By IAN DRURY The European Union is costing Britain a staggering £106,000 a minute, a think-tank has revealed. As the UK teeters on the brink of what experts predict will be the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression, the Government has surrendered £55.8billion to Brussels this year. That is equivalent to paying a whopping £900 for every man, woman and child in the country. Cutting back on payments to the EU could fund a 6p cut in income tax, according to a hard-hitting report by the Eurosceptic Bruges Group. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn called it a 'missed opportunity' when ministers gave up £7billion of the UK's EU budget rebate They branded it a 'scandal' that Britain was contributing so much money to the super-state when struggling families were being forced to tighten their belts as recession looms. UK Independent Party MEP Gerard Batten, who wrote the report for the think-tank, said: 'As we enter what looks like the most serious economic crisis since 1929 membership of the European Union is a luxury that the British people simply cannot afford. 'It is clear that the EU is holding up economic recovery. To get Britain out of recession, we must get Britain out of the EU.' Robert Oulds, director of the Bruges Group, said: 'There is a desperate need to reinvigorate the British economy by reducing the burden of taxation. 'Slowly, all three main political parties are beginning to realise this but none have come up with a convincing plan as to how this can be done. 'Now that the costs of EU membership have been exposed, we now know that the tax cuts that are so desperately needed can partly be found by freeing us from EU control.' The report, published today, calculated that the full financial cost to Britain of being part of the EU was £55.8billion - up £400million on the previous year. This was made up of the Treasury's £4.7billion net contribution to Brussels, plus a £3billion handout to other EU bodies, such as the European Space Agency and the European Investment Bank. The controversial Common Agricultural Policy costs the UK an additional £16.8billion while the Common Fisheries Policy adds up to another £3.3billion. Some of this is paid direct to the EU, whilst being part of the policies means food on our tables is more expensive. Finally, red tape imposed by the EU has cost British business about £28billion, according to statistics calculated by the European Commission's vice-chairman Günter Verheugen. The Bruges Group says that leaving the EU would boost tax revenue and free-up sufficient funds to allow the Government to cut the basic rate of income tax by 6p. Experts feel we are heading for the world's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression The report was unveiled as the Conservatives blasted the Government's failure to shake up the Common Agricultural Policy. Ministers gave up £7billion of the UK’s EU budget rebate on the grounds that the farming system would be reformed. But this did not happen - a failure Environment Secretary Hilary Benn conceded is a 'missed opportunity'. The Tories also revealed how the Government missed a crucial opportunity to influence the reforms by failing to send a minister to a key European summit on the issue last May. 'The failure to secure sustainable reform comes with a huge price-tag, at a time when the UK economy can ill afford it.' He said it was 'absolutely indefensible' that UK ministers did not attend the crunch talks. 'The UK should be at the forefront of these talks on the CAP, food security and environmental protection, not just to promote the interests of British farming, but to ensure that EU policy most effectively responds to the challenges of rising demand for food,' he said.EU is costing Britain £106K a MINUTE - that's £900 for each man, woman and child in the UK
Last updated at 6:47 PM on 20th November 2008
Shadow agriculture minister Jim Paice said: 'The Government gave up £7billion of taxpayers' money for vague promises of common agricultural policy reform which it has signally failed to achieve.
Friday, 21 November 2008
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