EU Budget

The political parties seem to be so spooked by UKIP that they have lost leave of their senses.  Two recent news stories as evidence.

There is a proposal that the UK pay an additional £1.7bn  into the European Union budget.  This is because budget contributions are based upon national income, and the UK’s national income has been underestimated (and others overestimated) in the recent past.  This has produced outrage from all political parties.  How dare these foreign johnnies do something so dastardly ?  Well, I’ll tell you.  Ask yourself two questions.  Firstly, should contributions to international bodies be based on income, or not ?  Should Luxemburg pay the same as Germany, Greece the same as the UK, or not ?  The answer, I would have thought, is obvious.  The second question – when we find that the income figures have changed, should we change them or keep them as they were, knowing they are inaccurate.  Again, the answer seems bleedin’ obvious to me.  EU subscription should be based on ability to pay, and should change as circumstances change.  Why is no British politician saying this, choosing instead to join a Dutch auction of Europhobia ?

Secondly, we are asked to be outraged that European Union nationals working in the UK can claim family benefits for children who remain in their own country.  The sum is £30m – heavens above, that’s  .001% of the cost of one new aircraft carrier.  But stand back a moment and think.  Workers pay into the national coffers of the country they work in.  Why shouldn’t they get any due benefits paid from the same source ?  Or am I missing something ?

Answer – yes, I am missing the fact that MPs fear they might lose their jobs to a swivel eyed loon at the next election, and so they have to generate false fury at anything – no matter how rational – that might benefit a foreigner.  For evidence as to how far this idiocy has penetrated the British psyche, see below, and weep.