The cost of our membership of the EU as individuals:
When discussing the costs of our membership of the EU all the figures are quoted
in billions of pounds. Now, I would not know what a billion pounds would look
like if I fell over it and I suspect that for most people it would be the same.
I feel it would be much more meaningful and effective if I could work out a
rough estimate along these lines. So, I have dusted down my trusty old
calculator and here I go. I have taken as a total population figure for Great
Britain of 60 million, which, give or take the odd 100,000 illegal immigrants,
is slightly above the figure in the 2001 census.
The first figure concerns the direct costs, that is the amount of money we give
the EU per year. According to both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the
Chamber of Commerce this is currently running at £39 million per day or £14.23
billion per year and works out at £237.25 per year for every man, woman and
child in this country. In addition Tony Blair has now given away a further
£16.67 per year per head of population in return for nothing. This payment is
not debated or even voted on by Parliament and is slightly above the increased
amount demanded by the EU in 2004, which our Chancellor said he would never
agree to paying. It is simply handed over every year when the EU puts out its
sticky fingers. Incidentally, for the 11th year on the trot the EU Court of
Auditors have refused to sign off the EU accounts saying that they are unable
to account for 90% of the EU budget and at least £3 billion is missing due to
fraud. That means that £50 of your £253.92 has gone into the pocket of a
corrupt EU official or bureaucrat. Quite frankly, I think it borders on the
criminal that successive Chancellors of the Exchequer have knowingly funded such
an organisation with no questions asked.
If you believe the Pro-EU groups and the mainstream media that, less the
Margaret Thatcher rebate, is the end of the story. Except it isn't. They
completely ignore the indirect costs to the individual. For example, there is
the cost to business of EU imposed regulations. These, as with any other
business costs, are passed on to us the consumers. The Chamber of Commerce and
the Federation of Small Businesses estimate this cost at between £20 and £30
billion per year. I am a generous soul so I will take the lower estimate. This
works out at another £333 per year for every man, woman and child in the
country.
Then there are the additional costs on our food bills due to the Common
Agricultural Policy. According to Peter Hain Labour MP, not a person well known
for his Euro-Sceptic views, these are running at £800 per year for the average
family. That is 2 adults and 2 children. The Chamber of Commerce estimates this
cost at £1000 per year but I will take the lower figure. There's another £200
per year for every man, woman and child in the country. So far I have reached a
minimum cost of £786.92 per individual per year and, I feel, it is starting to
get a bit expensive. I say minimum cost for 2 reasons. Firstly, in all cases I
have taken the lowest estimated cost. The second reason is that there is another
cost. That is the cost of implementing and administering EU regulations which
are not concerned with business. Things like EU Human Rights Legislation,
Regional Assemblies, the myriad of civil servants running around seeing to it
that we are all good little EUians and do not deviate in any way from the laid
down EU norm and so on. On this one I can find no information whatever. So far
as I am aware no Government agency or financial institution has ever even
attempted to make an estimate of this cost, probably because it is so
horrendous. As this constitutes the bulk of EU legislation it is not
unreasonable to assume that the costs of it are as much, if not more, than the
costs to business. I feel it might be an idea to have somebody with access to
more information than me to have a look into this aspect of the cost of our
continued membership of the EU. But, whatever the cost it is borne by the
taxpayer and so should be kept in mind.
I have excluded any money this country gets back from the EU on the grounds that
I am trying to work out how much it costs an individual to be in the EU and none
of this money winds up back in an individual's pocket. And there you have it.
At best, according to my calculations, you and I are paying a minimum of £786.92
and this, rather that billions, is a figure people can relate to. The Lib/Dems
call this good value for money which seems to me to be a curious interpretation
of the phrase.
LES WILLIAMS
CHRISTCHURCH