The UK-EU summit in London in May was proclaimed as a ‘new chapter’ in the post-Brexit relationship. Only now are we finding out the true cost.

Perhaps the British government should not have so eagerly chased a scheme that was bound to work to our disadvantage

The EU’s Security Action for Europe (Safe) – a fund of €150 billion (£130 billion) to provide loans for member states to undertake urgent, large-scale defence procurement projects – was a key talking point at the meeting. The programme is a sensible one, aimed at boosting the European defence industry’s production capacity. However, it is now clear that the UK will need to pay a fee to participate. The amount has not yet been fixed, but EU diplomats reason that ‘since British businesses would receive EU money to create jobs and expand capacity under the scheme, London should recompense Brussels’. France is said to be pushing for a significant contribution, while others, including Germany, are keen not to set the tariff so high that the UK does not participate at all.

This should come as no surprise. The prima facie terms of the Safe scheme,........

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