JIm Updated: or The Cost of the EU

Hillaire Belloc rather nailed it

You know—or at least you ought to know,
For I have often told you so—
That Countries never are allowed
To leave their Treaties in a Crowd;

Open Europe have released their heavily trailed new paper "Repatriating EU social policy: The best choice for jobs and growth? , and interesting reading it makes indeed.

This graph rather makes a very clear point about the impact of regulatory control of teh European Union on British buisness.

Now we must remember that this graph is merely a distillation of the regulatory impact. It in no way includes the direct costs of EU membership, such as the subscription fee of £45 million a day and so on. I reject the arguement that we get miney back from the EU at about 50p in the pound. That may be true but to hand over cash to your neighbour, who then gives half of it back and orders you to spend just so, and then to trumpet the fact through advertising the neighbour's generosity, to my mind doesn't count. It is just possible that we in the UK would like to spend our money differently. Of course we might agree with some of the EU's ideas of good spending, but that should be up to us.

Anyhow take a look at this graph and weep for the British unemployed.

Belloc of course suggested that we must,

always keep a-hold of Nurse
For fear of finding something worse.

 

But seriously, tell me what could be worse?