Anyone who thought the new intake of Tory MPs were a bunch of automatons should take a
look at the House of Commons order paper today. MPs have been asked to sign away 60 percent more of British
taxpayers’ money to Brussels, in defiance of British public opinion. For years, they have done so without qualms. But the Conservatives, who were so rightly outraged at the way Labour whipped
through the Lisbon Treaty, are challenging this. In an age of austerity, when we’re cutting child benefit and asking if Britain can afford to be a world-class military power, why should MPs
sign off a 60 percent increase in the amount of money transferred from British taxpayers to the EU authorities? This is bad enough – but MPs are being asked to vote through even more money
for three reasons- as Daniel Hannan points out on his blog, none of these reasons are acceptable. Instead, the
Tory names – Zac Goldsmith, Kwasi Kwarteng, David Davis – have signed an amendment saying that the House:
It takes 43 MPs to overturn the government’s majority. Some 34 Tories have signed up – and I don’t even see names like Priti Patel up there yet, let alone Bill Cash, etc. They make an excellent point. Net EU contribution was £3bn in 2008-09. In this parliament, it is set to soar from £3.7bn to £9.5bn – and what do we get in return? A whole bunch of things that all three parties are opposed to: a new EU foreign office, with attendant staff, and supervisory agencies which would destroy the City of London’s competitive advantage. It is strikingly undemocratic, and it is refreshing to see so many young MPs showing fidelity to their constituents and demanding that a debate is held. You can bet that few them would ruin their reputations by failing to vote for the motion they have just signed. Things may be about to get interesting.“…is concerned at the above-inflation increase being made to Britain’s EU budget contribution; believes that, at a time when the Government is poised to make reductions in public spending elsewhere, it is wrong to increase that contribution; and calls on the Government to reduce Britain’s EU budget contribution.”
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