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PM says EU demand for £1.7bn "unacceptable"

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24th Oct 2014
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Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will refuse to meet EU demands that the UK should pay £1.7bn extra toward its budget. 

The demand came from a budget contribution recalculation, based on gross national income adjustments carried out by Eurostat. The EU said the UK had until 1 December to make the payment.

It showed that there was a large discrepancy between what Britain had been asked to contribute - £8.6bn - and what it should be paying due to its better than expected economic performance and recovery. 

PM Cameron said on Twitter that he was "angry" at the sudden presentation of a £1.7bn bill and wouldn't be paying it. 

"It's an appalling way to behave," he tweeted.

I'm angry at the sudden presentation of a €2bn bill to the UK by the EU. It's an appalling way to behave and I won't be paying it on Dec 1st

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) October 24, 2014

British and European commission officials had confirmed that the Treasury had been told last week about the calculations.

The Netherlands and Italy are other countries being asked to pay more, while France and Germany will receive a rebate.

As a result of the government's dissatisfaction, EU finance ministers have agreed to the UK's request for emergency talks, according to the Guardian. 

Replies (9)

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By ShirleyM
24th Oct 2014 22:33

France & Germany outwit us all the time

That's the polite version!

But then, they are the rulers of the EU, so I suppose we would have come out the losers whether we went for austerity, or not.

DC will pay the bill, after getting a mill or two knocked off, so he can claim a victory.

So, we have even more austerity on it's way folks, unless you are a big company or a high earner, then you can have a tax cut funded by the other taxpayers ... who happen to be staggering under the weight of austerity measures already! 

What brilliant timing for Farage.

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Locutus of Borg
By Locutus
24th Oct 2014 23:01

What's the worst that will happen?
What's the worst that will happen if we don't pay? We get kicked out of the EU? Big deal ... not.

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By ShirleyM
25th Oct 2014 06:47

If we can believe the news ...

... it's because they are now including the black economy in the figures. As this figure is  unmeasurable, then the EU can declare any figure it likes, and nobody can prove it is wrong. 

Now that's crafty!

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By User deleted
25th Oct 2014 09:38

Various EU Countries ...

@ShirleyM - as one newspaper rather crudely put it on the subject of the black economy - '.. more bang for your buck ..'

France - current position - Current forthcoming annual overspend 4.3% of GDP - EC limit 3% - sanctions against France NIL

Historic Dumping Debt - EU Sovereign Country Defaults

France - 3 defaults in 50 years
- no bond payments during WW II
- 1960 trashed Franc down to 100:1
- changed terms of 7% 'Giscard' repeatedly

Greece - in default for 52% of its history - 5 times
Whilst we are on the subject of Greece - what has the EU done about their questionable entry aided & abetted by Goldman Sachs - NOTHING

Spain - Top of the class for defaulting the most times in the last few hundred years - seems to be a national past time

France & Germany - both defaulted 8 times

Portugal - 5 defaults

Frankly all that is needed is for a country such as Greece to actually refuse its debts and this would set off a cascading collapse of the EU like a pack of cards

Italy - the elephant in the room - in the top 5 bond issuers in the world - debt & more debt! Unfortunately the rest of the EU banks are sitting on Italian rubbish debt - which is a problem

This is why the European Central Bank & Brussels always buckle under the real issues and will continue to do so, whilst deflecting focus by constantly sniping at the UK

Interestingly enough the UK doesn't even register on all the above statistics because the default is virtually zero

PS. and the unemployment stats (aged under 25 years old) for EU members for some of the above countries - Italy (60%) & Spain (50%) - are horrifying

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By ShirleyM
25th Oct 2014 10:05

Defaults

It's a very recent event that France defied the EU's demands to introduce austerity measures, and now they get an extra handout so they can carry on avoiding austerity, while the compliant UK pays for it!

Talk about hypocrisy and double dealings. The EU is an unelected dictator (and bottomless pit of money), that nobody in the UK wanted, or voted for.

