Boris Johnson: Britain should not pay 'large sums' for EU trade deal after Brexit

Saphora Smith5 December 2016
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Boris Johnson has said there is no reason why Britain should pay "large" sums to the Euopean Union to continue trading with the bloc after Brexit.

The idea that Britain may continue to pay for tariff-free access to Europe’s internal market after Brexit has been mooted in recent days.

But speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show on Sunday the Foreign Secretary said a decision had not yet been made and all suggestions were "pure speculation."

Asked to comment on Brexit Secretary David Davis suggestion in the commons on Thursday that the Government could be willing to pay to maintain access to the single market Mr Johnson said:

"That is something that obviously David Davis is considering. It doesn't mean that a decision has been taken.”

Mr Johnson, who led the official Leave campaign, said he would support paying in to European programmes like the Erasmus student exchange scheme and the Horizon research programme.

He added however: "I see no reason why those payments should be large."

Stressing the benefits of Brexit Mr Johnson added: "I do believe that as a result of Brexit we will be able to take back control of the money that we currently give to Brussels.

"Very large sums of money will be coming back to this country which will be capable of being spent on priorities such as the NHS. That will be one of the outcomes of Brexit."

The Foreign Secretary, who has said Britain would "probably" have to leave the EU customs union, acknowledged the UK would have to come out of the common tariff area if it wanted to strike its own free trade deals with non-EU countries.

He said: "You can't do free trade deals unless you come out of the common commercial policy, the common tariff area.

“That is a different thing from somehow remaining within the zone where there is currently free movement of goods and services."

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