Britannia Radio

The EU is always there , always controlling us from afar (The Post 
Office row is the latest) and the cost is mighty.  Cameron will not 
grasp the nettle over our membership and in despair many will be 
turning to the BNP.

However, Ganley's Libertas is coming on the scene (see second posting 
below) and although not radical enough for many stopping the Lisbon 
Treaty would be a step in the right dfirection.  Cameron could stop 
this desertion if he wanted to.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 8.3.09
EU membership costs each Briton £2,000 a year, Taxpayers' Alliance 
claims
Britain's membership of the European Union costs almost £2,000 a year 
for every person in the country, a report has claimed.

By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent

The Taxpayers' Alliance figures for the cost of belonging to the EU 
are much higher than the narrow budget contributions reported by the 
Treasury.

The UK pays more than £6 billion a year in direct support for the 
European Commission and other EU projects.

The TPA says the real cost of EU membership is actually many times that.

The group, which argues for lower Government spending, says that the 
true price of being an EU member comes in the cost to British 
businesses in complying with European regulations, the cost of 
Government bureaucracy to administer those rules, and other 
consequences of membership like food prices inflated by farm subsidies.

The European Commission has estimated that the cost of the European 
project is around £188 for every person in the EU.

However, according to a Matthew Elliott, the TPA chief executive, the 
total cost across the EU is £495 billion or £1,968 for ever man woman 
and child in Europe,

Mr Elliot makes his claims in a new book, The Great European Rip-Off.

Mr Elliot said: "The EU's waste, mismanagement and incompetence costs 
all of us a fortune. It's wrong that these unaccountable bureaucrats 
are allowed to run up such a huge bill for ordinary people, 
particularly with everyone struggling in a recession."

Figures disclosed in last year's Budget show that in 2007-08, Britain 
made a net payment of £4.1 billion to the EU and its institutions.

In 2008-09, the net payment was projected at £6.1 billion. In 
2009-10, it will be £6.4 billion.

Since then, the pound has slumped against the euro and since the 
membership fee is paid in euros, the real cost to the UK has increased.

The Treasury disputed the TPA figures, saying Mr Elliott had not 
properly considered the advantages of membership.

A spokesman said: "The report grossly inflates the cost of EU 
membership and completely ignores the fact that we derive significant 
economic benefit from our membership of the EU."
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POLITICS HOME    8.3.09
Politics Show, BBC 1 at 13:00
Ganley: Libertas to fight Euro polls in UK

Declan Ganley, Libertas Chairman

Mr Ganley confirmed he would on Tuesday be announcing Libertas 
intends to stand candidates in the Euro elections in the UK in June 
on an anti-Lisbon Treaty ticket.

The millionnaire businessman said it was important to give voters the 
chance to demand a referendum on the Treaty and only a pan-EU party 
could do that properly.

"Libertas is setting up as a pan-European party with members across 
all 27 states. We are making announcements on Tuesday," he said.

Asked if he planned to stand candidates in every UK seat, he said: 
"That would be ideal. We will have to see."

The most important thing was to bring together members from all over 
Europe in order to change things - something a domestic party like 
the Tories could not do.

"You have to have big numbers in the European parliament to ensure 
this anti-democratic system in Brussels is fixed," he said.