Gordon's Latest EU Brownie........
Iain Dale 6:40 PM
Thanks to The Times Fact Check, we now know the truth.
April 26, 2010
Labour fact check: the benefits of the EU
Labour claim: Three million jobs depend on our membership of the European Union. Half our trade is with the European Union.
Fact Check: The key word in Gordon Brown's argument is "membership". He is correct that half our trade is with the EU: last year Britain exported goods and services worth [£3.4bn to the EU, and imported £3.5bn - out of total global trade of £14bn]*. But where does the three million jobs figure come from? And would they really disappear if we left the EU?
A quick google search shows that the three million figure was also popular with Tony Blair - who quoted it on several occasions - so it may not be terribly up to date. Where did he get it from? That is less clear. Especially as the same google search also flags up a document from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills that claims the EU single market has created 2.75 million jobs - across the whole continent.
Civitas, the think tank believe that Blair's original estimate came from looking simply at those jobs that depend on EU trade. There is no particular reason to believe that all - or even most - of that trade would stop if we left the EU. It would, in fact, be extremely strange if it did. So three million jobs might depend on the EU, but that doesn't mean they depend on Britain's membership of the EU.
Pork Pie rating: 4 out of 5
*UPDATE: As several people have pointed out, the above figures for EU trade are suspiciously low. That's because they're wrong. I made a decimal point error.
Our balance of payments with the EU in 2008 was £140bn exported in goods and £180bn imported, £68bn exported in services and £80bn imported, and £120bn versus £92bn in income.
POSTED BY TOM WHIPPLE ON APRIL 26, 2010 IN FACTCHECKER |PERMALINK
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