Our infinitely argued over EU membership cost...
A) It's £9 billion a year. Cue hair tearing, shirt rending etc.
B) It's 37p per person per day - screaming bargain, considering everything it gave us.
A) & B) are the same. All in the framing! (And neither is the full picture.)
A) It's £9 billion a year. Cue hair tearing, shirt rending etc.
B) It's 37p per person per day - screaming bargain, considering everything it gave us.
A) & B) are the same. All in the framing! (And neither is the full picture.)
Both A) and B) miss the bigger picture because, although they're the net membership cost, they don't capture any of the value of EU membership outside of the money flowing directly back to us.
For example, firms saved a fortune with zero friction trade.
For example, firms saved a fortune with zero friction trade.
Indeed, HMRC's own figures suggest extra costs of £7.5 billion/year in paperwork and red tape if customs checks are introduced and trade with the EU is no longer frictionless. That means EU membership was worth £7.5 billion/year to UK firms in lower admin costs. (Not captured!)
That's just ONE example. EU membership brought dozens and dozens of benefits that had real value, but because that value wasn't as simple as "money being sent back to the UK" it wasn't recorded in the net cost of our membership.
It's like dental insurance, for example. Might cost £10/month, but if you have a "bad teeth day" you could save a fortune. If you limit yourself to looking at the monthly premium cost, you're not capturing any of the value of not being stiffed with a huge bill in an emergency.
Take a look at some of the things we used to have as EU members. There's a list in the embedded tweet, but it's not an exhaustive one.
All the items have "real value" but almost none of them will have been reflected in our supposed cost of EU membership.
All the items have "real value" but almost none of them will have been reflected in our supposed cost of EU membership.
