£374BN...WHAT EU HAS COST YOU
Official figures reveal staggering amount Britain has given Brussels
BRITAIN has paid in a staggering £374.5billion to Brussels coffers over the past 43 years, official figures have revealed.
Leave campaigners insist that the colossal payment means Britain should not be forced to pay a “divorce fee” on exiting the EU.
Figures released to MPs showed that British taxpayers contributed the huge sum to the budgets of the European Union and its predecessor, the European Community, from 1973 until last year.
Campaigners spoke out as MPs were voting at Westminster last night on the Government’s crunch EU Withdrawal Bill that has been drafted to ensure a smooth departure from the bloc. Richard Tice, co-chairman of the Brexit-backing pressure group Leave Means Leave, said: “This truly staggering amount of money shows what the real cost of EU membership has been to the UK.
“The British people should feel vindicated by their decision to leave this anti-democratic, bureaucratic bloc that’s drained us of money and sovereignty
over many decades. In light of these shocking new statistics, UK negotiators should stand firm against extortionate and unsubstantiated EU demands for tens of billions of pounds as a divorce bill.”
The total cost of the UK’s contribution to the Brussels budget was revealed in a briefing paper released by the House of Commons during Parliament’s summer recess.
The country’s total net contribution to Brussels is measured against 2016 prices. Between 1973 and last year it adds up to £374.5billion after Britain’s budget rebate and other refunds were taken into account, the document shows. When grants from Brussels directly to public-sector bodies in Britain were included, the figure falls to £183.7billion.
However, Eurosceptics argue the larger figure should be used to assess the cost of Britain’s membership of the European bloc because decisions about where the cash is spent were taken by the European Commission.
Britain’s annual contribution to Brussels has soared from £1.8billion in 1973, in today’s prices, after the country first joined the European Community to £13.1billion last year, the figures show.
Victory
While total contributions have not been published for other countries, Britain is understood to be behind Germany, France and Italy, who were among the original six members of the European Economic Community after the 1957 Treaty of Rome.
But Britain is now the second highest annual contributor and has been in the top four for most of its time as a member since joining in 1973.
The amount was reduced by Margaret Thatcher’s rebate victory in 1984 although this was halved by the Tony Blair government in 2005.
According to the document, British taxpayers are forecast to pay at least a further £28billion in annual contributions before the country quits the EU in March 2019.
But EU officials are demanding up to another £90billion on top of that sum in an exit fee.
The issue of the bill has become a major sticking point in the talks on Britain’s exit and led to tetchy exchanges between EU Exit Secretary David Davis and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier. The revelation came as MPs were set to vote last night on the EU Withdrawal Bill, which has been imperilled by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to break his election pledge and order Labour MPs to vote the bill down.
But he was faced by a serious rebellion led by senior Labour MP Caroline Flint, a former Europe minister, who insisted that the will of the people in the referendum must be respected.
In an attack on party colleagues, Ms Flint said: “I voted and campaigned for the UK to remain. Not in a metropolitan city or university town but in a seat where I knew the Leave vote was the likely outcome.” She
accused the Labour front bench of wanting to “frustrate” Brexit, pointing out it would be virtually impossible to introduce a replacement bill.
Veteran Labour MP Frank Field also said he would defy the Party whip saying the bill “is essential for the referendum result to be implemented”.
Tory Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns said the Labour leadership had made so many U-turns it was “inspired by Heinz, 57 varieties of Brexit”.
He added: “The shadow home secretary supports free movement. The leader of the opposition and the shadow Brexit secretary say it must end.”
Meanwhile Tory MPs pointed out the vote last night was on the “principle” not the detail and anybody who voted against it opposed the wishes of the British people.
However, MPs who support Leave raised concerns over the so-called “Henry VIII clauses”, which allows ministers to take on extra powers without getting approval from Parliament.
Tory former minister Sir Edward Leigh urged the Government to introduce a scrutiny committee to bring delegated measures back for a vote in the House.
The Bill was set to pass after Brexit Secretary David Davis indicated he was “in listening mode” to make changes at the committee stage.