AGRICULTURE IS JUST 0.5% OF UK GDP

Yet the EU spends 40% of its budget on the Common Agricultural Policy?

cap

Do Remainer MPs have any idea at all what they’re talking about?

Another exclusive, factual report from the Brexit Facts4EU.Org team

The EU’s CAP has been consuming well over 40% of the EU’s total budget

It used to be the case that the EU's 'Common Agricultural Policy' was talked about a great deal by British politicians whenever the European Union was being discussed.

In 1985 it represented an incredible 73% of the total EU budget. Now that it’s a smaller percentage, most MPs and much of the British media don’t even mention it any more.

This is a mistake

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

In 2016 alone, the EU spent €59 billion on the Common Agricultural Policy
This is 41% of the total EU budget
And yet agriculture represents just 0.5% of UK GDP

Observations

If the UK budget discussed each year by MPs in Parliament consisted of 40% for UK agriculture, vast numbers of Remainer MPs would be outraged.

In particular we can imagine the howls of outrage from all the Remainer MPs representing city communities.

Yet this is the reality of the EU budget.

We think facts are important

Yes, we know this will be seen as old-fashioned. We’ve even had household names from major Brexit groups telling us that “facts aren’t important any more.”

Well, we believe they're wrong. We think that people – and especially Remainer MPs – should have all the facts - particularly knock-dead facts like these.

Is it in any way reasonable that the EU gives 80 times the importance to agriculture, compared to its relevance to the UK economy?

Farming and our rural communities are also important

Don’t get us wrong. We deeply value our rural communities and want to see them supported post-Brexit. No-one is suggesting they should suffer in any way – well, except perhaps for landowners such as Lord Heseltine.

We are simply demonstrating what the EU is in practice.

In our article tomorrow we will show how France has benefited 2.5 times more than the UK when it comes to agriculture, as a result of being in the EU.

Finally, the work involved in producing real information like that above is considerable.

Please help us to keep going, with a donation today.

[ Sources: European Commission, Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development | ONS GDP breakdown ]

17 Feb 2019

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Reader Comments 9

1. William Pentelow , Sunday, February 17, 2019, 08:36:

Any public figure that directly benefits financially from EU handouts ( our own money recycled) like Heseltine and Kinnoch should be banned from speaking publicly about the EU.
Their duty under EU rules is they can only talk in the positive about the EU.
They have a gross financial bias and should NEVER be trusted.

2. Ashley Great Britain , Sunday, February 17, 2019, 08:53:

I believe the majority of mp's do know this.
This is further proof that they will accept any detrimental rules as long as we remain a member of their beloved EU club.
I wonder why this is.
Its as simple as imagine you get lots of money and personal benefits from eu membership.at the same time not having to work to hard or be accountable for your political actions.
The eu purchased many mp's and British elites decades ago.this is why we have been in such a mess with ever further eu integration.there's a reason why local councils are distant,why the roads have millions of holes,why things have just got worse over the years.
The referendum was supposed to cut us all out for good.it was supposed to close the argument on our eu membership.
Stand by for Parliament doing anything it can to keep us as close as possible to the eu.
Keep fighting! Keep sending those letters!
We wait for the 29 of march with eyes and ears wide open!

3. Gary / York , Sunday, February 17, 2019, 09:08:

I admit I was astonished by learning that 40% of the EU budget is spent on agriculture! This might be wonderful for countries that are more reliant on agriculture - but to be honest even there I'm struggling to see the justification for this enormous percentage.
In any case, yet another clear proof that the EU is not tailored to UK needs.

4. Jon, Wales , Sunday, February 17, 2019, 11:50:

When remoaners continue whinging they don't have enough to get by, or when remoaning MPs (including my own) claim it would be "catastrophic" [one of their favourite words] to leave without a deal and use WTO terms of trade with the EU like we use with the rest of the world, or when UK Parliament puppets continue to reduce funding for local Councils to operate normally, they should ALL spare a thought before they open their mouths, and instead play absolute 'HELL' [a place Tusk appears to know about] that so much British taxpayers money is being used to subsidise the majority of EU countries when British farmers need our money in British interests.
It's like opening up your bank account then inviting one and all to help themselves?
As I have always said, the EU is a huge scam, and other EU member countries have woken up to this fact (and I'm old enough to remember the start of the EEC).
One of the most important matters during WW2 was to grow our own food, and this must happen again.
As an aside, people should not forget that the CAP is only one of many EU controlled rip-offs which the UK pays massive amounts to. 'Charity begins at home' as the saying goes, so we must question the massive salaries paid to unelected and unaccountable EU bureaucrats, their large expense accounts, their additional perks, and their huge pensions - and they have the audacity to make UK laws and generally tell us what to do.
We should FIRMLY tell UK Prime Minister May to STOP dancing the EU tune. It was a disgrace when Mrs May jumped on a plane some time ago in the early hours at the behest of Barnier to sign up to a backstop (they claim it's an insurance policy - RUBBISH - It's a way of keeping us tied to the EU).
My Union Flag will be flying high on 29 March, 2019, and street parties should be organised?

