Brussels should be told to ‘s** off’ over its Brexit divorce bill demands, former Cabinet minister Priti Patel has said.
The leading Brexiteer urged a tougher line in negotiations as she admitted the way they had been handled so far was ‘not ideal’.
In her most significant intervention since being forced to resign over secret meetings with Israeli politicians, Miss Patel said government had been ‘ill equipped’ for the challenge and should be more optimistic about the UK’s prospects.
Priti Patel, pictured at the Conservative Party conference in September, urged a tough line with the EU on the divorce bill
The comments came at an event in London hosted by The Spectator magazine, following her resignation earlier this month.
Ms Patel said one of the Government’s failings had been not setting out the economic opportunities that Brexit presented.
‘The Government has been ill-equipped in terms of preparations for the negotiations,’ she said.
‘It’s not an ideal state at all.’
Addressing the issue of the divorce bill offer – which Theresa May is expected to double to around £40billion in the coming weeks – The Tory MP said the figures were ‘excessive’.
‘My views on money are pretty clear, I don’t like spending money so I would have told the EU in particular to s** off with their excessive financial demands,’ she said.
She insisted Mrs May was leading in ‘very challenging circumstances’ and was ‘struggling now with a difficult set of cards post the election’.
But she said: ‘One of the failings is we have not set out that vision, what is that vision of Britain going to look like post-Brexit?
‘What are the economic opportunities for the City of London and for many other businesses and sectors in terms of leading out in the world and potentially trading with countries we have simply not been engaged with for not just years but for decades.
‘And also reflecting that the world is changing, the labour market is changing.’
Miss Patel went on: ‘We should have had conviction and clarity in terms of our end state and destination and presented that and been pretty forthright about it as well.
The MP, who has been tipped as a potential leadership candidate in any future contest, said the Tory grassroots should be given a greater role in the party, including at the annual conference.
Theresa May, pictured in Downing Street yesterday, is expected to double to around £40billion in the coming weeks