Cut the EU Budget? Pull the other one, Dave! (Part 2)

Contributions graph
Since our earlier post on this subject, the latest government “Pink Book” has appeared. This compendium of statistics does not make pleasant reading for David Cameron as he continues to maintain that he has cut the EU budget. What matters to the UK is how much we pay into it and the hard facts show that both our gross and net contributions have increased substantially since the Coalition government came to power in 2010.

Our gross contribution jumped from £15.999 billion to £19.377 billion, an increase of 21%. The situation with our net contribtion, i.e., excluding the rebate, CAP payments, etc, is even worse. It increased from £7,225 billion in 2010 to £11,271 billion last year, a jump of no less than 56%.

Mr Cameron may perhaps be able to claim that he was able to secure a commitment to lower expenditure for the coming EU seven year budeget, but in view of the surcharge of £1.7 billion recently imposed on us, this too has to be taken with a very hefty pinch of salt. Whatever budget the EU may agree one day, it has a habit of increasing further down the road if it feels in need of more cash.

The fatc of the matter is that if MR Cameron wishes to deal with the EU’s voracious appetite for our hard-earned money, he has only one alternative – to withdraw our country from the EU.