London 21 Nov (ANA) - Brexit supporters in the cabinet have agreed the UK should offer to pay more money to the EU as it leaves. But no formal offer will be made until the EU agrees to begin talking about a new trade deal with the UK. No new figure has been given - but it is thought it could be up to £40bn, which would be double what the UK's offers so far add up to. The UK and the EU have yet to agree on the so-called "divorce bill" with the UK due to leave the EU in March 2019. Some Conservative MPs have reacted angrily to the possibility of the UK agreeing to pay more - yesterday one, Nigel Evans, said it would be like a "ransom payment" to the EU while another, Robert Halfon, said it would make voters "go bananas". But despite this, BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said leading Brexiteers in Theresa May's cabinet, like Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, had agreed to support her in paying a "much larger sum" - as long as the EU agrees to begin trade talks, which it has refused to do so far. And no final figure will be agreed until a trade deal is agreed, he added.(ANA)

FA/ANA/21 November 2017------