In reply to Coel Hellier:
> I remain completely unconvinced of that -- as oppose to the money disappearing into central EU coffers to pay for the CAP or whatever. Can you support your claim?
As I understand it, the money we pay in is used as follows:
1 - To fund EU supported projects eg in infrastructure development, science research, education exchanges etc, We benefit from these in the UK but possibly don't get back as much as we put in. Because we are one of the richer countries, part of what we contribute assists development in poorer regions (which include parts of the UK but are predominantly outside the UK). I happen to think it's right we should do this, just as I think it's right that UK taxes collected in, say, London support development in, say, NE England. Helping development of poorer regions is in everyone's interest in the long term as it increases the purchasing power of people who buy our goods. (Why did the US introduce Marshall Aid after WW2?)
2 - To fund policies such as the CAP. UK farmers of course benefit from this and it would still be an expense to be borne if we leave. Do you think UK farmers could continue to produce food without subsidy - or if they did, we wouldn't have to pay more for our food? I suppose we could import most of our food from low-wage economies, but that would hardly be a safe and secure option for the UK.
3 - To fund the democratic and bureaucratic institutions of the EU. The same people who complain that the EU isn't democratic complain about funding the democratic institutions - strange. As for the bureaucracy, much of what the EU currently does (eg on consumer protection) would have to be done in Britain if we leave (or we would have to abandon the protections).
But the main point of course is that regardless of how much of what we pay in actually comes back to the UK directly, we benefit hugely from being able to trade freely within the single market. In terms of jobs and household income this massively outweighs our financial contributions.
By the way, do you know how much you personally paid into the EU in the last tax year. I do. It's available on the HMRC website for all of us who complete self-assessment. £19 for me, if I remember correctly, in 2014/15. (OK, I'm a pensioner with low taxable income, and, yes, a proportion of VAT and other taxes also goes towards our EU contribution, but it's still a lot less than most people imagine).
Martin