One thing the campaigns disagree on is the real cost of our membership. So how much money do we put in and how much of it do we get back? I've been taking a closer look at some of the latest figures from the Treasury to try to get to the bottom of it.
We'll know what this is it's a twenty pound note and this is what three hundred sixty one million looks like in twenty pound notes and if you believe the headlines. That's what we're handing over to the E.U. every week or is it. Well the short answer is No The UK doesn't hand over this much money to the E.U.. Let me explain in Nineteen Eighty-Four Margaret Thatcher negotiated the rebate and instant discount taken from the money the UK pays before it sent in twenty fourteen the rebate was worth eighty five million pounds a week leaving two hundred seventy six million being sent to the E.U. but that's not the full story because the money flows in both directions. Every week the UK Treasury gets eighty eight million pounds from the E.U. and it's divided up into five main areas fifty million pounds of that is spent on farming and fisheries. Most of it goes directly to farmers to keep them in business another eleven million pounds goes to rural development to help them improve and maintain life in the countryside every week twenty million pounds is spent on developing less prosperous parts of the country is spent on things like transport infrastructure and helping businesses to grow five million pounds goes to social development tackling things like poverty and unemployment and the money goes to education and training and that last piece two million pounds goes to other E.U. projects here in the UK we're talking about things like medical research or low carbon energy funds so. If we subtract what the UK Treasury gets back. We end up with a weekly contribution of one hundred eighty eight million pounds but the UK private sector also gets money from the E.U. in three main areas in scientific research in university funding and in engineering projects add that up and it's twenty seven million pounds a week. That means when you take away the rebate the E.U. money is sent to the Treasury and the private sector funding one hundred sixty one million pounds a week is going to the E.U. So how does that stack up when every week the U.K. spends eight hundred twenty one million pounds on defence it spends one point four billion pounds on education on the N.H.S. two point six billion pounds and on top of that it spends three point six billion pounds on pensions. So the price of E.U. membership one hundred sixty one million pounds a week. Is it worth it for the vote is with the side.
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