It’s a tempting argument to use to convince people we should leave the EU isn’t it? You know how it goes; the cash that we would no longer have to send by the billions to Brussels each year could be used for…well, you name it. Below is a recent example of where Business for Britain believes some of that lovely lolly should go and to benefit my home county too. What’s not to like?

Well, a number of things actually and they make the wonga argument a poor one to use:

Firstly, our net contribution of roughly £12 billion is, when it boils down to it, not a great deal of money for a first world nation especially one with the fifth largest economy in the world and an overall budget of about £750 billion. Are we prepared to argue that a vote on our independence is mainly about saving the government a few quid? How mercenary, nay miserly, will that seem to the undecided voter, that we want to leave over 1.6% of the government’s budget?

Secondly, the £12 billion saved is a bit of a myth as it would be eroded by a number of factors. The UK would have access to the single market (initially through EFTA/EEA membership) and this will not come for free. We will also have to honour existing contracts with the EU and some EU programs are clearly worth being part of and so we will still spend money on taking part in them. For example does anyone seriously want the UK to stop being part of the Single European Sky? Estimates vary about how much in reality we would really save. I tend to go with those who believe Brexit will be cost neutral but I admit that’s more of a gut feeling on my part than anything scientific. If there is a saving it won’t be by much, so why promise the undecided voters billions in savings that won’t materialize?

Thirdly, putting money to the fore allows the Remain campaign to emphasize personally how little EU membership costs, with the unwitting help of HMRC. Twenty four million people now receive an Annual Tax Summary, sixteen million PAYE taxpayers do so by post. This tells millions of undecided voters that the amount of tax they contributed to the EU budget is at the very bottom of a list of where the government spent their money. It is also the thinnest sliver of dark blue on a handy pie chart. Some simple maths will also inform them of how little it is. For myself it is the equivalent of about an hour and twenty minutes of work, or £3.61 per month, or 90p a week, or if you like, 12p a day. Now the point is if you are unsure which way to vote, if you feel there may be some risk in voting either way then 12p a day might just be negligible enough an amount to sway you to vote to Remain. After all, why rock the boat for the price of a loaf of bread per week?

People who argue for Brexit need to abandon the money argument. It is old hat, not what it seems and leads into a cul-de-sac ideally suited for an ambush by the likes of BSE. Anyway Brexit is simply not about money. It is about independence from the supranational clutches of the EU. It is about embracing the modern 21st century world. It is about having autonomy in the emerging global single market and acting freely at the real, global top tables. It is not about quibbling over pounds, shillings and quite literally…pence.

Want to know more about the progressive case for leaving the EU? Try here and here.