Commission Work Programme 2014

Debate between Gareth Thomas and Jacob Rees-Mogg

Wednesday 22nd January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Thomas]

The information that I gave was confirmed as recently as 2011 in a written parliamentary answer from the Foreign Secretary. Who am I not to believe the Foreign Secretary on a matter of such importance? If the Foreign Secretary’s view is not good enough for the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee, perhaps I could point him towards recent research by the CBI, which estimates that our membership of the EU is worth between £62 billion and £78 billion, which equates to about 4% to 5% of the country’s total economic output or about £3,000 per UK household per year.

[Jacob Rees-Mogg]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Thomas]

I will give way in a moment.

In short, the Prime Minister is willing to take the risk of a £3,000 hit to the living standards of UK households from a British exit from the European Union in order to try to paper over the divisions in his party.

I give way to the hon. Gentleman. Perhaps he will tell us whether he was one of the 95 who signed the recent letter.

[Jacob Rees-Mogg]

I was proud to be one of the 95. I might mention that if I catch your eye later, Madam Deputy Speaker.

The hon. Gentleman has quoted a figure for the contribution to the economy of our membership of the European Union. What is the counterbalance to that figure? What do we pay through extra regulation and our subscription to the European Union, and does that leave us with a credit or a debit?

[Mr Thomas]

The hon. Gentleman might like to go into a bit more detail with the CBI about its calculations. It appears from the detail of its work that it has weighed up the benefits of European Union membership and the “challenges”, as it describes them, such as the cost of regulation.