next round of exit talks, David Davis has played down the prospect of the UK forking out a hefty sum as the price of severing ties with Brussels.
Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed in her keynote Brexit speech on Friday that Britain would be seeking a two-year transition period after 2019, and Mr Davis confirmed the UK would pay in "roughly" £10bn a year during that period.
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But he suggested claims that the final settlement, once pensions and other liabilities are included, could be double that were "made up".
London would continue to challenge the EU's financial demands, Mr Davis said.
"Things like pensions and other things, these are debatable to say the least," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.
"The last time we went through line by line and challenged quite a lot of the legal basis of these things and we'll continue to do that.
"That doesn't mean that we want to see our allies and friends in Europe massively disadvantaged in the next few years and that's what we're aiming not to do."
Asked about claims by "Brussels sources", quoted in The Times newspaper, that the final figure could be roughly £40bn, Mr Davis said: "They sort of made that up too."
He added: "I'm not going to do an actual number on air, it would be ridiculous to do that, but we have a fairly clear idea where we're going on this."
Mr Davis also made clear in his interview that while the UK would be leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the existing arrangements would apply during the transition.
The jurisdiction of the ECJ is a red line in the talks, with Mrs May insistent it will have no rule in enforcing the rights of EU citizens in Britain post-Brexit.
The PM's Florence address was intended to serve a dual purpose - end the stalemate in the negotiations and unite Mrs May's Cabinet behind her Brexit approach.
However, hopes for the latter appear to be on shaky foundations, with the front pages of Sunday's newspapers likely to make for unhappy reading in Downing Street.
Hot on the heels of his 4,000 word Brexit blueprint that was viewed by some as a leadership pitch, the Sunday Telegraph reports that Boris Johnson is seeking assurances that Britain will not adopt any new EU rules during the transition.
Meanwhile, allies of Mr Johnson are quoted in other reports as saying the Foreign Secretary thwarted Philip Hammond's wish for a five-year transition, something furiously denied by those close to the Chancellor.