Sigh.
No other bills will go through in this time. The place will be a morgue, with only a clutch of the living dead on their feet for hour after hour. A daily three-line whip will fray MPs\’ tempers, but any amendment means the whole treaty falls – here, and right across Europe.
So, err, The Mother of Parliaments gets to discuss, but not change by even one comma, a bill….and it\’s a good thing that they cannot change it?
Many Tories talk up a new, looser relationship, free-trading like Norway in the European economic area. But Norway pays dearly as a big net contributor, getting no grants in return and no seat to share in EU decision-making.
Does Norway make a higher or lower net contribution than the UK?
In all 26 member states, the Tories\’ only allies are Greek communists, Dutch animal rights and Sinn Féin.
And, as the polls show, a substantial portion of the British public (those stating that they would vote no in a referendum). That\’s an important thing to miss out really.
Out of fear and populism, Labour never sold voters the value of the EU –
Indeed, we are still waiting for someone to show us the cost benefit analysis. Like to try Polly?
Meanwhile, it leaves the Tories with an impossible policy that leads only to the EU exit door.
Oh well, if that\’s the outcome, bring it on then!
Norway’s contribution/market access fee was £151 million in 2004, as against the UK’s net contribution of £4.3 billion, according to this:
http://www.brugesgroup.com/mediacentre/comment.live?article=243
Or c.£33 per Norwegian against our c.£72 per person.
Of course that doesn’t count the cost of implementing some of teh arrant nonsense that comes with full membership.
GS, Norway has to pay a market access fee because it is a net exporter to the EU. The UK on the other hand is a net importer, and so I am sure we could haggle them down to half that, say £16 per person x 60 million = £1 billion a year.
Small change in the grander scheme of things. Gunter Verheugen admitted that the compliance costs were about 5% of EU-wide GDP (or some such frightening figure) etc etc.
We need to bale out of this vehicle for one very important reason- none of us is driving it. It is under the control of a class of uebermensch who were elected by no-one.
It is interesting to note that Belgium has been without a constitutionally mandated government for some months now, and the only problem resulting from this state of affairs is the lack of any minister to rubber stamp the dictates of the EU.
We don’t need this shogunate. All we need is a lot of wicker men and plenty of fine kindling.