Research vindicates £350m/week claim on side of Big Red Brexit Bus

Facts4EU.Org analyses how much the NHS has benefited each week

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2022

Spending figures show NHS can expect to receive £415m more per week this year – thanks to Brexit!

We all know how the big red Brexit bus became a focus of Remainer raspberries and ridicule.

The fact the figure of £350m per week emblazoned on its side was regularly contested, not just during the referendum but at every opportunity for the next three years, showed just how much it riled EU fanatics.

The £350m a week figure was irrelevant – the message was about making our own spending priorities – and being able to deliver them.

The number was contestable because it represented the gross payment due by the UK to the EU of £18.9bn divided by 52 weeks, rather than the lower net figure of what – after abatements and EU spending - it actually cost.

How the figure was arrived at was, however, never the point. The intention was to demonstrate that the money we sent to the EU could be spent on other things and that it would be for the British people – by electing their governments – who would have the say.

Credit: Vote Leave Twiiter account 2016

The actions of the Remainer Establishment cost the country billions

The fight by opponents of Brexit to disrespect democracy by preventing us leaving the EU dragged out our departure unnecessarily, costing the country billions and dividing the nation further. We only left officially on 31st January 2020 and we only ended the transition period with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement on 1st January 2021.

Through all of that period remainers supported the UK paying more money to the EU, be it our membership fees, the additional foreign aid commitments or any other funds going to Brussels – and of course backed the higher EU estimate of the ‘divorce settlement’ rather than that calculated by the UK’s National Audit Office.

But what became of the funding to the NHS?

Firstly it was never a promise, the Vote Leave campaign was not a political party and could not make a promise on behalf of others. Yet for all that the post-referendum Conservative Governments have been conscious of the importance of the £350m a week figure and both Theresa May and Boris Johnson made commitments to spend that amount.

Well, now we are in spending year 2021/22 – some five years from 2016/17 – and we can see what the outcome has been, and yay, the figure has not just been met but bettered!

Spending higher than was hoped – even after taking out Covid spending

In 2016/17 core funding of the NHS across the UK was 137.4bn. The ‘target’ of £350m a week would cost an additional £18.2bn a year, requiring the total spending budget to clear £155.6bn. The published figures for 2021/22 is £159bn – equivalent to an extra £415m per week.

It does not end there, for the UK Government has published its NHS spending up until 2024/25 and by then it will have risen to £166bn – meaning an increase of £557m a week more than before the referendum (allowing for inflation).

No guarantees but the money is what matters

The extra money cannot guarantee our NHS will be able to meet expectations or be the best in the world – it simply means that after setting a priority that target was met. Maybe priorities will change, maybe we will want some reforms in the NHS itself?

Who knows, the point is the idea of the side of the big red bus – that we could take back control, save ourselves some money and spend it on other things – worked and has been delivered.

[ Sources: The Kings Fund | The Health Foundation | Vote Leave ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thur 13 Jan 2022

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