EU rebate

Some thirty years ago this week Mrs Thatcher famously negotiated a rebate of the UK"s contributions to the EU. That rebate has saved the UK about £70 billion.

In 2005 Tony Blair gave up part of rebate in return for "fundamental reform of the Common Agricultural Policy". New figures show that what Blair gave up is costing the UK £3.64 billion a year, equivalent to to £445 per UK family say Harris & Co accountants Northampton.

Spending under the Common Agricultural Policy was 39% of the EU"s budget last year - exactly the same as it was in 2005 when Blair gave us some of our rebate.

The Common Agricultural Policy was the cornerstone of the first attempts at creating the European Union after the Second World War. Germany was starving and France"s largely agrarian economy had been barely touched by the war. In return for high prices, French farmers solf their produce to Germany and the Common Agricultural Policy was formed.