Roger Arthur, looks at the
‘divorce payments’ we’re allegedly have to pay the EU. The numbers are
interesting:
Sir,
Over the years our Contract with the EU has been varied by Treaties. We
did not vote for those treaties and the UK government had little or no influence
over some of them. Those were effectively “variations to contract (VTC)” which
must surely be on the Brexit balance sheet, as they would be in the commercial
world.
The first VTC example is the original Treaty on Freedom of Movement for
migrants, “with jobs”. But the words “with jobs” were massaged out, with the
result that around 25% of migrants now come without jobs. The cost of that
should be accounted for.
Then Blair axed our EU rebate, costing the UK £9.3billion between 2007
and 13, in exchange for “CAP reform”. Extrapolating that to 2019 would double
the loss to around £18.6billion, less any CAP benefits to the UK – which may be
negligible.
Also, the EU “no-bail-out” clause 125 was abandoned, followed by EU
demands that the UK should contribute directly to Eurozone bail-outs. Clearly UK
contributions to bailouts should also be on the balance sheet.
We could also cite the fact that the UK spends 0.5% more of GDP on
defence than the EU average, or that we pay £2 for every £1 given back to the UK
by the EU, or that the EU has had black holes in its accounts for over 20 years,
all of which should be on the balance sheet. Then we should include the value of
EU assets, which have been funded by the UK.
So the big question is why has the UK agreed to pay the EU £20bn, without
consideration of the above and without a statement upon the tangible benefits
(if any) which have been negotiated in exchange?
The EU always seems to say that whatever the UK offers is not enough.
They are clearly not negotiating in good faith but are running down the clock,
hoping for a UK government to capitulate as the Greeks did.
To counter that, we must hope that the PM has been working up a viable
contingency exit plan, which may convince the EU that they will not be able to
continue with their blocking tactics for much longer. But like the nuclear
deterrent, it will only work if the other side knows that it is there and that
it is truly viable.
So please Mrs May, how did you account for what the EU owes the UK, what
benefits did you obtain in exchange for the £20bn promise to the EU and what is
your emergency exit plan?
Respectfully, Roger Arthur, Ukip Daily.
