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Dave Boozle 8:08 Fri Oct 24
Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

Surely this is a point of no return now for Cameron? He can use this as an excuse to bring forward the in / out referendum to 2015 and neuter the UKIP vote.

We already pay £8.5bn a year so bringing it forward two years saves us £17bn if we leave, so double bonus.

Will be interesting to see whether we pay or not, and the consequences if we say no.

mashed in maryland 4:56 Mon Nov 10
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

alphaharps 10:14 Fri Nov 7

Tories are always gonna be pro-EU.

The only difference between them and Labour is that they're willing to give the people a chance to decide.

Labour don't have enough respect for the general public to do that.

SLC 4:53 Mon Nov 10
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

In the last week Osborne has staked out three positions which show the character of the man – duplicitous, machiavellian, dishonest.

First he claimed that he had turned the £1.7bn EU budget bill into a triumph by factoring in Britain’s budget rebates in Europe which halved the amount due. This canard unravelled almost as soon as Osborne uttered it. Several other ministers at the EU meeting insisted that no-one, including Osborne, had actually contested the £1.7bn charge and that no discount had been awarded.

What actually happened is that Osborne rushed out of the meeting, immediately made his statement to the press (which the BBC sycophantically, but wrongly, repeated almost verbatim) , and then left to return to the UK without taking any questions. The truth is that Britain’s automatic rebate on gross contributions to the EU budget, which have operated since 1980, would have been granted anyway and had nothing to do with Osborne’s arguments – or rather non-arguments since he never raised any objections anyway. The whole exercise was simply an Osborne ploy to pretend that he had fought and thwarted the dire plans of the EU.

Second, he made a disingenuous announcement that he was improving tax transparency by letting taxpayers at different income levels know what the tax they paid was spent on. It looked like an innocent attempt to extend useful and relevant information to the public. He would issue an ‘annual tax statement’ to every household showing where their taxes went. Thus someone earning £30,000 a year will be told that £1,663 goes on ‘welfare’ and £892 on ‘health’, i.e. nearly twice as much on ‘scroungers’ as on health.

What Osborne does not say is that welfare lumps together expenditures of a wholly different kind. No less than 46% of it goes on pensions which pensioners have earned by paying national insurance contributions throughout their working lives. Only 3% goes to the unemployed. Osborne’s vaunted ‘transparency’ is in reality a cynical pre-election ploy to win support for further cuts and to turn voters against Labour.

Third, he reiterated yet again the need for still deeper cuts to pay down the deficit. What he didn’t say is that as a result of the very deep cuts he’s already made the deficit this year is not falling at all, but actually going up because falling household incomes have meant that the government’s tax take is now being eroded. What he also didn’t say is that if the rationale for austerity is to pay down the deficit, there’s no point in continuing with austerity if it’s now causing the deficit to go up.

Valley Hammer 10:33 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

The difference is Labour don't try and hide their love of the glorious European Union. They are always happy to spend the taxpayers money, knowing someone else will have to be held to account for it.

CamHam 10:25 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

The funny thing is, if Cameron had refused to pay (at any time, not delayed it) he would've attracted back a lot of disaffected Tories now voting UKIP. As it stands now, he'll lose more Tories to UKIP.

But I'm still laughing at Balls having a go at the Conservatives for paying it. He'd have paid no ifs or buts. But then there is little difference between the two parties nowadays....

Valley Hammer 10:17 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

After 8;

whichever way you and Cameron/Osborne want to spin it, the fact is we are £1.7 million out of pocket, whether that be on 1st December or whenever it gets paid next year. That is a fucking lot of money for us to pay out to a corrupt and self-serving club from which we gain little benefit that could not be earned if we were out of it.

This is more fuel for UKIP to use not only in Rochester but in the General Election.

Cameron must thing we just came up the river in a banana boat, whilst Farage will be lapping it up.

Far Cough 10:16 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

No absolutely not, it's clear even to Stevie Wonder that you were talking about not paying it AT ALL

After8 10:15 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

you know i meant December.

i think I've been pretty clear today on my thoughts.

it's a bad deal. it is going to ensure we lose Rochester and is likely to provoke more defections. it is an act of political insanity and the week after Rochester will make or break Cameron. he's got to do something spectacular. at the moment I'm not seeing anything.

alphaharps 10:14 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

It's plain to see , if you want out the EU then vote UKIP.
They are the only party with the conviction to leave .
No point wasting your vote with the Tories or even Labour, if you want out, vote UKIP

Far Cough 10:09 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

Ok then, how about this?


