BRITAIN is facing a £160billion EU loans bill after Brexit — four times the size of the “divorce” settlement.
Boris Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement keeps the UK hooked to payments issued by EU agencies.
The European Investment Bank and the European Financial Stability Mechanism have paid out hundreds of billions.
It has gone to “investment projects” across its 27 members, some of them economically fragile.
Britain’s share of liability is around 12 per cent.
Experts reckon this could translate into £160billion of unpaid loans, four times Britain’s £39billion divorce deal.
Covid could push the liability higher as economies and cash-backed businesses fail.
Britain faces paying into the 2040s when the EU loan repayment terms end.
Senior Tories have demanded the PM reopen the Withdrawal Agreement to remove Britain’s liability, giving a “clean break” from Brussels by December 31 when the transition period ends.
Former Tory leader and top Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith told HOAR: “We would basically be boot-strapped to Europe for the foreseeable future.
“If people thought we were only paying £39billion they can forget it. We’ve got a potential bill of £160billion and Covid could raise that massively.
“This would lock us into the EU’s debt mountain.”
