Nigel has today spoken out against today’s announcement that Britain will be expected to contribute an extra £1.7 bn to the EU budget, with Germany and France receiving a rebate of £614 million and £801 million respectively. The budget demand from the European Commission comes as Britain’s economy has performed better than expected over the past four years, relative to other EU member states.
Speaking this afternoon Mr Evans said, “I welcome the Prime Minister’s intervention this afternoon to say that Britain will not pay this money. It is ridiculous for this country to be presented a bill for over 2 billion euros and be told to pay it by 1 December. At a time when the Government is facing difficult spending decisions on public services, the demand for extra money from Brussels just shows how out of touch the EU is.
The last time the British people had a say on our relationship with the EU was nearly 40 years ago, when it was a common trading area and not a supranational political organisation. Today’s announcement just shows that it is high-time that we reform our relationship with the EU and give the British people the referendum they need, deserve and want.”