Toe Rag 9:39 Fri Oct 24
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec
Cameron wold however need to rapidly grow a spine.

And so, he'll pay. He'll pay and he'll whimper about it not being fair but he'll pay.

The treacherous beast.

After8 9:40 Fri Oct 24
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec
I bet you he won't.

And if he did he'd be sacked by his own mps.

I really don't think you realise what's going on. He's on a tightrope as it is. This could finish him completely.

The Conservative party will not under any circumstance accept this increase. Any Tory pm agreeing to this deal will be out on his ear.

We want to win the next election.

Can you seriously see us winning it after giving the eu 1.7 billion extra and with no retaliation of an immediate in or out referendum? We would get smashed.



Again, no mention of December, it's clear you were talking about outright not paying it

After8 10:06 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

claret

the commission didn't include the rebate at the start but that's a technicality the public won't care about.

we've got to find 850 million we don't have. that's a disgrace.
no wonder people want a referendum.

Far Cough 10:06 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

"Sven if he pays, which he won't he will face a leadership contest."

There is no mention of December there is there?

You're as bad as Cameron

After8 10:03 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

I'm not sure what part of we shouldn't pay a penny and should tell them to bugger off you didn't understand.

so I'll be clear.

this is complete and utter mess.
Cameron isn't paying 1.7 billion on Dec 1st.
but the deal today isn't good enough.
I'm thoroughly disappointed.
we shouldn't give them a penny more.
I'd vote to leave the eu tomorrow.

would you vote to leave cough?

claret on my shirt 10:03 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

So basically we are paying half the £1.7b and using our rebate which is normally half of what we put in, to pay the other half of the $1.7b. Which in a nutshell means we are paying the £1.7b we're just using funds from else where to pay it and telling the not so bright British Public that they are only paying half.

In the meantime not only are the Tories paying Brussels an extra £1.7b of our hard earnt taxes the foreigners keep pouring into our country putting massive strain on services etc while many people in this country struggle week by week to get by. Seems to me Brussels are rubbing our noses in it!

Lastly it will like be the people who are struggling now under all the cuts who will most likely suffer the most as the UK has to find another £1.7b to pay Europe.

Far Cough 9:56 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

Wriggle

Squirm

You should apply to be his spin artist

After8 9:55 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

he's not paying 1.7 billion on December 1 is he?


mind you i don't agree with today's plan. it's pathetic and will bite Cameron on the arse.

Far Cough 9:51 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

After8 9:25 Fri Oct 24
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec
Sven if he pays, which he won't he will face a leadership contest.

The Conservative party has a short fuse when it comes to the eu and particularly when it comes to requests for more money to spend on wasteful socialist projects.

There is not a cats in bells chance of Cameron being able to bend over.

After8 9:49 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

i said he shouldn't pay it. he shouldn't.

i also said he'll be in trouble if he caves. post Rochester the party's going to lynch him. people are keeping quiet because Milibands in the shit so there's every reason to wait, particularly if we do lose Rochester.

Cameron's just used up the goodwill he built from a successful conference.

After8 9:45 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

valley Cameron could survive an election and remain PM if he sets out a clear strategy for EU reform and brings the referendum forward.

I think we'll be the largest party. Ukip is eating into the labour vote as are the snp and the greens while Ukip is reaching its limit on the number of tory voters it has plus some Tories will come back though only an idiot thinks they all will do.

we'll probably poll around 35,36% again. of course i'd love us to get 40 and a majority but that's unlikely.

The party doesn't come well out of this fiasco. You can't trumpet today's result because all the public will hear is
the EU taking more money.

Far Cough 9:44 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

Haha, indeed but I think he said he wouldn't pay it by December not that they wouldn't pay it at all?

Justin R 9:43 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

To be fair cough, so did Cameron,

Far Cough 9:40 Fri Nov 7
Re: Britain to pay £1.7bn more to EU due 1st Dec

Didn't after8 tell us, this wouldn't be paid?

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