Priti Patel: Brussels should be told to 'sod off' over Brexit demands

Brussels should be told to "sod off" over its Brexit divorce bill demands, former Cabinet minister Priti Patel said on Monday.

The prominent Brexiteer, who resigned as international development secretary earlier this month, accused the Government of being "ill-equipped" for negotiations with the EU and should have been more forthright in setting out its desired "end state" for the talks.

"The Government has been ill-equipped in terms of preparations for the negotiations," she said at an event in London. “It's not an ideal state at all."

"We should have had conviction and clarity in terms of our end state and destination and presented that and been pretty forthright about it as well,

"My views on money are pretty clear, I don't like spending money so I would have told the EU in particular to sod off with their excessive financial demands."

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Patel said Prime Minister Theresa May was leading in "very challenging circumstances" and was "struggling now with a difficult set of cards post the election," but added: "One of the failings is we have not set out that vision, what is that vision of Britain going to look like post-Brexit?

"What are the economic opportunities for the City of London and for many other businesses and sectors in terms of leading out in the world and potentially trading with countries we have simply not been engaged with for not just years but for decades.

"And also reflecting that the world is changing, the labour market is changing."