I’ll make the tediously obvious point that were we not paying in some billions, nett, our government could actually afford to sort out the flood defenses and compensation without EU hand-outs.*

DK

* This doesn’t mean that they would. However, the department responsible for flood defenses, Defra, has been (a) extremely unwise with its spending, and (b) underspending on flood defences for years (see Private Eye passim).

They are also facing an additional £350 – £400 million + EU fine for not disbursing the CAP payments properly.

Therefore, whilst the EU is handing over £31 million to help with the flood damage with one hand, it is taking away ten times that from the department responsible with the other.

Now, you might point out that Defra should have sorted out the CAP payments and that their incompetence has led to their fine, and I would agree with you.

But I, of course, would hold it up as an example of the incompetence of government in general and use it to campaign for less state interference.

One, it is our money, all of it, we pay in more than we get out, sure – that’s a general EU-sceptic point. I think it’s a fair thing to point out in a propaganda sense, but I think it’s different from the point being raised here.

Two, this specific issue. Say for example the EU was giving the UK £650million of our own money back this year, and we were spending £400m of it on x, and £250m of it on y.

Now, because of the floods, it is giving us £681m. If we spend £110m on flood-hit areas, we have £571m of “EU money” left over to pay for projects x and y, do we not? If the EU really wants to give us £110 million for flood-hit areas, it needs to up our annual funding from £650 million to £760 million, does it not?

Because I don’t know about you, but if someone told me they were going to give me eleven pounds, and at the end of the process I found I only had three pounds more than I had expected, and then they told me I had to give the eleven pounds to someone else, I’d feel like I’d been diddled out of eight pounds.

I’m happy to give the EU extra tax-raising powers, by the way. I don’t think the British Government should get the blame for that portion of tax – it certainly doesn’t get the credit for the spending, since displaying the flag and the “funded by the EU” is compulsory for EU-funded projects.

Give the EU tax raising powers, democratically controlled by the European Parliament. That’s the way to end this pettiness.

The Government should spend £110 million in the flood hit areas, they need it. But the EU is only giving us £31 million pounds, not £110 million.

To spend the full £110 million, the Government will need to tax, borrow, or disinvest from elsewhere, the sum of £79 million.