Won't pay $49 billion till Brexit terms eased, says Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson, the leading candidate to succeed Theresa May as Britain's prime minister, said on Sunday he would withhold an already agreed 39-billion-pound ($49.6 billion) Brexit payment until the European Union gives Britain better withdrawal terms.

 

Johnson is one of 11 lawmakers vying to run the world's fifth largest economy after May resigned as leader of the governing Conservatives on Friday, having failed to unite parliament or the country behind her Brexit plan. Britain is mired in its deepest political crisis in decades over how, when and whether it should leave the EU - a decision that will fall to May's successor and affect both its future role on the world stage and prosperity for generations to come.

 

As the contest to replace May gathered pace on Sunday, Johnson made his first major intervention, targeting the large pro-Brexit wing of his Conservative Party with a promise to take a hard line with Brussels over the terms of Britain's exit.