国际英语资讯:Tight-lipped May fails to halt speculation over 50-bln-euro Brexit deal_时事

国际英语资讯:Tight-lipped May fails to halt speculation over 50-bln-euro Brexit deal

LONDON, Nov. 29 -- British Prime Minister Theresa May and her senior ministers remained tight-lipped Wednesday over the amount Britain will have to pay to leave the European Union (EU).

Virtually every media outlet in London is reporting that the figure will be around 50 billion euros (59.3 billion U.S. dollars), a sum that neither 10 Downing Street nor the official Brexit office denied.

Leading commentators in London are convinced a deal in the order of 50 billion euros has been offered by London, and welcomed by Brussels, as a way of paving the way for post-Brexit trade talks.

Questioned Wednesday afternoon in the House of Commons, Treasury minister Liz Truss declined to comment on what she described as media speculation. Truss insisted any financial settlement was contingent on Britain getting the right overall outcome.

She told MPs that Britain would meet its commitments and get a good deal for the British taxpayer.

Earlier veteran Conservative and former front-bench minister Ken Clarke, asked Theresa May's deputy, Damian Green to welcome reports that the Brexit bill has being settled by the EU and Britain.

Green, standing in for May at the weekly Prime Minister's Questions, responded by saying Clarke "had been around long enough to know not necessarily to believe everything he reads".

He then added: "But he's absolutely right in that what we are about is making sure we get the best possible deal at this stage and Britain as a country that meets it international obligations."