May will keep the final Brexit Bill SECRET fuelling fears the final divorce settlement will soar far higher than the £40bn already offered

  • Theresa May agreed to double the UK's Brexit bill offer from £20bn to £40bn
  •  She has agreed with Brussels to keep the final deals of the settlement secret
  • Will fuel fears that the final bill will be far higher - but UK will never know scale 
By Kate Ferguson, Political Correspondent For Mailonline
Published: 10:19 GMT, 26 November 2017 | Updated: 14:47 GMT, 26 November 2017
Theresa May will keep the final Brexit bill a secret - fuelling fears it will soar far higher than the £40billion Britain has already promised to cough up.
The EU finally signalled they might be willing to move on to trade talks before the new year after the PM held a spate of meetings with leaders on Brussels on Friday.
But EU sources said she secured the change of heart only after promising to double the UK's offer to £40bn and to keep the final details of Britain's contributions hidden.
This means the cash commitments discussed at the crunch December meeting of the European Council - where EU leaders will decide whether to start trade talks - will not be put in writing.
An EU official said they had agreed to the secrecy to allow Mrs May to sign over more cash while allowing her to deal with 'political sensitivities'.
But the revelation risks enraging Brexiteer backbenchers and will fuel fears that Britain will send huge amounts of money into the EU's budget which the public may never about.

Theresa May, pictured at church with her husband Philip today, has agreed to keep the details of the final bill secret in a move which is likely to infuriate her Brexiteer backbenchers 

Theresa May, pictured at church with her husband Philip today, has agreed to keep the details of the final bill secret in a move which is likely to infuriate her Brexiteer backbenchers 
A senior EU official told the Sunday Times: 'A deal is now doable. This is a breakthrough.
'The Brits will list categories in which they want to honour their commitments. They will present different calculations than the Commission, but for us it's all about accepting the principle — not about having a specific figure.
'The withdrawal agreement will not contain a figure — the Brits only need to indicate what, and how. Not how much.
'It will all be about the presentation in order to help May and her cabinet deal with the political sensitivities. But the stars are aligned for a successful deal.
'We are in the business of securing an agreement. We need to improve the atmosphere in order to move on to the real difficult bit — the trade deal.'
It comes after the EU finally indicated it is ready to start talks on a post-Brexit trade after weeks of stalemate.