Tuesday, August 08, 2017
Exposing the Brexit lies
The racist and misleading campaign by Brexiteers may well have been enough to win the referendum in June 2016 but it has come apart at the seams ever since.
In particular the much-mocked and untrue claim on the side of a bus that leaving the EU would lead to an extra £350m a week to invest in the NHS was debunked fairly quickly. None of the UK Ministers who made that pledge are prepared to deliver on their promise, which begs the question as to why they continue to promote the leave agenda?
The Independent has now published figures which highlight what nonsense that claim was. They say that Britain is paying the European Union less than half the sum claimed by Brexit campaigners. The UK’s net contribution has fallen to its lowest level for five years, at just £8.1bn in 2016-17 – or about £156m a week.
Furthermore, the £8.1bn sum for the annual bill would fall further if the Treasury figures included payments from Brussels into private-sector organisations in the UK. The Horizon 2020 scientific research programme and funding for education, training, youth and sport through the Erasmus+ scheme together receive about £1.5bn annually.
It is time for an apology from Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and their cronies.
In particular the much-mocked and untrue claim on the side of a bus that leaving the EU would lead to an extra £350m a week to invest in the NHS was debunked fairly quickly. None of the UK Ministers who made that pledge are prepared to deliver on their promise, which begs the question as to why they continue to promote the leave agenda?
The Independent has now published figures which highlight what nonsense that claim was. They say that Britain is paying the European Union less than half the sum claimed by Brexit campaigners. The UK’s net contribution has fallen to its lowest level for five years, at just £8.1bn in 2016-17 – or about £156m a week.
Furthermore, the £8.1bn sum for the annual bill would fall further if the Treasury figures included payments from Brussels into private-sector organisations in the UK. The Horizon 2020 scientific research programme and funding for education, training, youth and sport through the Erasmus+ scheme together receive about £1.5bn annually.
It is time for an apology from Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and their cronies.
