UK gives £5.8 billion more to EU countries for medical costs than it gets back
Vote Leave research reveals today that the UK pays £723 million a year more to EU countries for the medical treatment of UK nationals than we receive back from other EU states. This huge sum of money would be enough to pay for an extra 2,638 GPs per year – or to more than double spending on the Cancer Drugs Fund.
The figure also flies in the face of those who argue that outside the EU we would get a bad deal. The disparity in treatment costs shows why the UK would easily secure friendly health co-operation with the EU after we Vote Leave.
As the Chair of Vote Leave, the former Labour Health Minister Gisela Stuart MP, says: ‘The UK has been getting short changed by the EU for years.’ After we Vote Leave on 23 June, we can spend this money on our priorities to ensure our NHS is well-funded and protected for generations to come.
Launch of Business for Britain Scotland
Business for Britain, the business arm of Vote Leave, has been busy launching local business councils across the UK over the past few months. Businesses of all shapes and sizes see EU legislation as a hindrance and believe that it makes it harder for them to hire people and create jobs.
At the launch of Business for Britain Scotland today, Chairman Alastair MacMillan said that, as a businessman, he knows the importance of keeping control of costs. The EU’s accounts have not been given a clean bill of health for nineteen years running – which is no way to run an organisation which takes more than £1.55 billion from Scottish taxpayers every year.
Today’s business launch was supported by political figures from across the spectrum, with the former Deputy Leader of the SNP Jim Sillars and former Labour MP and Scottish Vote Leave Director Tom Harris in attendance. Speaking at the event, Tom Harris explained that the Scottish Parliament would get greater powers if we Vote Leave on 23 June and could spend the £1.5bn it sends to Brussels each year on Scotland’s priorities instead.
The UK’s fishing industry has suffered under EU legislation. Yesterday, Fisheries Minister, George Eustice, spoke to fishermen in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire about why the Scottish fishing industry would be better off if we took back control from the EU. At the same time, the former Secretary of State for the Environment, Owen Paterson, met representatives from Northern Ireland’s fishing industry in Kilkeel, Co. Down to discuss how EU regulation has affected them. You can see some pictures of both visits and keep up to date with Vote Leave activities in Scotland and Northern Ireland by following @ScotsVoteLeave and @NIVoteLeave on Twitter.
Can you help us in Vote Leave HQ?
Our fantastic activists have been been busy across the UK for months – as the leading pollster Sir Lynton Crosby has noted, pointing out in his article today that ‘Leave campaigners have managed to conduct a stronger grassroots effort.’ Thanks to your hard work, and the great response we’re getting from the public, we need some extra help in our campaign HQ to input the data we’re getting back from the leaflets you’ve been delivering.
If you can spare a few hours a week to come into our office (just by Lambeth Bridge in central London) to help enter this crucial information into our databases, please fill in this form to let us know. Thank you!
EU unemployment figures show why it’s safer to Vote Leave
The eurozone is in crisis with average unemployment at 10.3%. This figure is double that of the UK and it is therefore inevitable that EU citizens will try to come here, especially now we have introduced the national living wage. With half the growth of employment in the UK taken by foreign nationals, this will clearly damage the work prospects of British workers and limit their earning capacity due to wage compression.
Commenting on the new unemployment figures released by Eurostat yesterday, Employment Minister Priti Patel said: ‘If we are to ensure that it is British workers who benefit first from our thriving economy, it’s crucial that we take back control of our borders and our law making capacity by Voting Leave on the 23rd June’.
Today’s must-reads
EU Nationals cost NHS £732 million a year - Sun
Britain is the top choice for jobseekers as EU delivers 'ONE-WAY traffic' - Express
Being a member of the EU means we can’t help steel workers - Boris Johnson, Sun
Number of EU judges double in shocking move - The Sun
A Brexit is vital for the future of our young people - Michael Petley, Telegraph
