Didn’t see this on the side of a big red bus, did we? Following ONS confirmation that the UK has paid another £3.25 billion to the EU as part of the so-called ‘divorce settlement’ to leave the union, it has also emerged that the total of post-Brexit payments will soon rise above the £50 billion mark.
Is this what we voted for?
The staggering figures are largely made-up of commitments made by the Conservative Government, which negotiated the country’s exit from the trading bloc. On the terms set out by Boris Johnson and his colleagues, financial settlements were put in place to honour existing commitments.
Pension schemes, various grants, and even infrastructure projects were funded in part by payments from the UK. In the agreement to leave the EU, cash was promised to the continental authority to ensure they could continue. Johnson’s ‘Get Brexit Done’ mantra was, unsurprisingly, lacking in detail.
Why is the Brexit divorce bill so high?
And now, it seems, chickens have been coming home to roost since 1 January 2020. In our first year out of the EU, the UK sent over £18 billion as part of the agreed-upon settlement. This dropped to £5.8 billion in 2021, and increased again to £9.3 billion in 2022.
The two years afterwards have been slightly easier on the purse-strings, reaching £8 billion and £3 billion in 2023 and 2024 respectively. But, as per those ONS figures, another £8 billion is owed to the EU – meaning that the final cost of our enduring separation will surpass £50 billion.
After Brexit, will the UK rejoin the EU? Starmer says no
The head-spinning figures again draw attention to the biggest elephant any room has ever played host to. The sheer scale and cost of Brexit has been disastrous for the national economy. And yet, the UK’s promise to ‘realign’ itself with the EU has somewhat stalled.
Though a handful of new agreements have been hammered out since Labour returned to government in July 2024, nothing has particularly moved at pace. Keir Starmer has routinely quashed the idea of the UK re-joining the EU, but other prominent figures are more open to the move.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who is reportedly eyeing up his own bid to challenge Sir Keir as Labour leader, has openly stated his desire to see the UK ditch Brexit. Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who is enjoying a surge in the polls, has also opened the door to a ‘rejoin’ campaign.