UK '£9bn worse off' over EU rebate

Monday, November 09, 2009

The UK is £9.3bn worse off because of the decision by former prime minister Tony Blair to back down on the European Union rebate four years ago, according to House of Commons researchers.

They have produced figures which suggest Britain lost out on €10.5bn by not having the rebate between 2007 and 2013 – the equivalent of £344 for every family in the UK.

The figures have been acquired by Tory MP James Clappison, a member of the House of Commons' European scrutiny committee. Clappison said: "Every household will pay the price for years to come. This demonstrates a complete failure to stand up for Britain's interests."

The Tory shadow Europe minister Mark Francois said: "These figures starkly demonstrate just how much of British taxpayers' hard earned money was signed away by Tony Blair in 2005 for nothing concrete in return. Blair gave up a significant slice of the rebate which Margaret Thatcher fought so hard to achieve and his action represents another example of how weak Labour have been in representing us in Europe. There are now plans floating around in Brussels for scrapping the UK's rebate altogether."

Mats Persson, spokesman for Open Europe, commented: "[This money] would certainly have come in handy at a time when the UK is facing a massive public deficit, and every tax penny counts. Taxpayers will not be pleased at this news. What really flies in the face of British taxpayers is that Tony Blair gave up billions of their money in return for absolutely nothing."