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By User deleted
25th Oct 2014 15:56

EU is pimp of Europe – having their cut of illegal activities …

Good move by the EU by including the following in GDP – human trafficking, drugs, prostitution, child labour – let alone all the other nasty’s that make up a ‘black market’

So, by including the ‘black economy’ in its figures does the EU ratify or condone all the ensuing illegalities because one cannot have it both ways (illegal but want to profit from it anyway!) – furthermore, this approach could influence trying to stamp out these practices

It would facinating to know how the EU measures the increase in GDP as a result of say prostitution (is there a practical 'on the job' department & special regulatory body?) - anyway would this stance stand up in court especially if they could not provide proof of revenue

‘.. When drugs and prostitution are counted in calculating GDP, one could ask why the items in the basket are not increased. Forced labor, human trafficking and illegal organ trade are also elements of the black market. If drugs and prostitution are counted in calculating GDP, should a country also count forced labor and human trafficking in calculating GDP? However, there are strict laws enforced against these illegal activities worldwide. The addition of black market to the GDP basket leads the calculation to murky waters as it leaves the definition of black market to various interpretations. Also, it may open the Pandora's Box of the components of black market that should be counted in calculating GDP. A very careful analysis and contemplation need to be undertaken before counting the black market in calculating GDP ..’

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/oct/24/britains-two-billion-euro-bill-explained

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/salman-sakir/black-market-economy_b_5460936.html

Are the EU guilty in the first place of describing it as a 'black market' - definately not pc and possibly actionable as a slur on one sector of the community. So anyone feeling offended send your claim into the EU & Court of Human Rights - the ensuing bill would probably amount to far more than £1.7bn

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By ShirleyM
26th Oct 2014 08:02

UK recovery ... fact or fiction?

We are supposed to be in a recovery, but the majority of people are still struggling. Why are the majority of people not seeing any benefit from the recovery, and only see more hardship ahead? Osborne hasn't met his targets on reducing the deficit, yet he has cut services to the bone.

Has he massaged the figures to make it appear the UK is doing well? Is it just a PR exercise? 

If a bit more money were to filter down to the masses, then they would be able to buy goods & services that would boost the economy, instead of having to keep their money for the necessities of life, such as food, rent, light & heat.

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By User deleted
26th Oct 2014 09:09

Sort of fact …

It’s all about tax take

However, the main caveat is that although unemployment is low a great many of the jobs are for the low paid

Furthermore, instead of forcing our own nationals (on benefits) into these jobs the soft option of employing migrants has been taken - because employers would far rather have grafters from abroad than work-shy from the UK. This has a number of effects

Most of these jobs are on minimum wage and inevitably need a Government tax credit (more money out from the exchequer)Because these are lower paid jobs the ‘tax take’ is reduced (no money for the exchequer)No reduction in benefits to UK nationals so the UK benefits bills don’t reduceIntroduces a whole new group of migrant workers into the UK who then in time become eligible for NHS, child benefit, tax credit top-ups, housing & social security etc.Government borrowing goes through the roof to cover the lack of tax take

The real issue is that most of these jobs are low paid minimum wage (not living wage) and therefore when coupled with current personal allowance etc. the tax take is well down – also there has to be a Government hand-out to make these jobs viable

Therefore, the lack of a living wage results in the Government (taxpayer) underwriting businesses paying minimum wages – and any business where the employees require a Government hand-out to subsidise their wages is being underwritten by the taxpayer - back to the hidden subsidies for businesses

The acknowledged wisdom is that inward migration is good for a country because it generally tends to raise wages all round, and this is especially the case with the right type of migration (i.e. skilled). However, where there is no control over ones borders and the UK is forced to allow unskilled migrants whose are standard of living in their home country is way below the UK’s and are prepared to work for nothing just to get the benefits of the UK (NHS ...), then instead of becoming an advantage it becomes a drain on the whole system. They don’t pay tax, remit much of their earning abroad and have their wages toped up the Government – all revenue from the exchequer is outwards and therefore in the wrong direction

Tax revenue has generally been obtained from the middle (low paid get a hand-out & top earners find ways round) and in reality this middle-band has eroded by raising the personal allowances coupled with the tax-bands; so the taxable sector of the population has become less (also not helped by transfer pricing antics of multi-nationals on the corporate side)

This is broadly why the UK is in recovery but actually the ordinary person is receiving no benefit and potentially only future hardship

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By johnjenkins
27th Oct 2014 12:29

Wow, this is a

fantastic response and really shows the feelings of us all.

Get rid of a £50K a year earner and employ a £25k up and coming and £10k apprentice. So you put one on the dole and take two off and possibly get grant for apprentice. Oh yes you save £15k a year as well.

So unemployment down, tax take down, benefit payments very slightly down

Of course DC will pay (not by 1st December) he really has no option because he is committed to Euroland.

It's possibly the same countries that bled the USSR that are having a similar effect on the EU.

Anyway when Farage has his way (maybe he doesn't actually want that much power) we will certainly be out of the EU. What then? Does UKIP have a master plan?

Surely the EU isn't that blind that they can't see what is happening? Perhaps they are too arrogant to do something about it.

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