Brussels to send bill for billions of pounds if UK crashes out with no deal

Brussels is demanding Britain pay up billions of pounds even if the UK crashes out of the bloc in a no-deal Brexit on April 12. The EU wants about £5.3 billion from Britain, UK officials said. The figure takes into accounts deductions from the British rebate and funding already paid back to Britain. The money would guarantee that the EU continues to pay out committed funding to British recipients, such as farmers and university researchers, until the end of 2019. “We hope to have it wrapped up this week,” the Irish broadcaster RTE News quoted a senior EU source as saying on Monday.