Author Archives: Richard Dean

Richard Dean is a civil engineering consultant who lives and works in Wales, Spain, and the Caribbean. After 30 years as a staunch Labour supporter he joined the LibDems a few years ago. He recently left but would rejoin if things change.
Richard Dean

Opinion: What do we get from the EU for £33 million a day?

By Richard Dean | Tue 17th June 2014 - 8:50 am

eu_flagUKIP claim that we pay £55 million per day to be a member of the EU. My UKIP neighbours ask what we get back for that money. What should I tell them?

First off, it seems we get about £22 million a day back in cash, in the form of grants and subsidies. But even UKIP neighbours can do simple arithmetic. That leaves a net cost of about £33 million per day, or about 50p per day on average for every man, woman, and child in the UK. What do …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 117 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Kira Collins
    “ and will perhaps attract votes in other areas that could deprive Reform or the Conservatives of vital votes that keep their total number of MPs down?’” ...
  • Kira Collins
    @David Raw “ And how, Kira, would you define “the basics of life” My grandfather used to tell me that when he attended school, he used to go in bare f...
  • Tom Reeve
    I read Mike’s email with interest. It started well before sliding into more of the same. Strong analysis on the campaign model, and the point that demogra...
  • Tom Reeve
    You can talk about Gini coefficients and wealth and income per decile until you’re blue in the face. The core issue exercising most voters is fairness and pow...
  • Peter Martin
    @ Iain, There is common ground on the federal question insofar as we agree that it could work. A federal system works well in Australia. The Aus...