The UK owes tens of billions of euros when it leaves the EU but Boris Johnson — the current front-runner to succeed Theresa May as prime minister — wants to withhold payment. He's looking for "greater clarity" on Brexit.
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Boris Johnson, the current favorite to become the next British prime minister, has said he would withhold divorce payments to the European Union unless the bloc offered a better Brexit deal.
Johnson also implied he would scrap the accepted border arrangement with Ireland.
The former foreign secretary's comments came in an interview with The Sunday Times, his first newspaper interview since announcing his bid for premiership.
"Our friends and partners need to understand that the money is going to be retained until such time as we have greater clarity about the way forward," he said.
"In getting a good deal, money is a great solvent and a great lubricant," Johnson added.
Following Theresa May's resignation as Tory leader on June 7, there are several Conservative candidates going into the first round of voting to replace her as party leader, and as a consequence, UK prime minister.
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Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson is the bookmakers' favorite to become Britain's next prime minister. "BoJo" is widely tipped following stints as mayor of London and as foreign secretary in Theresa May's government. The 54-year-old has threatened to refuse to pay the UK's agreed debts to the EU unless the withdrawal agreement is changed.
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Michael Gove
A leading driver behind Brexit, Gove's leadership campaign took a hit when a new book was published revealing he had taken cocaine on several occasions when working as a journalist 20 years ago.
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Jeremy Hunt
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt's chances improved as Gove's declined. The 52-year-old voted to remain in the EU and claimed he had spoken to Chancellor Angela Merkel about Brexit during the D-Day celebrations. He said she told him: "Germany doesn’t have a border with the Republic of Ireland, you do, so you need to come up with a solution."
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Sajid Javid
The son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver, Sajid Javid is the current UK Home Secretary (interior minister), a role for which he has received mixed reviews. He had a successful banking career with Chase Manhattan and Deutsche Bank before entering parliament in 2010. During the Brexit referendum, Javid was on the Remain side but — like Theresa May — was guarded in his support for the cause.
Image: Reuters/T. Melville
Rory Stewart
Educated at Eton College — the same school attended by Boris Johnson and David Cameron — Rory Stewart is currently International Development Secretary. A former diplomat who trekked thousands of kilometers across the Middle East and South Asia, he also served as a senior official governing parts of post-invasion Iraq. Stewart is strongly opposed to Britain leaving without a deal.
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Dominic Raab
Former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, the son of a Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany, said the possibility of sidelining parliament to force through Brexit should not be ruled out. He was widely mocked in 2018 when he said he "hadn't quite understood" how reliant UK trade is on the Dover-Calais crossing. Raab fell out of the race after getting 30 votes in the second round, 3 fewer than needed.
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Matt Hancock
Health Secretary Matt Hancock entered the race to replace the PM the day after her resignation. Although he campaigned for Remain during the referendum, Hancock has said he now believes Britain should leave the EU with a deal. Probably the most tech-savvy of the contenders, Hancock received barely enough support to continue after the first round of voting and opted to drop out of consideration.
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Esther McVey
Former television presenter Esther McVey declared her intention to stand long before May resigned. The vocal Brexit hardliner resigned as work and pensions secretary in November, protesting at the terms of May's withdrawal deal. She is no longer a contender after getting only 9 votes of 313 in the first round of voting.
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Andrea Leadsom
Leadsom quit as Leader of the House of Commons the week of May's resignation announcement. She came second in a leadership bid in 2016 but was criticized at the time for saying that being a mother would give her an advantage as prime minister after May had previously spoken of her anguish at not being able to conceive. Leadsom is out of the race after getting only 11 votes in the first round.
A former immigration minister and chief whip, Harper was behind the Home Office's "go home" message to immigrants printed on vans. He said it is not credible Brexit could be renegotiated and passed before the end of October. An outsider in the leadership race, Harper is no longer under consideration after he got only 10 votes in the first round of selection.
Johnson is the front-running candidate to replace outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May, who officially resigned as Conservative party leader on Friday. She will retain the premiership until a successor can be found, a process that is expected to be completed by late July. Currently, 11 members of Parliament are vying to replace her.
Britain owes the EU about €44 billion ($50 billion) when it eventually leaves the bloc. Brexit hard-liners and others have repeatedly blocked a hard-fought Brexit deal, and for the time being it remains in the bloc.
Johnson wants to hold this payment hostage in the hopes of wrangling a better deal than May was able to achieve.
US President Donald Trump last week recommended to the UK that it not pay its bill to the EU. He has also backed Johnson as the top choice to replace May.
Several cabinet members also joined a growing number of centrist Tory MPs this weekend in declaring they were ready to throw their support behind him.
