- Firstly, there is no such thing as 'EU money'. There is only taxpayers' money, and the UK is always a net contributor to the EU budget. Every single year (except for one), we've paid in far more than we got out. As stated before, Germany always pays the most, with Britain usually in the top three or four. The one and only year that we got more out than we paid in was 1975. 'Coincidentally', 1975 was the last time we had a Referendum on membership ...
- The EU's own figures 11 show that out of the 37 British regions (as classified under the EU's system for 'Regional Aid'), 35 are net contributors to the fund. Only two regions, West Wales and Cornwall, are net beneficiaries. In total, the UK gets back £1 for every £3.55 we pay in.
- Over the budgetary period 2007-2013, the UK paid in about £29.5 billion, but received only £8.7 billion in return. Many of Britain's poorest and most deprived regions are subsidising the regions of other EU member states.
- Neither is this money well spent: between 2007 and 2013, the European Regional Development Fund's payments to Wales totalled £2 billion, yet the effect on unemployment in Wales was insignificant.
We would be better off not giving the money to the EU and instead deciding how to spend British tax-payers' money to best effect ourselves, in our own country.
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