Theresa May today threatened to refuse to sign a £39 billion “divorce” settlement with the EU if it fails to give Britain a “precise” future trade deal within weeks.
The stark warning dramatically dampened expectations of an agreement at next week’s EU summit on Brexit.
It also heightened fears that Brussels may offer Britain only vague guarantees over future trade ties — possibly a document of just 15 to 20 pages — before it quits the European Union in March.
The timing of the Prime Minister’s public demand is also likely to cause alarm that the Government has still not nailed down the type of trade deal on the table.