James Clappison
Main Page: James Clappison (Conservative - Hertsmere)Department Debates - View all James Clappison's debates with the HM Treasury
(14 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr James Clappison (Hertsmere) (Con)
Does not part of the contribution to the EU budget result from the surrender of the UK rebate in 2005 by the previous Government, which will cost taxpayers in this country up to £9 billion over six years and was given in return for nothing? Should we not add that to the Chief Secretary’s list of waste by the previous Government?
Mr Osborne
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The former Prime Minister Tony Blair gave away the UK’s budget rebate in return for absolutely nothing. We were promised at the time that it would give us leverage over CAP reform, which never arrived, and I am afraid that that is just one of the many decisions that the previous Government got wrong.