[BITList] Press release from Mike Nattrass, £53 million a day

[John Feltham]

PRESS RELEASE
WEST MIDLANDS MEP MIKE NATTRASS
Issue Date: Wednesday, August 1 2012
Visit Mike's web-site at: www.ukipmep.org <http://www.ukipmep.org/>  

West Midlands MEP Mike Nattrass says the pressure is mounting on Prime
Minister David Cameron to hold a straight In-Out EU referendum following the
publication of new Government figures which reveal Britain now sends £53
million a day to Brussels.

As Britain teeters on the brink of heading into an unprecedented triple-dip
recession and with the West Midlands region set to lose The Third Battalion
The Mercian Regiment (formerly the Staffords) as a result of Government
cuts, UKIP MEP Mike Nattrass says it is scandalous that £53 million is being
spent every day for Britain to remain a member of the wasteful EU club.

New figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that British
taxpayers’ paid out a massive gross contribution of £19.2 billion (£53
million a day) last year to the EU and only got just over £8 billion back in
subsidies.

Commenting on the figures, which were published in the annual ‘Pink Book’,
Mr Nattrass said it was “madness” to continue to pay an ever soaring EU
bill.

“As Britain is on the brink of heading into a triple dip recession and as
British taxpayers feel the pain of Government cuts it is scandalous that the
Lib-Con coalition is wasting escalating amounts of money to stuff into the
coffers of the EU,” he said.

“It is madness. How is it beneficial to our economy to put more money into
something that gives you less back in return?
“In February the ‘Osborne’s Choice’ report (produced by the right-wing
think-tank the Social Market Foundation) recommended discontinuing free bus
travel for the over 60s to save £1 billion a year. 

“Just last month, the Government came under fire when Cameron ally MP Nick
Boles said savings could be made through means-testing universal benefits
such as free prescriptions and bus travel for the elderly.

“You don’t need to be an economic genius to see Britain would be better off
out of the EU. We would save £53 million a day and billions of pounds a year
at a stroke. It is time to put the interests of the British people and the
British economy first. 

“It is time for the Government to listen to the vast majority of British
people who want a say on Britain ’s role in Europe . There should be a
straight In-Out EU referendum.”   

Notes to editors:
Last year, UKIP MEP Mike Nattrass, Independent MEP Nikki Sinclaire and
Trevor Colman MEP travelled to London to deliver a petition of 100,000
signatures calling for a straight In or Out EU referendum. 

The petition, which was launched in the West Midlands by Nikki Sinclaire,
was presented to Number 10 Downing Street last September by the MEPs and
likeminded MPs from across the political spectrum. The move triggered a
Commons debate.



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