Boris, why shouldn’t the EU pay for the Leeds-Manchester train link?

(Answer: Because they’re too busy spending our money on EU railways)

The €63.4bn fund which the UK pays into, but from which it receives nothing back

Yesterday Boris Johnson pledged to fast-track the proposed new trans-Pennine transport route between Manchester and Leeds to help "turbo charge" regional growth.

Meanwhile in Brussels, the EU has been busy for decades, spending billions of pounds of UK taxpayers’ money in other EU countries on projects including the development of new and upgraded rail and road infrastructure.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org would like to know
when the British public were asked the following question:-

“Do you agree to spend huge sums of British money,
which will have to be borrowed by the Government,
on building great rail and road networks in other EU countries?”

The £57 BILLION EU fund the UK pays into, but from which it receives nothing back

There are many “EU funds”, too many to count. One of these is called the “Cohesion Fund” and it comes in at a colossal £57 billion (€63.4bn) for the current EU budget period 2014-2020.

The UK contributes to this fund to the tune of around 12.5%. That’s around £7 billion of UK money.

A key aspect of this fund is that its role is purely to subsidise other EU countries. Under EU rules the UK receives absolutely nothing back.

Brexit Facts4EU.org Summary

This UK money is on a one-way trip

There is no return ticket

The only countries permitted to receive the €63.4 billion are Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The contrast with the UK

In Boris’ speech yesterday he spoke of turbo-charging regional economies and “Northern Powerhouse Rail”. He announced:

“I am going to deliver on my commitment to that vision with a pledge to fund the Leeds to Manchester route.”
“It will be up to local people and us to come to an agreement on the exact proposal they want - but I have tasked officials to accelerate their work on these plans so that we are ready to do a deal in the autumn.”

It is worth noting that it will be the UK taxpayer who will fund this, with no assistance from the EU’s ‘Cohesion Fund’.

Observations

The Brexit Facts4EU.Org team may be experts on the EU and the UK’s membership of it, but we don’t claim any expertise in building road and rail networks.

Nevertheless we can’t help feeling that if £7 billion had been spent on the road and rail infrastructure of the UK in the last six years, the lives of millions of British people would have been improved on a daily basis.

Remain MPs, can you please justify this?

Forget “the bank of Mum and Dad”, the EU has the Bank of England to fund its extravagances. We invite any pro-Remain MP to explain to the British people why the UK has been borrowing money for decades in order to pay for great road and rail networks in other EU countries.

Please don’t deflect by talking about “all the money we get back for blah, blah, blah”. You know that the UK pays far more into the EU than it gets back and has done for 46 years. Stick to this £57 billion EU fund please. We get nothing back. Zero. Rien. Nichts.

Oh and please don’t even think of starting to deflect again by talking about “the benefits of trade” with EU countries. Firstly we have a massive trade deficit with them (£95bn). Secondly, does the USA have to pay for Mexican and Canadian roads and railways in order to trade with their neighbours?

For once, please just tell the British people that they have been subsidising the development of road and rail networks of EU countries for years, and please tell the British people why you think this should continue.

Thank you.

[ Sources: EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sun 28 Jul 2019

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Reader Comments 4

1. Sydney Ashurst , Sunday, July 28, 2019, 07:15:

Pro-EU organisations and followers have always been blind to the iniquities of EU membership, even how it is run. They are too ready and willing to believe the doomsters, that we cannot exist outside of it.
We live in a great and generous Country pulled down and hamstrung by a Dictatorial Brussels bureaucracy. Left to our own devices we can join the rest of the World, be adventurous and flourish.

2. Linda, Wiltshire , Sunday, July 28, 2019, 09:19:

It's all very well helping other countries to speed up their development but only as long as this doesn't disadvantage the funding countries. I can not see this is being fair to give nothing back from this fund to the UK. Every country needs constant infrastructural development even just to keep up. The paying countries should decide how much they can subsidise other countries after their own needs are covered.

3. Adam Hiley , Sunday, July 28, 2019, 13:56:

the EU does not have money itself it is the Money it gets from it's dupes ( sorry Member States) i.e My money Your Money the BBC and Remoaners are happy with that of course

4. L Jones , Sunday, July 28, 2019, 18:27:

''We invite any pro-Remain MP to explain to the British people why the UK has been borrowing money for decades in order to pay for great road and rail networks in other EU countries.''
So - we won't hold our breath, then?

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