Boris Johnson threatens EU over Brexit divorce bill and raises general election stakes

No 10 wargames early vote as Tory lead grows
Johnson wants to play hardball on the divorce bill
Johnson wants to play hardball on the divorce bill

Boris Johnson will today put Britain on an election footing by warning Brussels that he will slash more than £30bn from the EU divorce bill in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

His tough stance, intended to win over Brexit Party supporters, comes as the prime minister’s team are working on a populist emergency budget in October, in which fuel duty will be cut for the first time in eight years, paving the way for a general election the same month.

The prospects of a Conservative majority grew last night when a YouGov poll for this newspaper put the Tories on 33%, 12 points clear of Labour — their largest lead with that pollster since the 2017 general election. The survey also put the Liberal