We do not send £350 million a week to Brussels. Peddling the untruth after a string of authorities including the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have highlighted the error is a sign of either ignorance or dishonesty.
When questioned about the claim yesterday by Sky News’ Faisal Islam, Michael Gove doubled down, saying: “Every week, we send actually more than £350 million to Brussels.”
Pressed by Islam whether the money “literally” leaves the country, the Vote Leave campaign chair replied: “Yes, because if you look at the Office of National Statistics report, they point out that we send more than £350 million there.”
Islam came back, saying “you know it doesn’t leave the country” and citing the UK Statistics Authority and other sources to back him up. To which Gove responded: “The fact is that we send more than £360 million to the European Union.”
But we do not send £350 million or £360 million a week to the EU because Margaret Thatcher secured a discount on our contributions known as the rebate. This rebate is never sent to Brussels.
Nor does the ONS “point out that we send more than £350 million there”, contrary to Gove’s claims. On May 25, it said our official gross payments to the EU amounted to £19.1 billion in 2014. That works out at £367 million a week.
Crucially, it added: “This amount of money was never actually transferred to the EU… Before the UK government transfers any money to the EU a rebate is applied.”
Did Gove not read the ONS report carefully enough, despite citing it on Sky News? Or did he not understand what the words “never actually transferred to the EU” mean?
Even if Gove failed such a basic comprehension test, did he not read a letter Andrew Dilnot, chair of the UK Statistics Authority, wrote to Dominic Cummings, Vote Leave’s campaign director and a close Gove aide, on May 27? The second paragraph said: “As I have made clear previously, this is not an amount of money that the UK pays to the EU each year.”
If Gove did read this letter, did this brilliant man who now holds the office of Lord Chancellor not understand it?
Rebate is not threatened
When Gove aimed to justify his £350 million claim under further questioning by Sky News’ Kay Burley, he said: “That rebate is decided by other countries. It’s not up to us.”
This, too, is false. The UK has a veto on any changes to the way the rebate is calculated.
An ordinary person could easily be ignorant about all this. But how credible is it that the former education secretary, star Times columnist and Oxford graduate doesn’t know these things? And if Gove does know them and still says we send £350 million a week to Brussels, he is lying.
For an explanation of what we send Brussels – as well as why there would be no saving if we quit the EU because our economy would take a hit – please read this article.
Vote Leave did not respond to requests for comment.