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BBC News (UK) Verified account @BBCNews · 12h

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Ben Riley-Smith Verified account @benrileysmith · 12h

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Britain would not get its £5bn annual rebate again if it rejoined the EU, the former Irish leader who helped strike the last Brexit deal has predicted

Leo Varadkar says in an interview with The Sunday Times that the famous 1984 discount which Margaret Thatcher secured would not be repeated.

It means that Andy Burnham faces having to sell EU membership terms worse than were rejected in the 2016 referendum if he really goes for rejoin.

(Varadker also said the EU would want Britain back, would wave demands to adopt the Euro / enter Schengen, and there'd be a chance of getting an emergency break on free movement - so positives there.)

Varadker's key quote: “The rebate was at a particular point in time. Back in the 1980s, it was Thatcher who negotiated that. The formula for how you contribute to the European budget is straightforward. It’s a mathematical formula. It’s based on your GDP and then there are some direct elements as well. I think it would be very difficult to make the case for that."

(It was Varadker who struck the terms-of-Brexit deal with Boris Johnson in 2019 that finally broke through the impasse, so he knows EU thinking here well.)

Interestingly, Michel Barnier, the former EU Brexit negotiator, has said the same to @bbclaurak this weekend - another rebate would be "off the table".

House of Commons briefing on the last year Britain fully paid into the EU budget (2020) spells out what that means. The rebate was £5.2bn.

Not having the rebate back then would have meant the UK paying £17.8bn more than it got out in 2020.

All a reminder of the big battle not yet up and running in this open Brexit "conversation" Burnham has triggered: The cost of re-entry.

(Remember, what was painted on the side of the big red Brexit bus in 2016? Not a message on open borders or bendy bananas but one big scary number.)

Full story: thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

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BBC News (World) Verified account @BBCWorld · 14h

Andy Burnham wants to get closer to the EU - but he shouldn't expect a smooth ride bbc.in/4kJN6WK

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