5. Elise from Newcastle , Sunday, February 17, 2019, 15:18:

Jon, I liked your comment. It provoked a very interesting thought in me. Remoaner MPs are effectively saying that it would be catastrophic if all the control, decision and responsibility would be given back to them. That is a clear admission of their own incompetence, which is deeply worrying and has nothing to do with the EU whatsoever. If this is the case then they obviously are not fit for the job and have to resign with immediate effect. Let capable people to take over!

6. Chris , Sunday, February 17, 2019, 15:32:

In addition to the personal financial vested interests many (most) Remainer MPs have, a further factor is blackmail by the car industry. We still don't know exactly what was said at the meetings between May and Nissan, but it is widely believed that she promised them BRINO, and this is at the heart of all her lies and treachery.
I see that now she is not going to ask the EU to remove, or even modify the backstop. This is a direct contempt of Parliament following the vote on the Brady amendment, but she won't be sanctioned by the Speaker because he is an arch Remainer too.

7. Jon, Wales , Monday, February 18, 2019, 00:34:

Elise, you have that just right, though I will say we have some excellent MPs battling to get back our independence and become a self governing nation state once again, and to be fair, we have some remain MPs who actually respect the referendum.
The EU have I believe realised Brits will NEVER allow our elected MPs to surrender our country to a bunch of foreign bureaucrats who bear no allegiance to our Queen and country.
Those of us who voted to Leave the EU after campaigning for decades to right the wrongs of the past, did so for many reasons, one of which was our country must not be governed by a foreign unelected and unaccountable power. We have centuries of history and have done reasonably well. Leave voters received much abuse from the remain camp (and still do), including from foreign individuals. We were called stupid, and all other names under the sun.
They go on and on about another vote expecting us "stupid" Leave voters to change our minds. UK democracy has come under severe attack from the EU, and from some in our own Parliament. We must defend our country from foreign rule as did our forebears.
We will remember MPs who challenged the largest democratic exercise in British history and kick them out come elections as they can't be trusted (something we can't do with the commission). The UK does NOT belong to the EU, and the EU should remember that. All they want is British taxpayers money - time we said, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?
I just hope we get many more readers supporting Brexit Facts4EU.org with small amounts, because mainstream media tend to ignore the FACTS we see here, and the BBC can't be bothered (yet the compulsory licence fee is going up again in April)!

8. Millie , Wednesday, February 20, 2019, 11:59:

I agree with you all. We have been duped for years. MPs should be made to declare any interest in or payment from the EU. (A bit late now but this should have been the case.)
Jon, good idea. In WW2 a huge effort was put into growing our own food. We must grow as much food as possible to reduce EU imports or go to 'pick your own' farms where possible. Most people could at least grow some lettuce on a window sill or tomatoes or peppers in a pot etc.
I now realise why we have so many holes in the road and such busy roads. It is all those lorries delivering 'just in time' parts from the EU.

9. Millie , Wednesday, February 20, 2019, 12:12:

PS. I believe in WTO No Deal and leaving on 29th March 2019.
I don't trust a deal. There seem to be so many really awful traps in the current proposed deal, including something nasty about our armed forces, that I am afraid Parliament will pass the deal with just an assurance on the backstop and leave us with the consequences of 585 (?) pages of EU control..
Why do they need control over our every move, especially after we have supposedly left the EU. It can only be a trap.
Now there have been assurances on transport and ports etc we should just leave.
REPLY FROM THE BREXIT FACTS4EU.ORG TEAM:-
You are right to be distrustful, Millie. The Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by Mrs May's Remainer civil servants contains an enormous number of traps. Removing the Backstop (which it now seems certain she is unable to do) wouldn't be nearly good enough, if we want to take back control and be independent again.

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