Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

is there a downside to other members of the EU of Britain opting out?

UK has sixth highest level of so-called ‘disallowance’ payments of any country in the EU, as a proportion of the funding it received, House of Commons Public Accounts Committee report reveals.
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Britain has paid back £2.70 in fines for every £100 it received from the European Union in funding for farming and rural development, according to a report by MPs.

Over the last decade, at least £650m worth of penalties have been incurred from the European Commission because Government departments wrongly spent EU funding, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said.
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Vote Leave chief executive, Matthew Elliott, said: “‘We hand to £350 million pounds to Brussels every week. Some of that money does get sent back to the UK, but it is not necessarily spent on our priorities and it is laden with strict rules and conditions. Even worse, the EU often fines us if we don’t do exactly what Brussels says.”

James McGrory, Chief Campaign Spokesman for Stronger In, said: “As this report demonstrates, the UK benefits from billions of pounds of EU funding for our farmers, universities and small businesses, which would be lost if we leave.”

Britain should leave the European Union even if Treasury figures suggesting families will lose an average of £150 a month turn out to be true, the head of one of the Leave campaigns has said.

Arron Banks, co-founder of Leave.EU, appeared before the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday to explain the economic costs and benefits of the European Union.

The millionaire businessman and former Tory-turned Ukip donor was asked by Labour MP Rachel Reeves whether the loss of £150 per household was a “price worth paying”.

“I think it’s 21p an hour, about £5 a day, £150 a month – I think many of our constituents would regard £150 a month as quite a substantial amount of money – money that they couldn’t afford to be without,” she said.

“But you would say to those people that £150 a month is a price worth paying for leaving the European Union?”

After a minute of grilling, Mr Banks replied: “This isn’t about pounds and pence, this is about our democracy.

“I would say the figure is massively incorrect but if it was to be the case I would still advocate leaving.”

The OECD has estimated that departure would cost the average household a month’s salary, £2,200, by the end of the decade.
The OECD’s policy paper said that even before the EU’s formal departure from the EU, which the thinktank assumes would happen in late 2018, the UK would be hurt by weaker confidence and more expensive credit.

Once the terms of a “divorce” settlement had been agreed, Britain would face higher trade barriers and feel the early impact of restrictions on immigration, it predicts.

“By 2020, GDP would be over 3% smaller than [with continued EU membership], equivalent to a cost per household of £2,200 [at today’s prices],” the OECD added. The rest of the EU would see GDP shaved by one percentage point by the decade’s end.

It added that in the longer term, UK labour productivity would be slower because there would be less inward investment and restrictions on labour mobility would create a smaller pool of skills.

The European Union would insist on completing a swift divorce with Britain before starting to forge any new relationship if UK voters decide in June to leave the 28-member bloc.

Two EU sources familiar with the bloc's latest thinking on a possible Brexit told Reuters on Thursday there was no appetite to grant any extension of the two years provided by the EU's Lisbon Treaty for negotiating a withdrawal, while any new trade partnership would take many more years to conclude.
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British Europe minister David Lidington, who supports the "Remain" camp, said on Thursday it was doubtful whether Britain would get any trade agreement with the EU within 10 years.

However, "Leave" supporters have argued that the EU would have to conclude a quick free trade deal with London since the continent has a big trade surplus with the UK and stood to lose exports if tariff barriers were introduced.

Most don't think so.

I remember when the discussion about the UK entering the EEC was discussed in England in the 60's. Since that time, I've always thought, they never would like to be "Europeans".

about 80% of our GDP trade is with ourselves.

Scaremongering.

BMW, BOSCH, SIEMENS, VOLKSWAGON etc etc would be banging on Merkel's door within hours of any Brexit, demanding that their massive exports to us be safeguarded.


The same with French Wine producers, Champagne exporters, cheese producers, beer producers etc.....they would be straight on to Hollande.




Classic scaremongering.


What people have to remember is that about 80% of our GDP trade is with ourselves.
Approx 20% is export, less than half of which is with the EU.

There is a hell of a difference in living in a fully self governing democratic European country which enjoys free trade with its European neighbours, and living in a European country where laws are made and imposed from outside.

I want full democracy restored to Britain, and I want Britain to be fully self governing again, living by its own laws. End of.