Did I really hear an EU apparatchik telling us on the Today show (08:34) that the UK has benefitted from the EU, receiving £70 billion in benefits from it, whilst the UK gives the EU a mere £6.7 billion?
Sure I did hear that.
What I didn’t hear was any challenge to that, quite obviously, misleading ‘Fact’.
Even the Guardian admits the UK pays in more than it receives:
The UK contributes much more than it receives too, about €4.7bn more.
The UK’s contribution…..£11.273 billion
The UK’s receipts from EU…..£6.570 billion
It’s all ‘a question of the definition’ as the apparatchik claimed.
I made this observation on the “Question Time” post but I am glad to receive confirmation that my ears were not deceiving me
” This morning on the Today programme, some EU person called Helmut was being interviewed by Humphries about how ungrateful the Brits are not to cough up a miserable £1.7bn into their coffers when we are already taking £70bn out and only paying in £6.7bn. It sounded such a good deal that he repeated these figures twice without being challenged by Humphries that we are, in fact, one of the few net contributors.
Humphries then went on to challenge our man about the fact that the EU accounts had never been signed off. Usual load of bluff and guff about the extremely efficient accounting practices of the EU but still no explanation as to why they had not been signed off.
We did, of course, have the opportunity of resolving this problem when the Welsh Wind Bag was appointed Vice President for Administrative Reform and the AUDIT but, as would have been expected from the worst Prime Minister we never had, all that he achieved was to ensure that the Kinnock clan got on to the EU Gravy Train and are now living happily ever after and great cost to the net contributors to the EU – namely us.”
I thought Humphrys did well to challenge on the state of the EU accounts and wasn’t fooled by the eurocrat’s lies. However the claim of the UK getting some £70B back from the EU was so ludicrous it should have been challenged.
Despite its sizeable Economics/Business section, BBC does not explore the economic distortions and inefficiencies of the European Union having a common external tariff.
Such a structure prevent Britain from buying and selling goods globally at the lowest prices.
http://www.civitas.org.uk/europe/MichaelBurrageEU.php
I also commented on this topic on the ‘Question Time’ thread. The reason I have only got to this thread at a late stage, is that I actually tried to do a little research to back up what I was saying in criticising the EU shill’s figures …. something the BBC clearly cannot even be bothered to do. The BBC – disinformation at its very best these days.
Yes, that was a whopper, wasn’t it?
To be fair to Humphrys, I got the impression he didn’t believe it either but didn’t have the figures to hand to challenge it. Evidently they have no-one around at the BBC to go and find out during the interview. Or don’t think it matters.
‘Evidently they have no-one around at the BBC to go and find out during the interview.’
Maybe they need £4 Billion and 25 grand more next funding round to get a new researcher?
Mind you, she may well spend more time following her conscience Tower Hamlets way.
I truly don’t belive we will have to worry about these outrageous statements of what we give and get from the eu for to much longer. The euro is on its way to collapse soon and hopefully the eu parliment disbanded in some sensible way were none of the mep’s recieve their gold plated pensions. If we have mr Farage in no10 by then ,he will have steered us away from the ensuing crisis. All the bbc europhiles can then hang their heads in shame in the dole office explaining what they would be good for in a democratic , vibrant UK.
Just by chance I did hear that statement. And there’s me thinking we have a HUGE balance of payments for goods deficit with the EU. I suppose by unaudited EU accounting rules that has just disappeared.
What BBC-NUJ and other pro-E.U organisations rarely mention-
“EU External Trade Policy”
http://www.civitas.org.uk/eufacts/FSEXR/EC6.php