The UK paid £1.3 billion to the European Union last year — despite having left the bloc — as official Treasury figures reveal Britain remains locked into long-term financial liabilities under the Withdrawal Agreement.
Treasury Report Exposes £1.3bn Payment
The European Union Finances Statement 2025, published by HM Treasury on March 26, confirms the UK transferred £1.3 billion via two euro-denominated invoices in April and September 2025. The payments were made in monthly instalments using daily exchange rates.
Frank Furedi, executive director of the think tank MCC Brussels, said: “The fact that the UK is still paying £1.3 billion in 2025 – years after formally leaving the European Union – underlines how the Withdrawal Agreement locked Britain into a long tail of liabilities that few voters fully understood.”
Net £25.7bn Paid Since 2020
The Treasury’s own figures show that between 2020 and the end of 2025, the UK paid a net £25.7 billion to Brussels. Gross payments totalled £42.2 billion, offset by receipts. The overall point estimate for the entire financial settlement is £37.9 billion net.
The overwhelming majority of the money is not ring-fenced and flows directly into the EU’s general budget with limited transparency over how it is spent.
Furedi: “No Clean Financial Break”
Mr Furedi added: “These payments are not even straightforward: they are made through a rolling system of invoices and instalments stretching across the year, reinforcing the sense that Brexit has not delivered a clean financial break.”
He warned that as Sir Keir Starmer pursues his “much-vaunted reset” with the EU, the lingering financial entanglement raises serious questions about how much leverage the UK really has.
- £1.3 billion paid to EU in 2025 alone
- Net £25.7 billion paid since 2020
- Payments continue via rolling invoices until 2065
- Majority of funds go into EU general budget with little transparency
- Additional £481 million outstanding for European Development Fund
Reform UK: Another Brexit Betrayal
Reform UK has repeatedly warned that Labour’s EU reset is dragging Britain back into Brussels’ financial and regulatory control by the back door. The party says taxpayers’ money should be spent on British priorities — not continuing to bankroll the EU years after the 2016 referendum.
What This Means for Britain
This latest revelation is a stark reminder that Brexit has not delivered the clean financial break many voters expected. While Labour pushes closer ties with the EU — including rejoining Erasmus+ and aligning on food and drink rules — Britain is still sending billions to Brussels with limited say over how the money is spent.
At a time when families face rising bills, frozen tax thresholds and a cost-of-living crisis, £1.3 billion a year could be used to cut fuel duty, support British businesses or ease pressure on households. Instead, it flows into the EU’s general budget.
Reform UK’s clear message is that Britain must respect the 2016 referendum result and put British interests first. Taxpayers should not be funding the EU while domestic priorities are neglected. With local elections weeks away, voters have a chance to send a powerful message to Labour: enough is enough.
Share if you believe Britain’s money should stay in Britain, not be sent to the EU.
This article is a factual summary of reporting by the Daily Express. Full original story available on their website. All quotes directly attributed.
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shows we left in name only that’s why Brexit wasn’t good for us our governments are treating the public like idiots they scheme behind our back’s waiting for the first opportunity to jump back in, this one step short of treason to the public they don’t govern for the country only for themselves an easy life letting the un elected EU bureaucrats make all the decisions and they just follow whatever they say we need a shepherd not sheep