'Our contribution is hugely reduced!' Tory says Brexit deal will SLASH UK'S EU spending

A CONSERVATIVE MP has insisted that Britain’s Brexit agreement with the European Union is a huge piece of “good news” for the country. Sir Oliver Letwin, the Conservative MP for West Dorset, has praised the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal with the European Union. Speaking to BBC’s Daily Politics, Mr Letwin highlighted that the UK would no longer be making vast payments to the bloc after Brexit. He said: “This money is money we are already paying for the first large instalments of it. “Then we just go on paying it for a couple of years and then we stop paying it which is good news. “The rest of the money, about half of it, we pay over 20 to 30 to 40 years as pensions and so on. “The net effect is that, after a couple of years, our contribution is hugely reduced, which is good news.” Mr Letwin reiterated the UK would pay its obligations it had signed up to with the Brussels club, even if Britain ended up without a Brexit deal. Last week Theresa May agreed on terms with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker which moved negotiations onto the second phase of talks. The European Union is, however, demanding the agreement is placed into law, before the second phase of talks begin. David Davis has been criticised by European chiefs after he said that Britain’s agreement “was more a statement of intent than a legally enforceable thing”. Guy Verhofstadt hit back at the remark from the Brexit Secretary. He tweeted: “After @DavidDavisMP’s unacceptable remarks, it’s time the UK government restores trust. These amendments will further toughen up our resolution. “Remarks by David Davis that Phase one deal last week not binding were unhelpful & undermines trust. EP text will now reflect this & insist agreement translated into legal text ASAP #Brexit.” Today the EU Parliament agree an amendment on their Brexit proposal saying that negotiations must be carried out in “good faith” by the UK. It read: “Is of the opinion that the report allows for negotiations to move on to the second phase recommends that the European Council decide accordingly, but believes that negotiations must be good faith and is of the opinion that negotiations can only progress during the second phase if the UK government also fully respects the commitments it made in the Joint Report and they are fully translated into the draft Withdrawal Agreement.” David Davis agreed to place the resolution into law. He Tweeted: “Pleasure, as ever, to speak to my friend @guyverhofstadt - we both agreed on the importance of the Joint Report. Let's work together to get it converted into legal text as soon as possible. “I look forward to working closely with the EP in the next phase, including on a top shared priority: ensuring admin procedures for citizens are as streamlined as possible in both the UK and EU. @guyverhofstadt”. The fallout comes just days after Mrs May agreed to move negotiations onto the second phase of Brexit talks. The Prime Minister agreed the UK could hand up to £39billion when it leaves the bloc as part of the divorce settlement.